Year 2 - Day 343 - November 30

I accidently drew this Sharpie-dot on my finger yesterday morning. I've washed my hands countless times, showered, and done dishes twice. It is driving me crazy that it won't come off!!!!!!

Year 2 - Day 342 - November 29

Here I am, again, getting bloodwork done before breakfast! Unfortunately, since they have me going to an outside lab, I can't get the results for 48 hours. Boo! Sitting here, I'm noticing this sign and all the typos.

On each line of the bill of rights, it says "Our patient's" ... but it is using it in a place where they REALLY mean "Our patients." I have issues with professional documents using parenthesis when they are not necessary. It is a very common issue and drives me NUTS.

Year 2 - Day 341 - November 28

What's more fun to do on a Monday morning than medical tests?!? I love that my doctor calls on the same day with the results as long as I get them done early in the morning. I'm on the fence about today's results. Two things came out wonky. On one hand, the bad numbers could explain everything that is going on these days. On the other hand, they could signify something I don't want to have in my head. But then back on the first hand, if a pill could solve the problem, sign me up! Days like today are the good and bad reasons that I've been to Pituitary Education day so many times. Good because I know pills can solve a lot of problems but bad because I'm done having things wrong with me!! I think if I was going to be a doctor, being an endocrinologist would be fascinating. It's really the actual biology that's going on inside of you and I think it's all so interesting. (As long as it's someone else's body.) ;)

Year 2 - Day 340 - November 27

For many a year, Mike has wanted to put up Christmas lights. We had a few issues to overcome before it was a possibility. First, we needed a house. Then, a ladder. (Thank you, Amazon, for making that a reality!) (Holy cow look at all those bushes in that old picture!) Our last issue was the lack of outdoor power plugs. Luckily, on our trip to Christmas Tree Shops, I found an outdoor power strip with a long extension cord. I also got my hands on a bunch of lights for a really great price. Since I'm a weakling, Sarah and Bryan helped us get them up today after Mike's birthday Duclaw lunch. Bryan held the ladder while Sarah & I fed him lights. It was a little too bright when I took this picture today, so you can't see the colored ones on the bushes and around the door, but they're there! I'm not sure that Mike wanted to spend his birthday doing manual labor at the top of an extension ladder, but the lights are pretty so I think he believes it was worth it. :)

Year 2 - Day 339 - November 26

Even though Mike's birthday isn't until tomorrow, we had his family celebration today. First we went out for "Linner" at Bellissimo's in Bel Air. We had never tried it, but we'll definitely go back. They seem to be an Italian restaurant first, but they have quite the random variety of food. In our group of 6, we had lasagna, fish, a burger, ribs, and two seafood pasta dishes. After "Linner" we headed to the farm for ice cream. Who cares that it's cold?!? :) There was a beautiful sunset tonight! Of course my old iphone camera doesn't do it justice, but it was really pretty.

Year 2 - Day 338 - November 25

Since all the crazy people shopped at midnight this year, getting up for some sales at 7am didn't seem so bad. We had great luck with deals, parking, and line waiting. We met up at JoAnns, got some crafting stuff, and headed to the mall. We just stopped at a couple places, checked out at only one, and then went over to the festival. After a quick stop in the kitchen store and a longer trip to Kohl's, we went back to Michael's and Home Depot. We didn't get stuff in every store, but were surprised by short lines, open parking spaces, and relatively friendly people. I did hear several shoppers say they had been out all night. Ouch! I was tired, and all I did in the dark of night was click a few buttons online!

Mike & I did go back to Home Depot later in the day because we need a toilet to replace the one in the hall bathroom. Disappointingly, they had 20 toilets in white and only 2 in bone/cream/off white. That really made our decision easy, but there were cheaper models in white since there were more choices! Rather than install it right when we got home, we spent a couple hours raking. I grew up with a small set of woods behind our house, so my dad didn't have to bag the leaves and drive them to the dump. What a luxury that would be!!!

Year 2 - Day 337 - November 24

For the last few years, I have been stopping at Michael's on Thursday evening after Thanksgiving dinner. Last year, we had some car issues and had to be rescued so this year I went home with Mike first and just drove to the local store. Michael's was not empty, but it wasn't crazy either. However, Toys R Us was getting ready to open at 9 and the line was INSANE. It went alllllll the way around the parking lot, past every other store. I didn't pay much attention to their ad but maybe it was really that good??? Or maybe parents take advantage of other family members being around so that they can sneak out and shop? I don't know, but it was nuts.

Year 2 - Day 336 - November 23

This is why I don't bake more often.

I made a lot of messes today, but one takes the cake.

The things I made required several eggs. After cracking & using them, the shells were sitting in the sink. When I was getting ready to do the dishes, I turned on the faucet intending to fill up the bowl with water.

However, I moved the faucet to the left a little as I as bending down to the right to fill the dishwasher. I didn't notice that the water was NOT going into the bowl. Instead, it was streaming into 1/2 an egg shell, which was lying in the sink in the shape of a little tiny cup. The water was then bouncing out of that egg shell and directly on to the counter in a perfect arc. (Our sink is really shallow, as you can tell from the bowl sticking out of it.)

It would have been nice to notice that for the first 10 seconds while my attention was on dishwasher loading. It was quite the flood.

So yeah, that's one of the reasons why I don't bake more often!

Year 2 - Day 335 - November 22

A few weeks ago, I had a foul proof plan to make my life schedule work today.

I needed to make a doctor's appointment to check in with a doc I hadn't seen in awhile. Luckily, they were able to make me a super early in the morning (8am) appointment. This worked out PERFECTLY because the Turkey Trot was scheduled at school! That meant that I could get to work ASAP but wouldn't need to get a sub because the kids would be running around outside with the other specialists. Perfect! It's hard to just adjust your work day as a teacher since the subs can only be scheduled half or full day.

But then - it rained. That meant I would have my regular classes and so even though I'd be at work shortly after the kids, that doesn't exactly work! Since I had to schedule a sub, I didn't have to be at work til noon. That gave me time to grocery shop with the grandmas of town in the morning rather than fighting the crowds tomorrow!

So anyhoo, when I saw these giant bags of popcorn, I couldn't help but think about that logic problem that asks what's heaver, a pound of feathers or a pound of lead. I guess because these bags were HUGE (more than a foot across) and were just 2 pounds. I wanted to buy one, because it looked like fun, but really what does someone need with 2 pounds of popcorn. :)

My other exciting discovery at the store today was that they added an option to the spend money and get a free turkey deal. Rather than just turkey or ham, we could choose a giant fresh pork shoulder! Yum. If only we had time to cook it this week!

After dealing with some tough stuff this evening along with our HP3 viewing, my vacation can finally begin! I'm even staying up to watch Parenthood because I don't have to get up in the morning! WOOHOO!!!!!!

Year 2 - Day 334 - November 21

As our semester winds down, we finally got to HP3 on the college reading list. I've always loved this one. Back in the day, either the fall of 1999 or the spring of 2000 (I forget which, but I know where I lived so I can narrow it down that far!) I read HP 1, 2, and 3 back to back. I may or may not have attended history class that day, couldn't rightly tell you. People were just starting to talk about the books. I wouldn't say they were familiar to everyone, but they weren't completely on the fringe either. The fantasy aspect I had been told of was not of interest to me, so I hadn't bothered. However, someone who knew my taste in books said "Don't look at it like a magic fantasy book, because really it's just an 'orphan goes to boarding school' book." Well THAT I'd read any day of the week! So, I did. I liked book 1, it set the stage. The moment I was truly hooked was the scene where Harry first takes flight on his broom. It made me want a broom as much as I want a Hoverboard from BTTF! The second book suffers from the sophomore writing slump, so I didn't love that one quite as much. But the third. OH, the third. When you find out about Scabbers, well, that's just a big ole game changer. My jaw dropped, the book ended, and I had to wait MONTHS for the fourth book.

Tomorrow, we're discussing the book and watching about half the movie. I have some real Potter maniacs in the class, so hopefully it goes well. :)

Year 2 - Day 333 - November 20

It took allllll day, but the term papers have been graded! In a couple weeks they have a project due, and then a couple weeks after that is final exam time. It went so quickly!

Year 2 - Day 332 - November 19

It's a little silly that this is today's picture, because we ate so much food today and these weren't the most exciting by far!

We went downtown tonight to use a Living Social deal, enjoy some dessert, and go bowling for a friend's 30th birthday party.

The Living Social was for Pacific Coast Dining Company which is actually in Little Italy. (It's on the end of the main street with a glass bump out. I know I've been there under different ownership at some point!) Our recommendation is not to bother stopping by. Doesn't "Pacific Coast" mean seafood to you? They didn't know what they wanted to be. There were fish type things on the menu, but Mike had crab risotto and it was sorely lacking in crab. I ordered ribs from the random menu because they sounded good, but then found out they were out of ribs. (That was weird, but not nearly as weird as being out of lemons as I was told when I requested one for my water!) In the end, we both had food that was fine, but we won't go back.

Since we had time to kill before the party, we walked over to Vacarro's. I don't really like italian cookies but I like gelato!! I wound up just getting a hot chocolate since we still had a party to go to, but Mike had  a huge dessert creation with pumpkin cheesecake, chai gelato, and some kind of fancy latte.

Finally, we went bowling at Patterson Bowling Center. It was the craziest bowling alley I'd ever been to - two stories! Just 6 lanes upstairs and downstairs. Our party had the whole upstairs which was pretty fun. It was definitely old school duck pin bowling, but nice to have the place to ourselves.

Oh wait - that WASN'T finally! Our PA friends were also at the party, so we hung out with them for a little while after the bowling party. Since we were in Canton and didn't want to look for yet another parking space, we decided to walk over towards the Outback & assorted places in that area. Somehow, we wound up in the Fieldhouse (used to be Ray Lewis' place) watching the UFC fight in a booth. Crazy, but true. And gross!!!!!!! However, we totally agreed with the judges on who deserved to win. We also agreed that perhaps we never need to watch another UFC fight because the announcers declared it one of the best UFC fights ever. How could any other fight compare? ;)

Year 2 - Day 331 - November 18

Allow me to introduce, our tree that refuses to go to sleep! Just in the last week, it's finally started changing colors. We'd really like the leaves to fall so that we can rake them before it's freezing outside. Perhaps we'll get a really good wind storm this weekend???? :)

Year 2 - Day 330 - November 17

While in Rite Aid tonight, I saw this collector's set of Lord of the Rings Pez Dispensers. Proof that companies think know you'll buy anything during the Holidays, I guess! :)

Year 2 - Day 329 - November 16

After being out of my classroom for 2 days at a meeting, I came back to a big pile of mail this morning. On top was a nice, linen envelope with my district's return address. Inside was a letter on nice, linen paper thanking me for being their employee for 10 years.

The first thought I had was snarky and related to our refinance - "Think they'd take THIS as proof of employment?"

But overall, it's nice to be recognized for sticking with my job even when times are tough. I have one from my 5 year anniversary too, and it's in my folder. I guess they're assuming I'm not going anywhere between now and January, since that's my actual anniversary date! :)

Year 2 - Day 328 - November 15

These sandwich holders were in the clearance bin at the grocery store this week, marked at less than a dollar apiece. Since we go through baggies, foil, and plastic wrap like nobody's business, I decided to buy a couple. It doesn't matter for me, because I a) work in a school and b) eat with other people who work in a school. However, I am not too sure Mike will be excited about the prospect of carrying a plastic lunch container with the Crayola logo. ;) Would you do it to save the money? I mean, 79 cents for life instead of a couple bucks each time you need a roll of wrap or a box of baggies?

Year 2 - Year 327 - November 14

Pretty much the only good thing about the weather getting cooler is that I can now regularly wear my new North Face coat! The body of the coat is cut pretty small, at least it seems it is. Perhaps the tightness has something to do with keeping me warm when I'm out climbing mountains? Since I don't often climb mountains, I went a size bigger to give myself the room I wanted even when wearing winter clothes. That works fine in the body, but the arms are a tad long. My family (Well, the female part of my family) calls sleeves like this "Brenda" sleeves because Brenda on GH has always worn sleeves that cover her hands. Either her arms are shorter than average for her body size, or she just likes to pull her hands into her sleeves, but you rarely saw her hands on the show. When I put my coat on this morning, I realized what Brenda sleeves it really had. It made me giggle a little, but I still love my coat!

Year 2 - Day 326 - November 13

Are you watching Once Upon A Time? It's SO good! It's a little bit like Lost because there's a main, current day story, but there are also flashbacks that give you backstory. The twist is that the backstories are all fairy tale stories and characters whereas the current day people don't know they are actually fairy tale characters. I know it sounds a little crazy, but it works. I love trying to figure out who is who!

PS I think the Sheriff is the Woodsman.

PPS Watching this gives me happy dreams, and then I watch Dexter at 9. I'm messed up in the head!

Year 2 - Day 325 - November 12

Today, we drove up to the Christmas Tree Shops in York to do some shopping. I got a few little things and enough Christmas lights to decorate the house. My husband has wanted to do Christmas lights for awhile, so now he can. Hopefully they go up easily and without too much stress!

Tonight we went up to Delaware to have dinner with a variety of my roommates & their significant others. Always fun, but now I am EXHAUSTED.

Year 2 - Day 324 - November 11

This is a screen capture from the Baltimoresun.com this morning. If you look at the last sentence in the paragraph, you'll see that it says "Jones few 32 combat missions."

Really? You're not even going to proofread your captions, and you want me to *PAY* for your website? I think not.

The Sun allows you a certain amount of free page views a month, but then defaults to the "pay now" screen. Last week I was trying to read about the top 50 restaurants in the area, and sadly found out that each restaurant on the list counted as one of my website views. Forget that. It's annoying, because I do like the local news aspect, but they'll never get my money because today's typo is not an example of a rare occurrence.

Happy 11/11/11! I remember randomly that I was in the Annapolis Mall (pre-renovations) on 8/8/88. Why do I remember that? I don't know. But I remember there being lots of signs for sales. One of those random moments that's stuck in my memory.

Year 2 - Day 323 - November 10

One of my college friends and his wife are having a baby in the spring. The baby's dad is a chemistry teacher, so I "chemistry-fied" my onesie card for them. (We're hoping to see them this weekend. If we don't, I'll just mail it!)

I came up with the idea to use the periodic table to spell out baby, but didn't know if the right elements would exist. There is no "A" by itself, but there was a "Ba." Woohoo! I was also excited to find a "Y." I like when I can personalize a little bit more. It's more fun that way. I don't always have the inspiration or a good idea, but when it happens I run with it.

Tonight was my last MASL board meeting. I've been the treasurer since the summer of 2008 and I am trying to cut back on my extra curricular activities. With the college gig taking up a night every week, I'm just spread too thin right now. I'll miss some aspects of the volunteer position, but I won't miss driving all over the place after work once a month.

Year 2 - Day 322 - November 9

Another month, another Duclaw glass. We added to our Devil's Milk glass collection today with the 2011 version. "The Milkman Cometh"

Let us all remember, I don't even LIKE Devil's Milk. But I do like brisket sandwiches, so I'm a happy girl. :)

Year 2 - Day 321 - November 8

Somehow, I blinked, and it became the 11th week of the semester. I'm sitting here waiting for class to start, and nobody is here! Usually a few people show up and eat or hang out for awhile before class begins, but tonight I'm all alone. I can't believe we're so close to the end. How did that happen!?!?

Year 2 - Day 320 - November 7

Wow, this is a terrible picture. They don't always look this bad on the phone screen, but I took it while sitting in the car so what can ya do?

This is another book I brought to my meeting yesterday. It's about Levi Strauss, but it stretches the truth "so far it nearly breaks." (So claims the author's note.) The story is cute and I think the kids would latch on to it, but I often worry about perpetuating fiction. (Think Columbus & Betsy Ross!)

Decisions, decisions...

Year 2 - Day 319 - November 6

Today was our monthly reading meeting. I was really excited to bring this book ... and so were several other people. That doesn't happen very often, but I guess great minds think alike?? ;) It's a tall tale with a magic cowboy hat, a tornado, and a coyote. I think the kids will love it!

Year 2 - Day 318 - November 5

I'm cheating. This is from Thursday. Today, we drove to PA for a party with our friends. However, we were having fun and I didn't think about taking a picture! So, you're getting a picture from Thursday with a story.

Most buildings at the University of Delaware are something Hall. Therefore this sign outside the education building doesn't raise any eyebrows initially. However, it turns out that the guy the building is named after was named Willard Hall. I guess they decided that "Willard Hall Hall" would sound silly, so it's the Willard Hall Education Building. Since people don't always know the story though, everyone just calls it Willard Hall.

Year 2 - Day 317 - November 4

I really hate that Chuck is on Friday nights this year. I know it's nowhere near as good as it was in its heyday, but even we forget to watch it, and we are two of the few fans that are left! Last week the ratings hit an all-time low, which was disappointing. I probably wouldn't be watching this year if it weren't advertised as the end, but I feel like I can make it through the last 11 or so episodes to finish it out. In my opinion, the writing went down when Ali Adler left to make another show. Luckily she's writing for Glee now, so hopefully Glee goes up with her words! :)

Year 2 - Day 316 - November 3

Tonight, I was a guest speaker during a Library Media class at University of Delaware. I did this about a year and a half ago and enjoyed it (and learned so much from the other speakers!) that I was excited to be asked back. I got there a few minutes early, so I sat and read the UD paper. "The Review" as it is called, has changed a lot since my time.

This advertisement made me laugh. It's all about premier student housing. That makes it sound like the properties are beautiful, right? But I recognized the name in the first email address as being my brother's college landlord. I can promise you, he did NOT live in a premier house!!!

Year 2 - Day 315 - November 2

Our Spirea bushes are really pretty this week, in all their fall splendor.

At least, it BETTER be fall splendor. Since we've lost 2 of the 10 plants we purchased on that day, I'm crossing my fingers that this is a fall thing and not a death thing!

Year 2 - Day 314 - November 1

Last year, we had 50 pieces of candy and we ran out. This year, we had 80 pieces and we have a ton left over. We were careful when handing out though, so we have a nice selection left over. :) Have you had peanut butter Snickers? They are fantastic!!