Nothing too exciting

Things have not been too exciting lately. There really isn't anything exciting going on in our lives.

OHHHH!!! One thing that is REALLY, REALLY, REALLY EXCITING is that Noelle (Bobby's little sister) got ENGAGED last week! I'm so excited for her! They are going to get married NEXT summer in June 2010. Bobby and I will both be in the wedding!We love our Wella and we love her man, Derek, too! Can't wait for the wedding!

Bobby's cousin Jenni is about ready to pop! She's due on April 30th, but she's going to pop that baby boy out any day now. Her step-brother's wife just went into labor tonight...Bobby got a text message that little Piper Burr will be welcomed into the world soon! I'm so excited for all the new babies!

Did you see dancing with the stars tonight?? They kicked off Maks and Denise Richards. I cannot believe it! Steve Wozniak should have TOTALLY been kicked off instead! I'm so mad! I hope that American Idol doesn't disappoint me this week!

Tonight, I had rehearsal with a quartet at my church for this Sunday's service. The quartet is meeting with the choir tomorrow night, and we perform on Sunday morning. I love playing my instrument and I wish that I could play more often, but I don't have the time.

Last Tuesday we went to the Penguins game! It was soooooo much fun. I had a BLAST! I haven't been to a Pen's game in 5 years. It's been too long! I have some pictures...but not on my computer yet. Bobby put them up on Facebook if you want to look there.

I'm closing my Home Interior party on Friday night, and actually, Thursday I'm closing my Party Lite book party. I was crazy to have both parties going on at the same time...but everyone wanted stuff and so did I, so I just decided to have both!

I'm subbing at Westmont in the morning, working from 4-8, then rehearsal...subbing Thursday and Friday at Penns Manor...I haven't taught in almost 2 weeks, I miss being with the kiddos. Hopefully tomorrow will be fun!

Time for bed! 5:45 is waaaaaaayyyyyyy too early for me! Nighty night!

Hilarity

Okay...so I discovered a new website tonight. It's www.fmylife.com. If you need a good laugh, I suggest you check it out. Bobby and I read through these for about an hour tonight.
You may not think they're very funny...but sometimes it feels good to laugh at other people's misfortunes.

Here are a few examples:

Today, I received my passport in the mail. They got my birthdate wrong. Then I picked up my birth certificate that I had sent in with the application. Turns out my parents have been celebrating my birthday on the wrong day for 16 years. FML

Today, I was walking through the mall with my boyfriend of a year and a half. There was sign outside of the jewelry store that said, "Engagement Rings-No interest for 12 months." I said, "Look, baby! No interest." He replied, "That's right...NO INTEREST." FML

Today, my guy friend and I were in his dorm room watching a movie when he started kissing me. Things heated up so we moved things over to his bed. He was on me when a hand shoots down from his top bunk. His roommate had been up there the whole time and he wanted a high-five. So they high-fived. FML

This one was by far my favorite...I was crying because I was laughing so hard.
Today, I was pissing in a urinal and I had the urge to sneeze. Unable to hold it, I sneezed and hit my head on a metal beam supporting the urinal. In complete disarray, I had to step back from the urinal while pissing and managed to spray the floor, the wall, and the person next to me. FML

I'm heading to bed now...nighty night :)

Maybe it's TMI

I got a phone call from Dr Stever today. My blood work came back and my thyroid level was normal. Must have just been a fluke last time. But, my prolactin levels are a little high, which could be the reason I'm not ovulating. I looked it up this evening and it says it's usually the hormone that helps you produce milk when you are nursing...but if it's high any other time it can cause infertility.

Though this is too much personal information...I did get my period after I talked to Dr. Stever last weekend and found out that I'm not preggo. I'm thinking that I must have convinced myself that I was, and then stressed myself out thinking about it. It's funny how our minds work and can do weird things to our bodies.

Anyway, now I have to monitor my cycles closely and hopefully they'll get straightened out so that we can have our baby.

Last night I had my Home Interior party and 17 people came! Plus, there were 10 kids, 3 dogs, and a bunch of the guys came and hung out with Bobby. We had a full house, and I LOVED it. I love playing hostest, making good food, and taking care of everyone. So far, I'm getting close to $100 of free stuff, plus half off items and everything else. I'm so excited! I'll be getting some new stuff for the house for the walls and who knows what else! Can't wait.

Tonight, we went to the meadows for ice cream, then went to subs 'n suds for dinner. It was goofy to do it that way, but we really wanted some ice cream first. That's about it...we're watching LINGO now. I think I'm ready for bed tho...

Tomorrow we're spending the day outside planting tulip bulbs and getting the patio furniture out. I can't wait!!!

Nighty night

Real Quick

So right now I'm at Penns Manor Elementary School, subbing for the Band director. I have been here since 8:00 am, had lobby duty where I greeted the kids, then I've taught for a total of 1 hour so far...and it's now 11:30. I won't see another kid for at least another hour....wow!

I've seen 6 kids so far today for PERCUSSION lessons. Oh what fun! I now understand why Westmont doesn't just let any kid that wants to play the drums! These kids don't bother counting, they just want to hit the drum head. One boy said, "I should've played the saxaphone...at least they get to sit." HOW LAZY! Lessons are maybe a half an hour, if the kid shows up on time...and band is only half an hour...1 day a week.

After school today, I'm taking 2 of Bobby's cousins home with me...one is in 1st grade, the other in 3rd. They'll be coming to our house until their mom's come for my Home Interior Party @ 7:00. I can't wait for everyone to see our new house!

Last night, we drove down to Robinson Town Center to go to IKEA!! Oh how I love IKEA!! We bought 6 new dining room chairs, cushions to go on them, a plastic bag wrangler, and a mirror that extends away from the wall so that I can actually SEE in the bathroom! It was supposed to be an hour and a half drive and we left at 5:00...we got there at 6:45 becuase the traffic through Pittsburgh was terrible. We left there around 7:30. We pretty much ran through the store and I wish we hadn't...We looked at a couple of beds for the spare room, but bobby said there's one in his mom and dad's barn that we can use instead. We also walked through the baby section.
I found a crib that I really like...and I'll keep it in mind when we're planning for the nursery.

After we left IKEA, we went to Lonestar Steakhouse...it was blah...we meant to go to Texas Roadhouse...I wish we would've gone to TR because we were really disappointed. The food wasn't that great, and all they have is chicken, steak and shrimp. Blah! We finished eatting rather quickly and got home around 9:30. I had to go to Wal*Mart when we got home so I could get some snacky things for my party tonight...I'm making a delicious parfait with angel food cake, berries, and pudding/coolwhip. Also, i'm making a cheesey dip in a bread bowl, some mini quiches, and that's about it. Don't want to over do it!

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday night cleaning out our MESSY spare bedroom. We had shoved all the extra stuff in there when we moved and it was a big pile of boxes and randomness. I spent a lot of time in the room organizing everything that I could, and threw away a lot of stuff. Once we get a bed, it will be perfect. I'll show you the before and after photos later...

Well, the pre-k kids are getting ready to leave for the day and 2 of bobby's little cousins are in that group...I'm going to go say goodbye to them.

Have a great day everyone!

Something to share

It's time for me to finally share this with you...I've avoided posting about this because I had a lot of false hope and was really let down.

For the past month and a half, I thought I was pregnant. But, as I found out Saturday...I'm not.

I was so excited and had already thought about how I was going to change our spare room into the nursery. I had already thought about the finish of the crib and the rest of the furniture. I was looking forward to traveling to the beach this summer and having my big belly and enjoying every moment of it.

The back story - I posted back in September that I was going off the pill...and I did. Life has been marvelous since then. My mood swings have decreased and I've not been so down-in-the-dumps. We aren't actively trying to have a child, but I can't really say that we're doing much to prevent it.

Anyway...I haven't had my period in 2 months, so I took a HPT 2 weeks ago...it was negative. But, I knew that annual appointment was coming up with Dr. Stever, so I figured I would talk to him about it. So, I did...he gave me a script for blood work and told me that depending on what the lab said, if I wasn't pregnant he would have to put me on meds to help me ovulate...which would be why I hadn't gotten my period in 2 months.

I went last Monday and had the blood drawn and waited the whole week to hear from Dr. Stever. He called me on Saturday night and told me that the blood tests were also negative for pregnancy. I was crushed!!!! It wasn't enough that the HPT was negative, but to hear the doctor say it made it even worse for me. What he did tell me is that my Thyroid levels were a little high and that I would have to have the blood work repeated.

Did I mention that I HATE needles?!?!

So...today I went and blood drawn again...now it'll be a waiting game to hear from him. I'm either going to have to go on medication to help me ovulate...or to lower my Thyroid levels.

And I know what you're thinking..."It'll happen when it's supposed to happen." I know that, but that's not what I wanted to hear from anyone. I wish someone would've said, it's okay to be angry, sad, and everything else that I was feeling. One of the girls at work said that she didn't think I was ready to have kids yet...but we've been together for 6 years and yes, I am ready.

I hope you understand why I couldn't share what was going on with me...I spent the past 2 months looking forward to something that I can't have yet because my body isn't working right. And I know it's going to be a few more months until we can think about trying because it'll take a while for the drugs to work. When I hear from Dr. Stever again, I'll let you know what my real problem is...and what the next step is so that we can have a little one sometime soon.

Saturday Fun!

Today we slept in a little bit and vegged around the house for a while...It was so nice today that we couldn't stand the thought of staying home...so we ran lots of errands.

We went to Wal*Mart around 2 and got my oil changed...It hasn't been done in, I don't know...a year? Terrible, I know...but I didn't have the money or the time. We just drove it over there today and then ran the rest of our errands.

Something that I haven't taken a picture of at our new house is the pretty patio in the middle of our yard. It has a pergola over the whole thing. I love it and can't wait to spend the summer under it!

We went to Big Lots and got PATIO FURNITURE!!!! I'm so excited. A lot of people don't think very highly of Big Lots, it seems, but I love it. I get sucked in every time I walk in there. We've been talking about getting patio furniture since we moved in, but we looked online this morning and decided that we should get it. We used money from our savings...which is money left from the wedding and from Bobby's tax refund (I still need to do mine). I can't wait until the weather stays nice permanently. Anyway...here's the new furniture! (We didn't get the umbrella...don't need it under the pergola)

We also got new cushions for the wicker furniture that Troy and Chantelle left for us. They're really cute, too! Here they are!
It's hard to see what the colors are, but they're brown, red, orange, cream, and green! I looooove them, and they'll be so cute with our white wicker love seat and chair. I can't wait!

We also went to the mall today and I got some new dress pants. All of my old ones are falling apart because they're so old. I'm excited about the clothes that I got. They're a nice addition to my wardrobe!

At about 5, we went back to Wal*Mart, paid for my car and did some grocery shopping. I HATE grocery shopping, but we needed some stuff pretty badly. We came home after that and have been doing stuff around the house, little by little. It's been a good day.

Time to do some more cleaning! Ciao bella!

I'd hate to disappoint you!

Sooo...yesterday I subbed for a Learning Support teacher. Oh what fun that was. Let me tell you. I have a great appreciation for people in special education. Those teachers have so much patience and can tollerate so much. I spent most of the day correcting word mispronunciations, doing basic math problems, and taking social studies notes so that the learning support kids had them in their notebooks. Learning support is difficult for me, because some of those kids can do the things that "average" students can do, they just don't try. Maybe it's because they have a ADD or ADHD or because they're a little slower than most of the other kids their age...but if they tried just a little harder and actually cared about something, they could do it and keep up with their peers!

I love working with the Life Skills kids though. They are amazing. While I was doing my second experience during my student teaching, I taught Life Skills music two times a week. It was heartwarming to watch those children actually enjoy making music and singing. Of course, it was all about routine and we did a lot of repetition, but they always understood everything at the end of the day. I can't emphasize how amazing those kids were. I had a lot of apprehension going into my first expreience of teaching the Life Skills class. But after they warmed up to me, I had a lot of fun with them. I miss them.

On the other hand, at Penns Manor, this kids are included in the general music classroom, and are allowed to do whatever they want in the room. If they were put into their own class, they would be better under control and recieve better instruction. The teacher-student ratio would be much smaller, and they would get more one on one time. It's possible to do, I think the school district needs to wake up!

Today, I was supposed to be the shop teacher. What a scary thing that would have been for me. I was sooooo worried going into the school this morning. The teachers are to leave plans for the day, but who knows what that shop teacher would have left for me. I was afraid I would have to monitor kids using power tools and that frightened me because those are machines that I would have no control over and couldn't prevent anything from happening.

I ended up subbing for the high school general music/chorus teacher. I didn't get to do any actual teaching, and it was quite boring. The kids read articles and summarized what they read, had a study hall, or played guitar. It was a waste of my time...though I did read more of my book Eat, Pray, Love . Which, I have to say, is an awesome book. It's very enlightening. If you haven't read it, you should.

Tonight, I worked at the office when I got back from the school. I was so tired, I couldn't stay for long. We just had dinner from Venice Cafe. That's the second time we've eaten there, and it's very good! They have a huge selection of Italian deliciousness. Try it! Of course...we forgot that the Meadows opened today...not that we would've been able to get close to the counter. I'm sure they were packed tonight!

Long time gone!

It's been two weeks since I've updated you all on my life. Not that it's that exciting, but I've been busy!

The 16th-22nd, I subbed one day, and worked a lot of extra hours at the office. Other than that...nothing really went on.

The 23rd-29th, I was really busy. I subbed every day at Penns Manor Elementary and worked from 4-8 or 9 at the office. We got moved on Monday and have been here for a week now.

Monday & Friday I was in for the General Music teacher. That was so much fun. The person who is there is an IDIOT! I can't stand her, or her teaching methods. I wish she would retire, but she has at least 10 more years to go...she's only 55. She'll probably die teaching. It would be the perfect job for me!

Tuesday, I was a 6th grade SCIENCE teacher. That was a little scary! I am not a science person, at all. The kids were pretty great with only a few trouble makers, who lost their play time.

Wednesday, I floated...meaning, I walked from room to room and grabbed things from teachers to copy. Well...the damn copy machine jammed up all day long and it wasn't my fault. I had been pulling out the pieces of paper that were getting jammed and I tried to be polite and let another teacher go in front of me and get her 1 copy made. Well, the machine jammed for her, and she didn't clear the paper out. Then it happened again, and again, and again...she didn't clear out the paper. and never got her copy! When it was my turn to use it again the machine had so much paper stuck in it that the principals secretary had to come over and pull pieces out of the machine and turn it off so it could cool down and we could get the paper out. I was so mad. It wasn't my fault!

Thursday was quite a day! I subbed for the WORST 3rd grade room in the grade. The kids couldn't sit still in their chairs. One boy in particular got up out of his chair everytime I turned around to write something on the board and walked to the other side of the room. I'd look up and he'd be moved from the right side of the room to the left. It made me so mad. He did it constantly! The other child who made me angry would tilt her chair back in the back 2 legs and rest her head on the childs desk behind her. One time I caught her standing on her head! I took her chair from her and sat on it in the front of the room. I warned her 3 times...so she lost her chair! It was a very trying day for me. I'm not sure I could handle that room again!

It was quite a week, but I would do it again. I've totally rethought my plans for teaching. The amount of time I've spent with the elementary students out of the music classroom has been amazing. They are so sweet and kind...well, most of them. They get excited about new fun things and can be so innocent. I think I'm going to get my masters in Elem. Ed. It will increase my chances of getting employed closer to Indiana. We'll see...I don't know that I want to take out another loan just yet, but I know I'll have to do it eventually.

We're about to have dinner...it's 9:15...kinda late, but we both took a nap after work. I'm exhausted!!!!