Hello Stranger, Remember Me?

I have been meaning to sit down and post some things a lot in the past, oh, 6 months. I mean, my goodness, I have a lot to share! Thing is, time just slips away from me and I never actually do it. At this moment, I have to bake some cupcakes for our end-of-the-year potluck tomorrow but wanted to drop a line to those of you who may still check in from time to time in case I've decided to post in the year 2010. Things are great, I'm feeling wonderful. I will be posting more in the days, weeks, and months to come. Stay tuned...

Hilarious?

The neighbors are having a party and their music's been loud all night. No biggie, right? It's only 9:30. Besides, we're having a party next weekend so we'll get them back. The funny thing? They just busted out a karaoke machine. I can't help but laugh. I just can't.

Mistrial!

After spending six entire days (well, really only 3 hours a day) at the courthouse going through the jury selection process, listening to testimony, and deliberating, the jury that I was on was unable to come to a unanimous verdict. It came down to a 11-1 vote, in favor of a conviction and we spend a good five hours explaining, bickering, and not budging the final juror. It was extremely frustrating to me to have been through it all and not finish with a verdict. I do commend the one person though for sticking to their guns and not budging simply because eleven people were, basically, begging them to; however, being one of three jurors who ended yesterday after voting "not guilty," I thought the facts presented and discussed today made it very clear that the defendant was, in fact, guilty.

Being that this is a public blog, even though nobody but those who know me read it, I don't feel right disclosing too much information. The case was regarding a DUI conviction. The defendant had just turned 20 when he and a friend lost control of his vehicle and ran it off the side of the freeway. Neither person was in the vehicle when the police arrived but the defendant admitted that he had been driving, attempted all of the field sobriety tests, and agreed to a blood test. He was, unquestionably, drunk and that fact was never in question. The issue was that nobody witnessed him driving and, even though he admitted to driving at the scene and proceeded to get arrested without attempting to explain that his friend was actually the one behind the wheel, the defense's argument was that he was not, in actuality, driving the vehicle.

It was a very, very interesting experience and an extremely thought-provoking look at how people relate to one another. It was also a fascinating glimpse into the workings of our justice system.

My Civic Duty

I've been sitting on a jury all week and have found the entire experience absolutely fascinating. We have to go back in tomorrow morning for deliberations but we are all hoping to be done tomorrow. After that, I will gladly go into more detail about the case.

Another perfect day!

Mark and I had another great Sunday off together today. Today was the last day that the restaurant is closed, grand opening is tomorrow! So, all managers and team members were off today to get their heads in the game.

We woke up when we felt like waking up (one of my absolute favorite things about having the day off) and went to Subway for lunch. We then headed back down to the beach that we went to a few weeks ago. It was so beautiful then that we thought we'd try it again. Well, several things weren't right this time around. First, seaweed was EVERYWHERE. Now, I know that the ocean is a natural body and seaweed a naturally occurring thing but, really, it's gross. I hate the way it feels wrapped around my ankles and thighs. Second, the waves were HUGE. Finally, the rip tide was super strong. A lifeguard actually swam out to us to tell us to get our booties closer to shore or else we'd be carried out to sea. That's all I really needed to hear. We swam in a bit closer then headed to shore. Mark then took our boogie board out to show me how it's done. He caught a few waves then we laid out for a bit.

When we got home, we BBQ'd with Mark's parents and his sister, Tina. There was lots to eat and I drank almost an entire bottle of champagne myself! Needless to say, it was a really great dinner.

Finally, to top it all off, Mark and I got our beach cruisers that hadn't been ridden in almost a year and took off to Blizzberry. Blizzberry is my new addiction. You serve yourself soft serve frozen yogurt and top with whatever you want and then they charge you by the ounce. It's similar to Pinkberry or Yogurtland or some other derivative of the same. My favorite concoction has been strawberry and raspberry yogurt topped with strawberries, blackberries (my absolute new favorite), raspberries, and sprinkles. Delicious. After we ate our yogurt we rode our bikes around Downey for a good hour or so. Maybe even longer than that. It was the best bike ride of my life, I felt 13 again!

We are now choosing a movie to watch while we enjoy a bottle of wine. A perfect ending to a perfect day.

Karma, Karma, Karma, Karma Chameleon!

I really did expect to walk into the courthouse today to meet officers who would handcuff me and take me to jail since I failed to appear for jury duty. I was super anxious this morning and, of course, running late.

After parking and practically running to the doors, I found that they hadn't even opened yet. Score one for me. Then, when we were filing in, a woman leaned in and whispered "I thought we were going to get away with not coming at all." What? You mean to tell me that, though I totally forgot to call in, those people in my group who had been were not instructed to appear until this morning?!?! Score two for me. Then, after a two-hour orientation, our guide read a list of names of individuals who, while not done for the day, were able to take an extended lunch and report back at 1:30. Guess whose name was on it? That's right, yours truly!

So, I just woke up from a mini-nap and am gearing up for another "grueling" three hours in court. Wish me luck!

Oops!

I just realized that I was supposed to call in for jury service on Monday. I was originally called in April but postponed until the Monday after summer school let out. Time went by. I got a new jury summons in the mail, I got a reminder phone call last week yet I still forgot. I just called in and am expected to report tomorrow morning. I'm half afraid they will be waiting there with handcuffs, ready to arrest me for failure to appear.

If you don't hear from me for awhile...

What day is it again?

I've been on vacation now for, what, six whole days (including the weekend which, technically, really shouldn't count) and I have already seriously lost my inner sense of date and time. I have to check the calendar regularly just to remember what day is it. Incidentally, it is Thursday.

I made a pact with myself that I wasn't going to go to school at all this week to give myself a true break. What have I been doing instead? A whole lotta NOTHING. Well, I emptied six trash bags of clothes from our closets and donated them to the Salvation Army. I've re-watched two complete seasons of Dexter and am finishing up the third. I've started the book that Tabitha sent me for my birthday. I've been to a Dodgers game and taken Mark to the doctor. I've written thank you notes for my birthday gifts (they're in the mail). I've laid around. A lot. I've played with my Wii and left my car parked in the same spot for two whole days. I've been grocery shopping and am currently sitting up very straight so that the dye on my head doesn't drip down and color other parts of my body. I suppose it hasn't been too much nothing.

But I am now starting to find myself, after only six days off, bored. And ready to establish some sort of routine. Quote me on that come mid-October when IEPs are due and my CSULB classes are in full swing.

Formatting

My apologies for the lack of uniformity in my last couple of posts, I think I figured out how to make the changes I want and they should all look the same from now on. (I told you we're all on the spectrum somewhere!)

Another Pleasant L.A. Sunday

Well, really, it was a pleasant L.A. weekend but those lyrics don't fit as nicely in the song.

Friday started out a bit rocky. Mark went into work at 7:15 and didn't take a lunch break until after 4. His day didn't end until after 10 and then he went out with the guys from work for a few drinks. After all, they deserved them after working a 15 hour day! Meanwhile, however, I was home with a mini-migraine. I had my first migraine at the beginning of June and I went to class that night anyway, thinking it would go away eventually. It was so painful that, when the throbbing started on Friday afternoon, I didn't take any chances and spent most of the afternoon and early evening laying in bed in the dark with the fans blowing directly at me. I felt better by 8ish or so, thankfully.

Saturday morning I attempted to go to the lab for my blood work that the doctor ordered at my physical at the beginning of June. I know, I know...I should have gotten my booty there much sooner; however, I have to go on an 8 hour fast which makes it impossible to go anytime except in the morning and, in the morning during the week, I have to be at work. Well, when I got to the lab, the line was about forty people deep outside of the door. I have no idea what it looked like inside. I immediately turned around but then figured since I'd gotten up early on a Saturday to be there, I should just suck it up and wait. But, after moving three inches in 20 minutes, I left. I'm going to go Wednesday morning before work and if I'm late so be it. The blood work is to check my cholesterol and my thyroid. It's nothing life threatening or anything.

When I got back from the doctor, Mark and I went to breakfast and then to price doggy doors at Home Depot and the local favorite hardware store, All-American (the irony of the name is staggering). We had planned on getting a security screen with a door for King in it but it turns out that they are upwards of $500 so we then planned on special ordering a regular exterior door with a doggy door in it but then Mark's dad decided that he is going to attempt to install a doggy door in it. So, we purchased all of the pieces needed and shall see how this endeavor turns out.

We then went to The Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach with our friends Holly and Jake. Holly is a school psychologist in our district and was on my interview panel when I was hired at Cerritos. I knew then that we would be friends. She no longer works at my school but we get together for martinis at least once a month and the four of us get together almost as often. The club is celebrating its birthday and we saw 20 comics, each of which performed for about 5 minutes. It was a great time.

Yesterday, Mark and I were up and about fairly early, around 10 (which is early for the two of us). We hopped into his car, dropped the top, and headed south. We got off of the freeway at Seal Beach and drove on PCH for close to 2 hours. At around 1 we decided to stop at the next beach. We ended up at Salt Creek Beach (pictured above), which is beautiful. We swam for the first time this summer and had a great time. I learned that I just shouldn't try to catch a wave and body surf in. The waves were very large, at least for this Midwestern girl, and when I finally got brave enough to try to catch one, it swallowed me up and spit me out. When I finally had my footing again, I was almost in tears and about to puke. In retelling the story, I swear I was under water for at least a minute. Mark said it was more like 4 seconds! He tried to hold me back and I could feel him grabbing my legs but the wave was too strong and took me away. I hit my shoulder on the bottom and my boobs flew out of my suit, of course. Fortunately, I was able to cover up before I got out of the water. Needless to say, I didn't stay in the water much longer after that. I did, however, laugh about it the entire rest of the day. Before we left the beach, Mark ran back into the water to show me how its done and made body surfing look so freakin' easy! He grabbed a wave and rode it all the way in, I was quite impressed with how easily he did it.

Last night, we grilled steaks with Mark's mom and his sister, Tina and drank a delicious bottle of wine. When we sat down for our meal, I commented on what a perfect summer day and weekend it had been. It was Mark's last guaranteed Sunday off since they will be training 7 days/week from this point on. It was a great weekend.

Twiddling my Thumbs (Better settle in, it's a long one!)

After being publicly called out on Angela's blog and then noticing that I'm at the very bottom of Kristi's blog list, as in I'm the most delinquent blog out there, I figured I should do some catching up. I haven't blogged since May 17th and since then, trust me, twiddling my thumbs is something I just haven't had time for. In fact, since May 17th...

My Spring semester classes ended and I earned a 4.0 in both of them. Both classes really should be undergrad courses and seemed to be designed for people who have never taught in an actual classroom. I was so much more challenged, intellectually, in the fall and was a bit disappointed with the courses this semester. I discovered that earning my Master's is more about dedication, determination, and perseverance and that it really isn't about intelligence at all.

We went to Cambria/Paso Robles for the weekend with Katey and her boyfriend, Kenji. Kenji lives in San Francisco and Katey in Tampa. They fly cross-country regularly and, though Kenji is in the same state, I haven't seen Katey since our wedding. We made a plan to meet up halfway between Kenji's place and ours and, aren't we lucky, the halfway point also happens to be a great place to taste wine! Paso Robles is known for their Zinfandel, which is my favorite. Plus, the city of Cambria, where we rented a house for the weekend, and the city of Paso Robles, and most of the wineries within it, are very dog friendly. So, for this weekend excursion, we didn't have to leave the dog behind. He was even allowed inside one of the tasting rooms. The five of us had a great time driving through wine country, singing about "mini sirloin burgers," playing Cranium, and catching up. Well, to tell the truth, Katey and I never have to catch up, we simply continue on as if we'd seen each other yesterday. That's part of what makes our friendship, one that's been in existence since 1987, the best kind of friendship there is. We went to Adam and Lindsay's for a Memorial Day BBQ. They have a great place in Sherman Oaks, about 26 miles from us in Downey. Their apartment complex has a pool, a couple of hot tubs, tennis courts, basketball courts, and a great place near it all to have a cookout. We were able to meet one of Adam's best friends from home who also lives in SoCal. They always have great parties and, as always, we had a great time. Luckily, it wasn't a repeat of last year's 4th of July party. The one I missed. Because I was passed out. The whole day.
On May 28th, our school had our annual Premios de Oro awards ceremony. Translated, it means "Prize of Gold" for all of you gringas reading this. :) I was shocked and humbled to find out that I had been nominated by a colleague and chosen by the PTSA to win the PTSA honorary service award for my dedication to the school this past year. I got a plaque and everything! I tried my darnedst to find out who nominated me but either nobody knew or they were swore to secrecy. It really made me feel very special and appreciated.

We spent an afternoon/evening watching the Red Wings win one of the Stanley Cup playoff games with our friends Dave and Robin and their new daughter, Riley. Even she's a Red Wings fan! June brought with it a ton of exciting events for me and my class at school, all of which were planned by yours truly. We had two retirement parties for one of my paraeducators, an end of the year BBQ for the entire class, I had to plan a presentation for a colleague who also retired, our annual trip to Knott's Berry Farm and, of course, graduation. My co-teacher and I also get gifts for all of our paraeducators, our general education T.A.'s who work in our classroom, the general education teachers who work with our kids throughout the year, and the support staff at the school. The first two weeks of the month were spent running around like a chicken with my head cut off getting all of the loose ends tied up.
I also started my summer session class at CSULB the first week in June. It's a course on Program Evaluation and I'm taking it as an elective. Since I didn't get my credential in California, my undergrad program in Arizona didn't quite match up and I'm short 6 credits for my Master's degree. I had to take electives in the field of education or psychology and, with the limited number of classes offered in the summer, this one just happened to meet the criteria. It meets twice a week and is supposed to run from 5-8:45; however, our instructor has let us go at 7:45 every class session and not one of us has said a word. The first couple of times that she has said "we only have about five minutes left in class" at 7:40, everyone just kinda looked around thinking "nobody better say a word" and nobody has. A few of us were just joking around that maybe our instructor is thinking the same thing. Who knows. It's only a 6-week course and our last class is on Thursday. In fact, I should be working on my final paper and presentation right now...

I went to the doctor the first week of June for a physical and all looks good. Well, almost all. My doctor and I had a very frank discussion about my weight and, although I'm totally aware of my weight problem, I found myself near tears telling him how hard it is to have to have struggled with it all my life and blah, blah, blah. He told me that I could stand to lose, get this, 60 pounds!!! 60. I've known where my healthy weight range is and I was totally aware that it was 60 lbs away but to hear the doctor say it made me feel, quite honestly, pretty shitty. However, I know that it is all for the good of my health and the health of our future babies-to-be. My doctor also recommended an appetite suppressant, called phentermine, which I've been taking now for just over a month. He said it can be a good tool to support my changing habits. I have to go in monthly to weigh in and talk with him before getting another batch of pills. I haven't felt weird when taking it, except for when I take a pill and have a couple of drinks. I started with 1/2 a pill a day and am now taking a whole pill but 1/2 at a time. It's crazy what it does to my appetite. I'm just not hungry. And, when I first got them, I thought it wasn't necessarily going to work because my problem with weight loss hasn't been hunger. In fact, it's just the opposite, I eat even when I'm not hungry or past the point of feeling full. But, food just doesn't have the same appeal to me anymore and my relationship with food is starting to change at the very basic of levels. I'm starting to eat to live rather than live to eat. When I went in for my monthly check up and for my next bottle, I had lost 11 lbs. Works for me! My plan is to use this tool through the summer and be done come September.

After school let out, summer school started right away and, of course, I'm teaching it again this summer. Hopefully, if all goes according to plan, this will be my last summer teaching for several years, if not forever. My first week of summer school was a bit rocky as I was TOTALLY PMSing and, therefore, unnecessarily stressed out. There is another teacher working with me even though we only have a total of 26 students attending. With all of the budget cuts, I was certain that I'd have all of the students for summer school. I'm very grateful that I don't because, when we split the kids into two groups, I have a very manageable 13 students - a class size I haven't seen since I was working at the elementary school. It's a very nice reprieve from the usual 30+ in the classroom at the same time. This week my hormones were more under control and it was a lot of fun. Two weeks down, three more to go...

Mark's been busy lately too. He is on the opening management team for the newest BJ's Restaurant, which is located 1.3 miles from our house! He actually rode his bike to work last week. The restaurant is not even finished being built yet, although watching the progress is amazing. Mark and the other three managers have set up shop in an empty store next to the restaurant and have been interviewing prospective employees for eleven hours a day for the past two and half weeks! Before he started, I kept asking him what exactly four managers are going to do all day before the restaurant even opens. I had NO IDEA how crazy the hiring process was going to be. They have appointments for 100 interviews everyday plus they take walk-in applicants. People are waiting two or three hours just to get an interview. He said it's so hard to turn those people away but he has had to it quite frequently. When it all started, they needed to hire 260 employees and expected to get a few thousand applicants. It's such an insane process, he comes home exhausted every night. One positive thing is, though, that he works from 8 am until about 7:30 every day so we have our evenings off together and he's been off on Sundays and that will continue for a few more weeks. We were joking around that we're like Ozzy and Harriet now with the same schedule eveyday. That's something we have never had.

Mark also quit smoking! (Insert maniacal cheers and applause here) He's been cigarette free for three weeks now and doing a really, really amazing job. He's using nicotine patches to help him out but quitting is not easy and I commend him for giving it a go. I've been reading research to him about how much his body has healed already and all of the positive things that will come from his knocking out his addiction. I really am proud of him.

So, here I am, on 4th of July, sitting at my computer. Mark's working this morning/afternoon so we don't have any major plans. Plus, our baby is terrified of fireworks and has been freaking out every night for the past week and a half since people have been lighting them off. We've given him 1/2 a Dramamine the past couple of nights, something that a friend of mine's vet recommended for her Rottweiler, and that has seemed to help. For those of you who know King, he is probably the most relaxed and mellow dog out there. But, man does he HATE fireworks. Lucky for him, it'll all be over soon. We may go to our friend Dave's place, if he doesn't mind if we bring the dog, or we may go hang out with Mark's friend Mark who is staying at an awesome place for the weekend in Newport Beach. Or, we may just stay in and relax with the dog. Our little family of three.

Self Diagnosis

Being in the field of special education, I am constantly learning about different disabilities that students can have. Because of this fact, I am also constantly thinking there is something wrong with me. I remember when I was in college (oh wait! I still AM in college!), that is, in my undergrad, I was convinced that I had Multiple Sclerosis. At one point, I joked that maybe Prader-Willi was my syndrome, due to my seemingly insatiable appetite. And I still contend that we are all somewhere on the Spectrum. But, most of all, I have diagnosed myself with adult onset ADHD.

Just as an example, while writing my final paper for tomorrow night's class, I glanced over and saw my hand held, magnifying mirror and decided that it was time to give myself an impromptu facial. Then I got back to writing. But then I looked down and noticed my toe nails are in desperate need of a pedicure so I proceeded to clip and file my nails - all of them mind you, not just the ones on my toes. Back to writing. A few minutes later the dog needed my affection and then I should check on the cats and, while I'm in the house, I should do the dishes...on and on and on. Being on the computer is the worst too, I checked my email and everyone else's blogs a gazillion times.

Three hours later, my paper is finished, submitted to my professor, and now I am free to putz around giving myself facials and pedicures. But, of course, now I can't think of anything to do!

I'm joking of course, I know that I do not seriously have a disability. Unless we can create a new category of ADHD like due-date-impending-attention-deficit or why-get-it-done-early-hyperactivity!

Randoms

Kristi has tagged me to list 19 Randoms...

1) I surely hope the Dodgers win tonight, they need to prove that they can carry on as a winning team without the steroid-enhanced Manny Ramirez. I wonder how he'll be received by the fans when he comes back in July...

2) State testing is over!!! Almost 2 weeks in my office testing my students 1:1 lead me to drink 3 martinis in a very short span of time this afternoon.

3) Almost everyone I know has trouble sleeping. The only trouble I ever have is that I need/want to sleep ALL the time.

4) Sometimes I think Diet Dr. Pepper really does belong in the dessert aisle.

5) Mark's off tomorrow night. What're we going to do? His schedule gets pretty rough for the next couple of weeks.

6) I can't wait to see Katey in Cambria on the 22!!!

7) NBC Thursday night is pretty darn great.

8) I should call my mom back, I bet she's still up.

9) Classes are almost finished for the semester. Only two more papers and two more finals to go!

10) I am addicted to Sugar Free Red Bull.

11) Kingy's 5th birthday is Sunday! I think we're going to take him to the beach.

12) Haven't been to the gym since Easter Sunday - Spring Break and our trip to Michigan threw me way out of my routine. But now I can't find my membership card and I really want to go back tomorrow.

13) It's crazy it's May already!

14) Mark and I have the house to ourselves until May 28th - his parents are in Montenegro.

15) If I lose 1 lb/week between now and when we go back to MI, I can lose 33 lbs by then.

16) If I could have a drink with anyone living or dead, John Lennon would be my first choice. Vin Scully would have to be in my top five.

17) Gifts that travel cross-country from us are always at least two days late.

18) Somebody told me today that I smell like summertime.

19) I was invited to a baby shower for another American girl who married an Albanian. We like to stick together.

RACHELLE, BECKY, & KRISTIN - TAG!!! YOU'RE TURN TO LIST YOUR 19 RANDOMS...

Adventures with Facebook

Some of you may have gotten a friend request from a Miss Melissa Marie tonight. It so happens that I forgot the password for our existing facebook account so I started to create a new one. But, I couldn't figure out (in a whole 3 minutes) how to hide my email address and then I got frantic about being exposed to the world and the ability for just anyone to contact me and then I deactivated our account. We had a second facebook account tonight for a whopping 7 minutes. I came, I saw, I ran away.

Happy Cesar Chavez Day!

Today was a holiday for my school district (gotta love L.A.) and I spent it putzing around the house getting things done. As I do every Cesar Chavez Day, I also took a moment to reflect on my life and count my many blessings. I set some goals for myself for the next month (before we go to Michigan), mostly to do with weight loss. Viva Cesar Chavez!

Hey Stranger!

Well, after I was reminded of how badly I have been neglecting my blog (thanks Karen!), I figured it's time to do some updating. The thing is, not much has changed in the month that has passed since my last entry.

Work has been a bit crazy lately. I got two new students this past month. The first ended up being misplaced in my class, as he is much more independent than my students and more capable of more rigorous academic work. My district administrator ended up switching him to a different teacher's caseload; however, that teacher is only on campus one period each day to cover the overage in the other special education classes. So, while on paper this student is off my caseload, I have still been responsible for setting up meetings, conferencing with his parents, and figuring out his schedule which totally defeats the purpose of moving him from my caseload. But, by moving this kid from my caseload, the district can get away with adding another. The second new student I got this month is 6'5"! And, unlike the first student, he is absolutely in the appropriate classroom. I'm starting to learn my lesson about being too easy to work with. It really is a shame that, by doing the right thing and being professional, I'm now getting completely taken advantage of. (sigh) But, I love my job and I love my kids and I would not want to do anything else with my life than what I am doing right now.

School's been good. This semester is much more laid back than last semester. I have more assignments to do but each one is less intensive than the work I had to do last semester. It's crazy how fast time flies. I just keep plodding along, eventually it will all pay off.

The Dodgers have started Spring Training and Mark and I have planned an overnight trip to Phoenix to see a game at their new facility. We'll be there on St. Patty's Day when they play the Cubs. It'll be our first trip to AZ together since I've moved to L.A. so we're planning on cruising through Tempe to see where I lived and went to school and going by my dad's old house as well. I love the fact that I get "personal necessity" days to take as I please. It just so happens to please me to take a road trip with my hubby!

Mark will be moving to the new BJ's, right here in Downey, in mid-May and we're getting really excited about that. The new restaurant is being built and I swing by every few days to see the progress - it's only 1.3 miles from the house! He'll be the first manager on-site, working out of a trailer in the parking lot, hiring and training new staff. For the 7 weeks that he'll be doing that, he'll be working Monday through Friday or Tuesday through Saturday with his evenings off. We, obviously, can't wait! However, once the restaurant opens, in July, I won't see him for days at a time until they work out all of the kinks of a new restaurant.

Mark's buddy, Toby, just stayed with us for a few nights before he headed to New Zealand to make wine for three months. Having him with us was interesting, especially since we live in a studio and both Toby and Mark are complete night owls! But, we're both so thrilled for the adventure that he's on.

As far as weight loss goes, I haven't lost. We've been doing a lot of socializing, which means dining out and drinking. I've found that I'll have a couple of really good days but then comes our social excursions and they set me back. I haven't gained any weight either - I'm doing a great job of maintaining where I am. Too bad where I am isn't at all where I want to be. I did got to the gym yesterday which made me feel really good. I have some homework to do tonight but am thinking of going again after I finish up.

Speaking of homework, I should go get started on it. If I stay focused, I should be able to get it done in just a couple of hours.

I hope I didn't bore you too much with the monotony of my day-to-day happenings. I will try to keep my blog updated more often this month!

New Pictures

I've added our pictures from our most recent trip to Michigan to our shutterfly site. Check it out at www.lajcisinlove.shutterfly.com. Our password is: missymark0811

Back in the Swing of Things

Classes at CSULB started again last night. On Monday afternoons I'm taking a class on collaboration and communication, which is co-taught by a professor with a PhD in Special Education and an instructor who has a daughter with a disability. It seems like it'll be interesting to learn about the perspective of a parent while having my own perceptions of issues in special ed. On Tuesday afternoons I'm taking a class on assistive technology. The professor of this course doesn't seem as organized and clear as those that I have on Monday so we'll see how the semester will pan out. Both classes seem to be a bit less labor-intensive than the courses I took last semester (in each of which I earned an A, by the way) so I'm excited about that.

This week is finals week at school so we have half days all week and no school on Friday, which works out perfect since we'll be in Michigan by then! I think it's fairly common knowledge that money is tight in our state right now so it's be interesting, to say the least, to see what happens in the coming months when we are all planning for next year. Luckily for me, I got a letter last week announcing that I've earned my tenure! So, as far as I know right now, my job is safe from here on out. I'll be going to a board meeting next Tuesday to be recognized for this achievement. I'm not sure if there's been a better year since I've been teaching to become a permanent employee of a district.

While I was definitely on a roll as far as weight loss goes a week and a half ago, I've fallen off the wagon yet again. Mark's sister was in town last week so we went out to dinner and drinks a couple of times and I've just had a really hard time refocusing. Since we're going to Michigan this weekend and I know that we're going to be eating things like Jet's Pizza and RedCoat Tavern burgers, I'm planning on being really good until we leave and then switching to the WW Core Plan once we return to kick my booty back into action. I also purchased a Crunchless Abs DVD and, although it was way more difficult for me than I had anticipated, I felt it in my abs for days! I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

Things to Do: 2009

Ringing in the new year allows each of us to start fresh and to think about things that we may want to improve upon or change before the ball drops again. We have several goals for this year...

Family - As many of you are already aware, my plan is to graduate in May of 2010 with my Master of Science in Special Education. In a perfect world, I will waddle across the stage at graduation and we will start our own family before, or just after, I turn the big 3-0. Now, you will probably never hear the words "we're trying" come out of my mouth because, well, that's just way too much information to share; but, our plan is to be pregnant by the end of the year!

Health & Fitness - With our ultimate goal in mind, I am determined to slim down and to develop healthier eating and fitness habits this year. My ideal weight loss is 40 lbs. but, more importantly than the lbs., I really want to become more active and to eat less processed foods. I feel that a lot of my bad eating habits started when I was young and I really want to instill good habits in our children, especially since they will be genetically pre-determined to not be small. In order to do this, Mark and I need to develop healthy habits as well. I will continue to attend WW meetings and will commit to get physical (cue Olivia Newton-John) at least twice a week to start.

Money - I will be setting up my 403(b) this year again. It had discontinued when I changed school districts and I haven't set it up again. I will also be setting up a "Summer Saver" account through my credit union. I only get ten paychecks a year and this type of account will deduct a certain percentage of my monthly checks and put it into a high yield savings account. The money that I stash away each month will be accessible to us without a penalty, which is a definite bonus.

Happy Thoughts

I just got off the phone with my good friend, Karen. It's her 29th birthday today and we had a great, long conversation catching up and discussing the difficulties of growing older. It sucks but growing up sure does happen to us all. She informed me that her brother, who lives in Japan, was recently diagnosed with Lymphoma and that he's awaiting further test results to determine what stage it is in. She said that he seems positive and that Lymphoma is actually curable so he is hopeful that it is in a beginning stage. When thinking happy thoughts, please send some her way. I know she and her family could use them.