Thanks for the Memories...

Well, it seems as though I'm the last to get back on the blogging train. Sorry for my long absence, I've just been preoccupied with all my time off:)

Anywhoo, as you all are aware, I'm sure, SCHOOL IS OVER. I cannot explain how different it feels to know that yes, it summer, but...I DO NOT HAVE TO GO BACK. It's a totally freeing feeling, such a huge relief of stress, a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. That said, Palmyra wasn't all bad. Despite the problems, despite the bad kids, despite the frustrations, I was lucky to work with some really great kids along the way, too. And even though I often felt like everything I had tried to do was futile, and made no impact, the last day of school proved to me that I was wrong. It proved to me that I had made an impact, even if it was only on a few students. When I walked into my room on the last day of school, it was completely decorated with streamers, balloons, posters, pictures on the board, and there was even a cake on my desk (it made for a very good breakfast:)! It was very touching, and of course I cried. It seems that a group of students had gotten permission from the principal to break into my room after I left on the second to last day of school, and decorate it so I had a nice surprise when I got there the next morning. And a big group of kids got to school really early that morning to wait for me to get there, so they could ambush me after I walked into my room!! I wish I had been able to take a picture of all of them, but my camera was out in the car, and I wasn't able to get it until a couple of hours later...it was just a great way for me to end the year. There were kids in that group from each of the past three years that I've taught, so it was just a nice feeling to know that I had an impact on some of them...So Palmyra, thanks for the memories.

Moving on, Mike and I also had to say goodbye to a very important part of our family last week. We traded in Mike's truck. Oh, it was a good truck. A very good truck. So many memories of piling the bed full of almost a ton of dirt/weeds/debris from the back yard after we first moved into the house. Of taking drives over/through small creeks in the Poconos. Of moving me in and out of my various apartments and houses when I was in college. Of setting up the grill and tailgating at PennState football games. Of crawling under the bed cover to escape RAIN during PennState tailgating. So many memories of that truck doing the dirty work for us...how many trips did that truck take to Home Depot and Lowes combined?? Hundreds, I'm sure. So, to Mike's truck, thanks for the memories. We loved you. We'll always love you:)

As you can guess, since we traded one car in, we got another one! The trade in was primarily to get a second car that could accommodate a car seat, and it was a bonus to get a car with WAY better gas mileage than the truck. Our new car is a Silver 2009 Toyota Matrix. It's a pretty sweet ride. Mike, being the gentleman that he is, is letting me drive the new car, while he now drives the Civic to work. I'm sure we'll make lots of new memories in the new car, especially since soon there will be a baby in tow! There are pictures in the slide show, but I couldn't get a good angle on it in the garage, and didn't feel like moving it out to the street. If you go to google images, and type in 2009 Toyota Matrix, you'll find some good pictures.

And now, onto baby. To Baby Bean I won't say thanks for the memories, but rather, Thanks for the mammaries. Bean has caused lots of changes to my body, but the most noticeable are the boobs. So thanks, bean:) Your mother thanks you, and your father thanks you. Also, you'll notice that I haven't included any updated "bump" pictures. This is mostly because the bump comes and goes, depending on how bloated I am. I assure you, though, it's there. I can REALLY tell the difference, but that's because I get to see myself naked. With clothes on, you just can't tell. And so since I'm not into posting nude photos of myself on the internet, you'll just have to wait until bean gets a little bigger, and starts to protrude some more, and then I'll post pictures. As of right now, I'm 19 weeks, 2 days pregnant, which means I'm ALMOST HALF WAY THERE! And bean is starting to move around, a lot! I love to feel bean moving around. Mike and I had read that at this point, bean can hear sounds, and that a loud noise might make it jump! So Mike thought it would be funny one night to scream at my belly and see if bean did anything. And it did! As soon as Mike yelled, it jumped, and then was moving around for a few minutes, probably trying to figure out what the heck that was...I didn't think it was very nice, though, so Mike is forbidden to do it again!

Alright, this blog has gone on long enough.

Lumps and Bumps

Well hi there!

Just wanted to update you all on what's going on in my neck of the woods lately!

First, I don't know if I mentioned I was released from my calling at church?? Well, I was. I was the second counselor in the YW, and now I have been to serve as assistant to the Achievement Day/Activity Day Girls. There's a lot less of a time requirement (about an hour to an hour and a half every other Tuesday night...) but let me tell you, the girls are INSANELY HYPER!! These are 8-11 year old girls, there are a ton of them, and they are just bounce-off-the-walls crazy. So, we'll see how this goes...

In other news, Bird was home for a visit last weekend! Woot! She came home especially to pick up the brand new massage table she ordered from California!! AND-she brought it to my house, and I got to be the first client she massaged on her brand new table! Woot Woot! Her table is pretty cool...she got one that has adjustable legs so that she can lower it for her height. It also had a face rest, with an arm sling. It's pretty amazing-o. So she set it up and gave me about an hour and a half massage!! It was also amazing-o. You should all consider flying Bird out to where ever it is that you live, because the massage is totally worth it. She good at what she do. Fo' sho'.



On that note, let me explain "lumps" to you. I'm lumpy. Bird said she found it very apparent that I carry my stress in my neck and shoulders, because she had to spend probably a good half hour of that massage working out all the ridiculous lumps I had in my traps. It was weird because she would squeeze my shoulders, and I could FEEL the lumps. Weird. But cool. And it feels oh-so-much-better now.

On to the bumps. Some days I look more pregnant than others. Lately, I've been looking more on the pregnant side. I think it's a combination of being 16, almost 17 weeks pregnant, and being bloated and all that other good stuff that comes with the territory. I look WAY different than I did at my last appointment four weeks ago. BUT-at my appointment today I found out I haven't put on a single pound in the last four weeks. In fact, I lost two pounds. It must have just all shifted around, because I've definitely got a solid bump going on. These first two pictures are of me two weeks ago, when you could barely notice the bump, and Mike actually had to zoom in on the stomach to show that there was something there. The third picture is of me yesterday. I was getting dressed and put on an undershirt that I wear under polos and things like that, and noticed how tight it was around my belly...So I captured it. I look horrendous in the picture, and it just makes me look chubby everywhere. I figured that a lot of you out there will really, really like that. Enjoy:)

Things and such...

So this past weekend was pretty great. Took off work on Friday, so we left after work on Thursday to go to Chambersburg, where Mike's track team was holed up in a hotel for the State track and field meet on Friday and Saturday. Stayed there Thursday night, saw his girl shot putter take 4th in the competition on Friday. Stayed Friday night, and saw his boy javelin thrower win states on Saturday. Dramatically. He was warming up really well, tossing the jav well over 200' without much effort. Then came his first throw in the competition and he slipped on his plant foot, and had a bad throw. No big deal, two more to go in prelims. Second throw, slips again, another poor throw. Uh-oh, he's got to get one in on his last one, or he may not make it to finals at all!! Takes a half approach, basically stops and chucks it with just his arm, and throws it 184'5". This puts him in NINTH PLACE. They only take NINE to finals. He beat out TENTH place by ONLY ONE INCH. For those of you in the throwing world (which are probably few, given my audience) you know that this is a ridiculous circumstance, and that he is LUCKY BEYOND BELIEF to have even made it to finals. SOOOOO they take 9 to finals, but only the top eight place. In finals, they throw in reverse order, so the kid who was 9th throws first and the kid in first place throws last. That means our guy is up first to throw. BUT WAIT! PIAA officials decide to be jerks, and tell our guy they could DQ him because his shorts have too many Under Armour logos on them! The horror! He must quickly put another pair of shorts on over top of the ones he's wearing, and PHEW, he can throw. Now the boy is just fired up (he was favored to win coming in to the meet...). So, the first throw of finals, and our guy pops a 221'3" throw. You know, a mere 40' farther than his last throw:) It was amazing just to watch it. He was only 3 feet off the state record. And it was a PR for him by about 2 or 3 feet. That ended up being the winning throw. The kid who came in second place threw 203'. Yes, our guy won by 18'. Not too shabby. He's going to Puerto Rico in a couple weeks for an international meet, then we're going out with him to Ohio State University the third weekend in June for Junior Nationals. So yeah, Mike's a stud coach.

After Saturday's events we finally came back home. Mike's sister was in town from Texas, so Sunday after the first hour of church, we left and went to HersheyPark with Mike's parents and sister. I underestimated how dull HersheyPark is when you can't ride the rides. We had a good time, nonetheless.

Monday we had a picnic at our house. Whenever Mike's sister is home, there's always a big to do because most of their family is local, and they love to see Amanda when she's here, since she's really the only family that lives far away! We'd done it before in parks, or at Mike's parents house, but we decided to offer to host since we've got the big deck, new grill, and big yard. It was a good time!

AND - we made the announcement to Mike's extended family that I'm pregnant:) I haven't blogged about it previously, because he wanted to tell his sister in person, and his family in person. I think they may check this blog (hi!) so I didn't want to blow the secret!!

Anyway, here are some observations on pregnancy so far:

I get nauseas all the time and it's not pleasant. Toothpaste makes me gag. And I don't really get sick enough to vomit, but I almost think it's even worse sometimes when I get the dry heaves, and just can't stop for 15-20 minutes at a time. I've been surviving mainly on cereal, fruit, yogurt and occasionally burritos or something like that. I can't stand chicken, unless it's in nugget form. Or if it's in hot wing form, with a side of Grape Nuts. I kid you not. And every time I eat, I feel like I've eaten a thanksgiving meal. You know, when you've eaten so much that you have to undo the button on your pants, and then you have to breath really, really deep, but can't because you feel like your stomach will explode.

Also, pants aren't cool. They're tight and constricting. And my boobs are getting big, ruining my regular, everyday outfit of khaki's and a button down. I literally had a button pop open one day. Thank goodness I was wearing a white t-shirt underneath! Flashing boob would not be a good career move.

Also, my sense of smell has gone crazy. Now when I go for a walk around my neighborhood, I can tell which houses have cats, because I can smell the cat pee all over the yard. I am also having a hard time being around particular students who are smelly. They are smelly for a variety of reasons, but they all really gross me out.

I'm not showing too much, and I wish I would just hurry up and SHOW, dang it! I just look chubby for now. My goodness, when I look down at my own tummy, I feel like I'm HUGE! I mean...ENORMOUS! And then I look at myself sideways in the mirror, and it's just a tiny, tiny little bump. But I guess I'm only 16 weeks, and my pregnancy book says that for many first time moms, "showing" doesn't start to happen until almost 20 weeks. So. Ya know. It'll be a while.

My job continues to suck. Apparently many people here have voiced concern over the increasing problems we've had with unruly students, and unsupportive administrators, and low teacher morale. So at our last faculty meeting our administrators thought it would be helpful to give us a tongue lashing, explaining that we should just suck it up, deal with discipline ourselves, and stop whining because the administrators have enough to deal with because so many parents are calling in to complain about their kid getting disciplined. I think a nice, "We know it's been a tough year, but you're doing a good job, so hang in there, it's almost over" would have been nice. But no, it's tough love here. Actually, it's "SCREW YOU" here, because they just don't care about the teachers. All they care about is making sure that parents get what they want, so that less parents will complain, so that administrators will have less to do. Sounds like a solid plan. Not. Why don't we just let students do whatever they want? Oh wait, that IS what we do!!!

Moving on, there are only 6.5 school days left with students, plus one day of inservice after that. My room is pretty much cleaned out already. I did that yesterday and today. I'll have a few things to take out my last in-service day, but mostly everything else is gone already. Farewell, PHS. I hate you.

On another note, I wore my "I HEART WORLD HISTORY" t-shirt today for our dress down day. Kids loved it. Told me I was cool. I already knew that, but whatever.

So, it's 3:30 and I can leave work now. Bye.

boooooored

It's been one of those ridiculously busy, yet boring boring boring weeks. I feel like I've been go, go, go, and yet not doing anything particularly interesting or fun. Bah!

I'd say the highlight of the week was one of two things: The French Revolution Song, which I broke out on Monday and Tuesday, or dinner at Cantone's last night with Mike's track team (they're off to districts today!).

So, uh, sorry this blog isn't more interesting. I'm trying to think of interesting things to say, and they just aren't coming. I guess after all the exhilaration of breaking up fights and whatnot, this week has just seemed dull. However, hearing all the rumors about the fight gets more and more hilarious every day. What I've heard so far:

1) I got punched in the face
2) I sprained my ankle
3) I broke my ankle
4) I got a black eye
5) I got a broken nose
6) I got slammed up into some lockers (even though there weren't any lockers ANYWHERE close to where the fight took place...)
7) I swung back and punched a girl in the stomach
8) I swung back and knocked a girl out
9) I swung back and knocked a girls TEETH out
10) I had to be rushed to the hospital in an ambulance

Those are the good ones I've heard so far. It's really quite hilarious, because if I see a kid in the hall that I haven't seen in a while, they get all worried and serious, and ask me if I'm doing ok, and if I'm recovering alright. They seem somewhat disappointed to hear that the rumors aren't true, but I'm still a Legend, so it's ok:)

Uh, anyway, I guess the only other thing I wanted to mention on here was in relation to the Strawberry Rhubarb Upside Down Cake recipe that Sara posted on her blog...

Well I went to make it last week, and not surprisingly rhubarb wasn't available at the grocery store, and I didn't call Mike early enough for him to walk down the Harrisburg farmers market and get some. Soooooooo, I substituted kiwi for the rhubarb, and made some Strawberry Kiwi Upside Down Cake! It worked out quite well! It tasted MUCH better cold, than straight out of the oven, and I put a layer of cool whip on top. Delicious!! So if you're lacking rhubarb in your area, too, here's an option for you!!

I AM LEGEND

What a story I have...

We all know that I don't dress up very often for school. But every now and then, I feel the need to look somewhat professional, somewhat nice, for a school day. Monday was that day for this semester. I wore a dress. A DRESS. I honestly don't even remember the last time I wore one...Sure I wear skirt/shirt combos at least once a week, especially when it's warm, but not dresses. I just bought it on Saturday, because Mike thought it was cute on me...And I just felt like looking nice on Monday, so I wore the dress, with some heals, and did my hair all nice and pretty. I should have known that whenever I attempt to dress nicely, SOMETHING is going to happen. And Monday, it was epic.

I broke up my first fight. And it was a doozy.

I was innocently walking down the hall towards the office, and as I got ready to round the corner, I heard lots and lots of yelling and screaming. I knew something was wrong when I rounded the corner, and saw hoards of students circled around some event going on in the middle. I sprang into action!

I started yelling, "HEY! HEY! HEY! HEY!" I don't know why, but it's all I could think to say...so then I dove into the crowd, and had to shove kids out of my way to break into the middle of the circle. Once I got in there, I saw two girls, both of whom I have in class (thankfully, in DIFFERENT classes...). They were beating the crap out of each other. This was not a cat fight. Both girls were swinging their fists hard, but only one girl was landing punches. It was bloody. So once I saw they were punching each other, grabbing at each other, I just jumped in between them and grabbed the one girl in a bear hug. I thought it would just end, but no, the other girl KEPT SWINGING at the girl I had, who was now defenseless, couldn't even put her hands up to protect her face. I saw the girl swinging, and swung the girl I was holding out the way in one arm, and then grabbed the still swinging girl by the hood of her sweatshirt with my other arm. At this point, the were still trying to attack each other, and I'm just trying my hardest to keep them far enough away from each other to make sure there was no contact, nearly getting hit several times myself. And there I stand, one girl in each arm, just trying to figure out what to do next, because the girls weren't quitting. Meanwhile, the crowd is still surrounding us, and people are just yelling. I stood there for about 15 to 30 seconds, yelling "WHAT IS GOING ON?? CAN I GET SOME HELP!" because there were other teachers outside the circle, and a bunch of adults standing in the office just watching. Finally, one of the assistant principals showed up and took the one girl, and I had the other girl, and we basically dragged them into the office. And then it was over...my heart was racing so hard. I honestly didn't even think about what I was doing, I was like some tiger or something, and just sprang into action on instinct. It was crazy. And the ONE DAY that I had to break up a fight, just HAPPENED to be the day, that I wore a DRESS and HEELS. Go figure.

And apparently in the melee, one of the girls stomped on my foot, and it got bruised up. And now I have battle wounds.

But the great part, is that now I'm a legend. At the end of the day, about 5 or 6 other teachers came into my room, worried to death, because the story going around is that I got punched in the face, and that it didn't even phase me and I still ripped the girls apart! These teachers were telling me that kids were coming into class and just going on and on about how I broke it up, and kicked their butts, and took a punch and kept going...And then today, just walking down the halls, teachers and students alike keep telling me how awesome it was...it's really quite hilarious, but I've decided that since I'm going out, I'm glad I'm going out in style! This is my legend.

I AM LEGEND. In a dress.

Pictures, as promised!

So here they are! The new grill, and Bird with her awesome sunglasses and new boyfriend Hank. She seriously has him buckled into the front seat of her car:)

Some things...

Some random happenings and thoughts, since I haven't blogged in a while

1. Had a nice little lunch today with Deb at Friendly's! Thank goodness for my every other day 2 hour plan period and lunch back to back!!

2. We spent this past weekend doing fun stuff! Friday we went to Philly to see Mike's Javelin stud throw in the Penn Relays. That means I didn't go to work! Woo! Then Saturday it was beautiful out, so we worked in the yard. I weeded, cleaned up the deck, opened up and cleaned off the picnic table, put the canopy on the deck, and washed windows. We also got a new grill! Our old one was blown over during a winter rain storm, and broke. We found a sweet deal on this big old grill at Home Depot, and brought it home!! I'll post pictures later when I get them on the computer.

3. Bird was our house guest this weekend! She came Saturday night and stayed until Sunday night. Then, mom and dad came over after church (they're still in our building) and we all barbequed with our new grill! Food was fabulous, of course!

4. We had Bird's birthday dinner on Monday night at Cantone's! Had the lobster ravioli, of course, and it was fabulous. Her birthday wasn't until Tuesday, but she had to skeedaddle on back to work in State College, so we had her dinner early.

5. I bought Bird an "escort" for her birthday. His name is Hank. He now occupies the front seat of her car. I just hope someone doesn't break into the car and steal it from her, because he's sooooo hot. It should be enough to get her into the carpool lane without any problems, though. (picture to follow)

6. Bird went and bought herself a new laptop! I don't know why I'M posting this, but I am, because it's cool. Now that she's got a new laptop, she might even be able to get online, read my blog, and leave complaints about how my blogs are always too long!! It's a neat little Gateway laptop, very sleek and sexy looking. She had the Geek Squad outfit it for her with all the stuff she'll need.

7. Monday was the most horriblest day at work ever. I had to come back and read my sub report, and it was not pretty. Just when I think I'm making progress with these little delinquents, things go to crap and I have to pick up the pieces all over again.

8. There are only 26.5 days of school left, after today. Then 1 day of in-service, and I am SOOOO outtie!

9. Last week, a kid in my class smelled so bad, that I actually threw up.

10. I am currently having my students watch a black and white movie on Martin Luther. It's an Academy Award winning film. It just happens to be from like...1930.

11. I have a nice farmers tan going on. I'm going to look really, really really funny the first time I wear a bathing suit.

12. Mike thought it would be funny to give me a hickey on my left arm. He was wrong.

13. Today is Kazakhstan Day in Kazakhstan.

14. I sent a kid out in the hall today to wait for me until I could go out and talk to him about his disruptive behavior. When I got out there, the principal was reaming him out, because he found the kid laying on the floor throwing a ball against the wall.

15. I'm the timekeeper and score keeper for our Girls Lacrosse Team here at Palmyra. The team is not very good. But I get paid $27 per game.

16. Chelsi came to mutual on Tuesday. It's been almost a year since she'd been to church. HOORAY!

17. My overhead projector broke twice this morning.

18. Chrysta gave me some free stuff. I like free stuff. Especially from Chrysta, because she has VERY GOOD TASTE!

19. I applied for a job as a CSR at Cindy Rowe auto glass. It's 5 minutes from my house, they pay over $10/hr to sit at a desk and answer phones. I think I can handle that, for now at least. Plus, I'd get to work with Melissa Wilkerson (formerly Holland).

20. I also bought Bird a pair of Sunglasses for her Birthday, that look just like the goggles from the new version of Charley and the Chocolate Factory, in the scene where they mess around with the televisions, and Mike Teevee gets sent by television. They rock.

21. Dad told me that I'm his favorite child. Ok, not really, but I can just tell:) (haha, jokes)

22. My new car battery works very well. My car starts, and everything!

23. I make lots of lists. My life revolves around lists. I am looking forward to eliminating my "To Do" lists at PHS. They are really, really long.

24. The Candidates who are going for my job have to come in and teach my 2nd and 6th period classes on Monday and Tuesday of next week. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
But no, seriously, good luck with that!

25. I'm 25 years old, so I felt that I couldn't stop at 24. So...hmmm...one more random thing...Ah yes. I'm going to buy a wheelbarrow tomorrow!

That's all, folks!