Monday, November 27, 2006

what?

this morning i got the call from my principal. he told me that school's closed but all the teachers are going to meet at Ena's house (that's our TA) for kind of pro-d thing. He said he had a great "survivor" game we were going to play. i was so angry that the kids didn't have to go anywhere but us teachers did! i yelled about it to karen vanderveen and she told me not to tell the inspector. the inspector? you mean we weren't even allowed to be meeting on a day that school was cancelled? this is ridiculous! so i called my principal back and asked him since it was just us teachers, if i could at least wear sweatpants. he laughed and gave me a speech about dressing professionally. i hung up and was so mad but i thought i'd call sally to carpool and when i looked at the clock it was already 12 noon. when was i supposed to be there? then the phone rang. i woke up and looked at the clock. it was 6:12am. tim answered the phone and it was john calling to say school was cancelled. how insane was that dream i was having? a little too real although i bet you were wondering why i was talking to karen vanderveen. ha.

Sunday, November 26, 2006

christmas idea

there was an ad on tv tonight for www.freethechildren.com which suggests that you donate money to them and buy a goat for a family in Africa. i'd recently heard about this idea and was thinking it sounded good. in researching this a little more on the internet tonight, i found Canadian Food for the Hungry's gift guide. it's like a catalogue that you can choose an item to buy ranging from $20 - $800 for families in Africa and Asia. this is a great site through a trusted organization where you actually choose where your money is going. they'll send you a gift acknowledgement card if you'd like to donate money on behalf of a friend or family member...maybe for christmas? in an area of the world where we have so much already, maybe this could be a better thing to buy for christmas. just an idea for you. check out this site. pass the site onto others too.

woah! snow!

so it has not stopped snowing since yesterday. insanity! here i am doing report cards but secretly wishing for a snow day tomorrow. okay...i'm sure it's not a secret. last year we got maybe a cm of snow and i called my principal that morning to ask if there was going to be a day off school. umm...there wasn't. HOWEVER...i still have not recieved a phone call to let me know about tomorrow. if there isn't a snow day, i will be seriously seriously disappointed.

in regards to sickness...i may have spoke too soon. i'm hurting again today. my neck is very very tense and i honestly think it's affecting my overall well being. could a very sore neck affect how nauseous you feel? i've been sleeping poorly due to the neck and last night i got up and slept on the couch. weird. if it's not a snow day tomorrow, it may very well be a sick day.

tonight we rented A Prairie Companion. i'll let you know how it is.

Saturday, November 25, 2006

lavonne will be happy to know...

i'm doing fine. i went into work on tuesday though not feeling that well but by wednesday, all was well. no doctor needed. then thursday i lost my voice compeletely. weird. i went to school anyways because last year i taught two days with no voice. i figure my class is that much more manageable this year...i'll be fine with no voice. and it was okay. though annoying. by friday it was coming back little by little. it's still a little rough today but all good...uhh...besides this cough that started this morning. shoot.

so it's SNOWING. this morning tim and i took a little drive up sumas mountain to see the snow and by evening, the snow had come to us. our little house here has never been in snow since we've lived here. to bad the only pics we can take are on film and not digital. they may never make it to the blog. we went and saw 007 tonight in mission and when we came out, it hadn't stopped snowing for hours! could there possibly be a snow day on monday? saturday snow is always such a disappointment because it usually gone by monday. oh well. maybe it's super snowing in agassiz. who knows? either way, it was fun to see tim jump up and down then run around when we saw that it was snowing out this afternoon. good times.

well it's report card week in teacher world and last year at this time there was some major crying and panic. this year, i've been actually doing report cards little by little. what a concept! in my mind, they're almost done but i'm avoiding having a look at them tonight because they probably aren't. tomorrow's big job. email me if you like so i'll have something to procrastinate with. you can be sure to expect a survey in tomorrow's post. ha.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

diagnosis please

well yesterday was a sick day from school. i have a mysterious illness. let me describe the symptoms and you can self-diagnose.

> nauseau without throwing up.
> naseau all day and it doesn't get better or worse depending on what i eat (aka. i ate didn't eat anything all day yesterday and felt terrible but then i ate a full dinner and felt equally terrible).
> no, it's not pregnancy.

what could it be? if you have any ideas, do share. it has now been going on for three days.

in other news, SHAPE magazine responded to my angry email with an extension on my subscription for 3 months. how great! i'm very pleased. they also informed me that by subscribing, i "have the advantage of having the issue delivered to
your door and of being guaranteed an issue without the disappointment of
a newsstand sell-out." well thanks.

Saturday, November 18, 2006

emails and workouts

well two days ago, i was quite annoyed that my november issue of Shape magazine had not yet come in the mail and it was already nov. 15. this would not even be that annoying if i had not been looking at the front cover of Shape since nov.1 at grocery stores every couple days. why is it that it can come to grocery stores that early and not my house? well by nov.15, i decided that i'd email Shape and let them know how annoyed i was. "Dear Shape, I don't know why it is that your magazine is in stores by the first of the month and by nov.15, it has still not come to me. are your subscribers that unimportant to you that they are the last to recieve it? i am very disappointed as this happens on a consistant basis and i will not be renewing my subscription when it ends." okay...so i went a little overboard. i will totally still be subscribing again when my subscription ends. but i thought, since i was going to the effort of emailing, i'd better try and make a splash. haha. umm...and then i got the magazine in the mail the next day.

so i went to wendy's last night as tim was not coming home from work until 10:00pm and then i went to the gym to work off only half of what i'd just eaten. friday nights at the gym between 6 - 8pm are a great place to be if you don't have tlc at home. what not to wear is on and makes you want to work out for a whole hour so that you can see the show from start to finish. which is what i did. there was a girl on the treadmill next to me also watching it and i just wanted to talk to her about the show during the commercials but you'll be glad to know i refrained.

Friday, November 17, 2006

my week in photos

Friday


Saturday





Sunday



...insert pic of chili with the MacD's...



Monday






Tuesday

Wednesday




Thursday



Friday

Monday, November 13, 2006

Friday, November 10, 2006

hopped up on sugar


party day!

Thursday, November 09, 2006

POST-IT AWARDS

is there anything more exciting than discovering you've been nominated for a post-it award? uhh... anyways...i'm excited and i'd like to send all of my regular readers who do not know my friend ang to her blog so that they can see the categories to vote on. email me for her email address. seriously. go there now.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

more than you could ever want to know

remember the olden days when we used to mass email surveys out to our friends? now we can fufill the survey hunger without filling up anyone's inboxes. this survey is dedicated to james (b.) who needs something to read while he drinks his coffee in the mornings. even though my suggestion was, "don't get up so early, crazy", i thought this was the next best thing to pass the time.

What were you doing this morning at 8 a.m.?
Sitting at my desk marking math papers and eating peanut butter on toast. (yes, at school)

What were you doing 15 minutes ago?
Watching King of Queens...it's one i've seen before.

Are you any good at math?
Up to grade 4.

Your prom night?
I wore a red dress and had my first up-do, went with alex (and friends), rode in a limo with no airconditioning then waited in a park and ride for a new limo to pick us up that had airconditioning, refused to dance until scott russell forced me to, watched jonny morrison do the splits in a rented tux, went to a pathetic aftergrad, and skipped the pancake breakfast the next morning and caught a ride home with andi.

Do you have any famous ancestors?
judy macdonald, wonderwoman.

Have you ever taken out a loan to pay for school?
not just one. thankfully i married someone who is paying them. ha.

Last thing received in the mail?
Shape magazine.

How many different beverages have you drunk today?
smoothie, coffee, tea, water, and diet coke.

Do you ever leave messages on people's answering machine?
i always leave messages...how else will they know i've called? oh wait...maybe i'm the only person left in the world without call display. please leave a message when you call my house or else i won't know you called.

Do you draw your name in the sand when you go to the beach?
no

What's the most painful dental procedure you've had?
when they remove your braces and those little metal things that are cememnted to your teeth are ripped off with pliers.

What is out your back door?
my back porch and a bbq.

Any plans for Friday night?
tim's away until friday so yeah...hang out with tim.

Do you like what the ocean does to your hair?
eww...the only ocean i know if WR and i don't like how it looks let alone let it touch my hair.

Have you ever received one of those big tins of 3 different kinds of popcorn for Christmas?
just the tins with 1 kind -- double butter (but that means caramel) from kernels

Have you ever been to a planetarium?
Yes, on a dorm date in my first year to see a lazer show. good times.

Do you re-use towels after you shower?
uhh...is this a trick question?

Some things you are excited about?
tomorrow's thursday, i went to the gym yesterday and discovered i haven't gained any weight since my gym hiatus, halloween candy being on sale, a long weekend is coming, the opportunity to mould young minds(?), that criminal minds is on tonight, umm...

What is your favorite flavor of JELLO?
chocolate pudding.

Are any of your great-grandparents still alive?
not anymore.

Where do you keep your change?
what change? interac please.

When was the last time you spoke in front of a large group of people?
this morning at choir practice when i told the entire school (that's the choir)that if they don't keep their arms at the side and stay looking at the director when they sing on remembrance day this weekend, it will be very distracting to the audience.

What kind of winter coat do you have?
a gray MEC rain jacket and a black fleece...how can you tell i'm from BC?

What was the weather like on your graduation day?
umm...cloudy but no need for jackets.

Do you sleep with the door to your room open or closed?
closed.

8 lasts --

8.] last kiss: this morning
7.] last beverage: diet coke
6.] last movie watched: just my luck (haha)
5.] last phone call: called my sister in law
4.] last cd played: something by ryan adams
3.] last "i love you": this morning
2.] last time you cried: at least a week ago...what a record!
1.] last alcoholic drink: i think i tried some wine at one of these summer weddings and was reassured that i can't understand how people stand it.


5 have you evers --

5.] have you ever dated someone twice: yes
4.] have you ever been cheated on: that depends
3.] have you ever kissed someone: haha.
2.] have you ever kissed someone you regret: no
1.] have you ever been depressed: no


6 things you've done today
1.] made a smoothie
2.] straightened my hair
3.] taught grade 2s how to put pictures onto powerpoint and animate them
4.] photocopied
5.] supervised outside at recess
6.] watched friends while i ate salmon by myself

4 places you've lived--
1.] South Surrey, BC (1982 - 2000)
2.] Langley, BC (2000 - 2003)
3.] White Rock, BC (2004 - 2005)
4.] Abbotsford, BC (2005 - present)

how sad is that? one day maybe i'll move somewhere other than the lower mainland. but really...why would i want to? ha.

3 favorite colors --
1.] Green
2.] Red
3.] Blue

2 things you want to do before you die --
1.] go to europe
2.] have a kid

Q 01: is there a person who is on your mind right now?
A 01: uhh...is this another trick question?

Q 02: Where is the last place you went?
A 02: save on foods. (sing it:more, more, more)

Q 03: who is the last person who called you?
A 03: tim - he left a message

Q 04: do you have any siblings?
A 04: Yes. one.

Q 05: do you smile often?
A 05: Yes.

Q 06: do you think that someone is thinking about you right now?
A 06: umm...tim? are you there?

Q 07: do you wish on stars?
A 07: no...but i teach kids about constellations even though i know nothing about them.

Q 08: do you untie your shoes every time you take them off?
A 08: no...but i have to untie them when i go to put them on again.

Q 9: do you like your handwriting?
A 9: sure.

Q 10: Who's bed did you sleep in last night?
A 10: mine.

Q 11: what color shirt are you wearing?
A 11: blue hoodie.

Q 12: do you have any pets?
A 12: no way.

Q 13: what is the color of your bedsheets?
A 13: cream.

Q 14: What were you doing at 9 last night?
A 14: watching the show house and reading a book because i don't like house.

Q 15: I can't wait until..
A 15: it's friday.

Q 16: Look to your right. What's there?
A 16: a red filing cabinet, paper, paper, paper, and some empty candy wrappers.

Q 17: Ever cried yourself to sleep?
A 17: who hasn't?

Q 18: Song that makes you cry?
A 18: once when i was 8 or 9, at an evening church service (remember when those were different than the morning ones?) someone sang that song, "cats and the cradle" by cat stevens (yeah...random) and i'd never heard the song before and i cried. that's the only time. remember that dad? or should i say, max?

Has anyone ever thrown you a suprise party?
yes. thank you.

Are you easily excited?
hmm...i'm not sure. i don't think so but maybe.

What event is coming up that you're most excited about?
wait...i already answered this question.

If you won a million dollars what would be your first thought?
ahh...another trick question.

If you could have anything right now what would it be?
haha.

What was your latest dream?
i was writing the homework on the board and looking for mr. beeke to ask him what the homework for the grade 4s was. my dreams are looking a little too much like reality.

Do any of your dreams come true?
umm, actually today i did go looking for mr. beeke to ask him what the homework for the grade 4s was.

What was the weirdest dream you've ever had?
oh please...don't ask. no one ever believes my dreams anyways but they should talk to my friend kara. hers are way weirder.

Do you usually remember your dreams?
almost always.

wait...that's it? how can you end a survey with a question like that? hunh.

keeping the ideas coming...

well since i'm posting about how to have less stress (and stressing some people out...) here's a website to go to for a shopping list and recipes for a week. you print off the list and then you have all the food you need for one week. there are NINE weeks with NINE lists and 45 recipes! (it doesn't include saturdays and sundays and actually, because it's a KRAFT website, every friday suggests Delissio pizza but hey!) check it out!

my favourite KRAFTCanada recipe that i've made 4 times in the past month (once for Liz, D, and Cademon, once for tim, once for my parents, and once for staff lunch at school) is the Fiesta Casserole. I'm including the recipe especially for domi since i know how much he enjoys mexican food and he's wishing he had some good recipes.

Prep: 20 min
Ready In: 50 min
Serves: 6
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1 lb. (500 g) extra lean ground beef
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 medium green pepper, chopped (this is pretty optional)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 medium red pepper, chopped (as is this...though it's a nice addition)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 cups salsa
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 can (19 fl oz/540 mL) diced tomatoes, undrained
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 cups frozen corn, thawed (i just used one can)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12 flour tortillas (6 inch) (i just used 6)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 cup KRAFT Tex Mex Shredded Cheese, divided (i just used regular cheese)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PREHEAT oven to 375°F. Brown meat with peppers in large skillet; drain. Return meat mixture to skillet. Stir in salsa, tomatoes with their liquid and the corn.

SPOON 1 cup of the meat mixture onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish. Top with 6 of the tortillas, overlapping as necessary to fit in dish. Spoon half of the remaining meat mixture over tortillas in dish; top with 1/2 cup of the cheese. Top with remaining 6 tortillas and remaining meat mixture. Cover with foil.

BAKE 25 to 30 min. or until heated through. Remove from oven; uncover. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Let stand 5 min. or until cheese is melted.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

feeling stressed?

i think that november can be a really stressful time of year. talking to students, this is when all the big papers and due and exams are coming. for teachers, we have report cards hanging over our heads plus then parent teacher conferences. these are all stressful things. i got an email from Women's Health about how to stress less (in timeline format) and i thought i'd pass a few tips onto you...

7:12 a.m.
Feel like a head case? Take the problem by the roots: In the shower, grab your hair close to your scalp — sounds painful, but just try it — and tug up to release tension. Then rub your fingers in small circles over your entire head to stimulate blood flow, which reduces pain and stress. (haha)

7:59 a.m.
Crank up KT Tunstall's album on the way to work. Listening to music is proven to reduce stress responses such as high blood pressure and elevated heart rate.
(fyi: i went to future shop the other day to buy KT's cd and got distracted by ben folds. maybe i'll go back.)

1:25 p.m.
While enduring an annoying phone call, do this: Sit on the edge of your chair and straighten your left leg in front of you. Exhale and bend forward from your hips, keeping your back flat and chest lifted. Hold for 2 to 10 breaths. Do the same with your right leg. This will relieve any tension built up from sitting at your desk all morning.

3:47 p.m.
Keep a golf ball under your desk and rub your bare feet over it for a private foot massage. Bonus: The boss will think you play golf. (i can't imagine actually doing this one. what if you wear boots and then the fire alarm goes off? or worse, what if you take off your shoes and then people are asking, "what's that smell?")

4:30 p.m.
Write on your blog. (just kidding. i added this one. but it is stress relieving.)

5:53 p.m.
Ditch the starchy suit and pumps for drawstring sweatpants and a hoodie the minute you walk in the door. (ok, so i'm not wearing a suit...actually, i'm wearing nice khakis and a hooded sweater but i'm still planning on sweats when i get home!)

8:00 p.m. (this one is for alyssa)
When you flick on Lost, grab some knitting. Researchers at the Mind/Body Medical Institute in Boston found that repetitive activities can help calm your nerves.

9:05 p.m.
Stress makes chronic skin conditions like acne worse, but honey can make them better. The bee's pride and joy is a moisturizer, antioxidant, and antiviral all in one sticky package. Spread a thin layer on your face and neck, let it sit for 10 minutes, then rinse off with tepid water. (really? i'm nervous to try this...)

10:31 p.m.
Keep a notepad and pencil bedside to write down any to-dos that are weighing on your mind — it will help you let go of anxious thoughts and drift into la-la land.

ahh yes...maybe not all these will be help for you but i know that now that i've read this article, i've been convinced that i should be wearing sweatpants more. haha.

Sunday, November 05, 2006

the top news story this morning

an elderly man was reunited with his runaway puppy after a young woman jumps out of her car to chase it down. last night, this old man was walking his 8 week old sara down 24th Ave in South Surrey to the post office when Sara got away. When sara began to run, dragging her leash behind her, she darted in and out of traffic on 24th causing cars to slam on their brakes and swerve. when angela and her friend, rebecca turned their vehicle onto 24th, the scene that they encountered was a speedy puppy running far ahead of it's elderly owner who was attempting to chase the dog down the street. in moments the girls decided they needed to help the man so rebecca drove up along side of the dog and angela jumped out to chase it down. thankfully wearing her runners, angela's speed helped her catch up with that quick puppy. she gathered sara up and walked back down the street to give the dog back to her owner who was still doing his best to keep up. the grateful man thanked the girls and sent them away with a "i'm so proud of you both". today we are happy to report that sara is home safe with her owners.

Saturday, November 04, 2006

tv quote of the week

"Some people go their whole lives without having an epiphany. I'm having them like crazy." -- Hank from Corner Gas

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

soccer tournies, final exams, and chinese food

i think the title speaks for itself in relaying what my day was filled with. the soccer tournament was freezing (umm...bc style freezing...6 degrees?) and let me just say thank goodness for having an all day tournament the day after halloween because those kids in the classroom on sugar highs would have been bad news. the final exam for hiking? well, what can i say? i'm sure i passed...though maybe not with flying colours...i know for sure that one of the questions that asked, "which one is one of the ten essentials?" i said "something to drink" and afterwards i realized that it was supposed to be "signal device". duh. oh well. i most definitely passed the class hence finally graduating and getting chinese food for dinner as a treat. yay. chicken chow mein and sweet and sour pork, here i come. (yes, i'm just as safe with chinese as i am with sushi)