Lil' Slow Poke

I am good at many things. Keeping up with car stuff is not one of my talents. Every 5,000 miles I am asked the dreaded question: " What kind of oil do you want?" My standard reply is " Um, I don't know, the black kind?" Usually, the sometimes patient car person will just write down something and get me on my way.

I noticed last week that one of my stickers on the car was about to expire at the end of the month. So, today I drove to a car place and up to the little garage. This is always super awkward when there isn't a little guy telling you where to pull your car. Do you just pick a lane? Do you stay in your car? Do you get out and just walk up? So much pressure! But, I digress, the oil changer man soon walked over to me and asked what I needed. The conversation went something like this:
Oil Man: "What can we help you with?"
Me: "I need my car inspected"
Oil Man: " Why?"
Me: "Because it needs to be done, and this is the only free time I have had this month, and there are only 3 days left in September, and I don't think I will have time to come back later."
Oil Man: "Your car doesn't need to be inspected until October, you need to get your car registration before the end of the month."
Me: Is that the thing I got in the mail, and is in my purse?

So, I can never go back to that oil change place because I clearly made a fool of myself rambling about my busy schedule, and my mail.
Moral of my story: Read the stickers on your car before going to the car place and don't ramble to strangers. They laugh at you.

Another ramble:
My car's name is Lil' Slow Poke, hence the title of the blog. See, I used to have a fast little sporty car, but then I got this car, and it just doesn't go as fast BUT it is very reliable. :)

Survey

My friend Bethe, posted this survey on her blog. I am a copy cat and decided to fill it out as well!

What were you doing at ten last night?
Sitting in my bed, writing sub plans for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I had just finished watching Grey's Anatomy. ahhhhh I love that show!

Are you good at giving directions?
No way! I call Michelle, Audra and Ashley ALL the time to ask for directions. I agree with my friend Bethe, when she answered that it is a disablitlty!

Last time you cried really hard?
Today at work.

What is your favorite thing to eat with peanut butter?
Smuckers Strawberry Jelly

When did you get in your last argument?
I’m not confrontational, so I pretty much just take it all in and then unload it all on a friend who isn't close to the situation who can give objective feedback.

Do you prefer hot or cold weather?
I love hot weather because I can spend my day in the pool and getting a tan.

Could you go out in public looking like you do now?
I could, but people might laugh! My hair is wet, no makeup, and my pink Flip flop pajama shorts and a lime green Kindergarten field trip shirt.

If you could go any place in the world where would you go?
Currently I wish I could be home at my mom's house in Abilene, but that's just because I am stressed. My real choice would be to go back to St. Thomas!

Have you ever made someone so mad that they broke something?
Nope, not yet!

What is your favorite color?
My favorite color to wear is brown. My favorite color combo for my house is black and red. My fave. color to look at is pink.

If you could go back in time, how far back would you go?
Hmmmmm.....I have had so much fun in the past, especially in college, but I don't know if I would choose to go back. I like where I am because the best is always yet to come!

When is your bedtime?
I am a weirdo and require at least 10 hours of sleep to function. I should go to bed at 8:00 each night. I am usually in bed by 10:30 and asleep by 11:30.(I like watching Friends at 11:00.

Are you quiet?
I always have a lot to say unless I am in a new situation.

Have you ever collapsed on the bathroom floor?
I became great friends with the bathroom floor in St. Thomas because of a stupid virus. I also slipped and fell one time. Talk about embarrassing!

Do you like your music loud ?
YES! If I am driving, I love to sing to the radio!

Would you rather stay home all day, or be out and about?
I could be content staying home all day, but after a while I would be super duper bored!

Last thing you purchased?
Gas and food for a luncheon this morning.

What's your worst habit?
I hate shoes and take them off as soon as I can. I usually have shoes laying around my house in every room

Plans for the upcoming weekend?
This weekend is pretty boring: Working on some assignments for my class, studying for a quiz, grocery shopping, church, and subbing for a friend in the baby class.

I can't wait for NEXT weekend! I have some friends coming over for dinner, movie and just hanging out! I am counting down the days until that little get together!

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Well, I will be 32, most likely still working in a school, but hopefully as a school counselor.

Where are you at noon every day?
In my classroom, sitting in my chair reading a chapter from a fun book that the kids picked.

How many speeding tickets have you gotten in the last 5 years?
Hmmmm........probably just 2.

Do you keep your closet organized?
Of course. It is sad how freakishly organized it is.

What movie are you waiting to see in theaters?
SO MANY!!!!!!!!! I can't wait for Nights in Rodanthe, also the one with Leonardo DiCaprio, and Kate winslet. YEA movies!

What is your favorite drink?
Diet Dr. Pepper with Vanilla or a Cherry Coke

Lucky Duck

I spent most of the weekend at a meeting. Most people would walk away from the meeting frustrated that it took up most of their time off. I on the other hand actually enjoyed the meeting because of my co-workers. I know, I know, I have rambled in past blogs about my great co-workers, but they really are a great group!
There were about 5 other schools attending this meeting, and I can honestly say, that we were the most fun school. We have a great group of teachers who will work really hard on the task at hand, but will have fun in the process. (Makes the day go by much faster).
After the meeting, I had big plans to run errands, work on some school work, bathe my puppy and then meet some friends for dinner. However, I came home and slept for 3 hours, after this well-deserved nap, I woke up with a nasty headache, and what I call a "1-900" voice. Not that I know what that would sound like, but Tippett told me that on Friday. :)
Favorite Quote of the Day:
"Respect the Weed"

Wahoo!

I felt like I was rushing around today, and just pushing things around, and not making any real strides in accomplishing anything. On top of my daily "stuff" to take care of at work, I had a presentation and a test tonight at school. I had hoped to sneak 10 minutes of my conference time to look over the test material, but of course was too busy to even look up!
Thankfully, I have a very calming team-mate who really encouraged me before I left to go to class. I am usually pretty good at handling stress, and deadlines, but sometimes, it just gets overwhelming and you need that little voice of sanity to put things back into perspective.
I made a 100% on my presentation and another 100% on a paper! YEA!!!! Maybe I CAN do this grad. school stuff!

Weekend

My crazy weekend was soooooo much better than last weekend! No mice, no bugs, and no bad visitors! I this week was so busy, and left very little time for sleeping, so on Friday night, I was pretty much out of it! Saturday, the exterminator came and then I left to go to Abilene for a 50th anniversary party for family members on my dad's side. We had a fun trip out to Abilene and everyone stopped by my mom's house for a little bit before heading out to the Ball Ranch for the party and dinner.


When you arrive at the Ball Ranch, you get a great taste of Abilene without having to visit all of Abilene. Enjoy the pictures!

Nothing says "Welcome" like a rusty old bath tub in front of a barn.

Mimi, Aunt Melinda, Missy, Aunt Cindy, Mom and me

Mimi, Bobby (It was her 50th anniversary!) and my mom

Cindy, Sam and Sunny by a random tree INSIDE the barn

Can you find the best part of this picture? Nope, it is not the skeleton. Nope, it is not the noose in the background. Nope, not the Christmas lights in September. It is the PLUG and LIGHT SWITCH on a tree, inside a barn. We are talking HIGH class here people!

This was the cutest part of the dinner. Terrell and Bobby, holding hands during a song. They have been married for 50 years. I have heard many stories about them, but don't personally know them very well.

So, 3 hours to Abilene, 2 1/2 hours for dinner and party and then 3 hours back home makes for one tiring day!

TV

SPOILER ALERT! One of my favorite (very silly, and I didn't agree with it all the time) shows has come to an end tonight. Greatest American Dog crowned the 'greatest dog in America' tonight. Of the final 3 dogs, I was pulling for Travis and Presly, a cute single guy, and a pretty sweet Boxer. :) I must admit, I had wanted Laura and Preston ( a little pomeranian) to win. But they were sent home early on because Preston was not a good painter.
Although this show had the owners and dogs doing silly events like painting, dancing and talent, I was still somehow drawn in every week to see the cute dogs. I must admit, Copper would have been perfect for that show, and had we participated we would have come home a quarter of a million dollars richer! - I am just sayin'. :)

A Balancing Act and a bunch of rambling!

Did you know that I am a professional juggler? ( I didn't either!) Lately, it seems that is all I am doing. Bouncing from one deadline to the next, trying to find the perfect balance of work, school, gym, me, my little animals and friends. I have not found that perfect balance yet, but I am working hard to find it.
At work, I feel like a first year teacher all over again since I am new to the grade level. THe great thing is that my kids make me soooo happy! I am so thankful for this little group of kiddos.
I could easily spend 10 hours a day for a week in my room and still not have it perfect. Most of the problem stems from my need to have it perfect. Also, because it is a new to me classroom, I am still trying to find what I need, and the optimal location for each item. Sometime this week I need to build my classroom library, move my teacher table, and clean out and organize one more cabinet and a list a mile long of little misc. items to take care of.
At school, everything is manageable..... so far. It has been kind of nice to have something that MAKES me stop working on work stuff and focus on something else for a while. I am also so proud of myself for doing several projects correctly when 7 or more students in the class misunderstood the assignment. YEA for me listening!
Gym - This summer I was super dedicated about going to the gym. Many days I was able to go twice a day. I went on the first day of school. That was August 25th people! I have not had time to go since. There goes all my hard work.
Friends - I have really been neglecting my friends lately. I get so wrapped up in work and school, that I forget to take time to laugh with my friends. On Saturday, I had a unique opportunity to volunteer at the Tarrant County Food Bank. The best part about it was that I needed to go there for a school project/research paper, AND my singles group was already planning on going there on that day! So, I killed 3 birds with one stone. I got to get the research part done while talking with other volunteers, spend quality time with some amazing friends at my church and just laugh a bunch. Also, I got to volunteer!
My Pets- They have also been neglected lately. Usually I take Copper for a walk every night, and spend time throwing the ball. Since one night each week I am gone over 15 hours, my poor dog has been acting so sad. I did however, find a co-worker that lives close and has a teenager to come over and let him out during that day.
Me - It seems like work has just consumed me for over a month. (You can probably tell from the blog. Everything lately is work related!) I am giving myself 2 more weeks of staying late and being consumed by work. THEN...... I am going to leave work at work, and leave by 4:30 4 days a week. (We will see how that goes!)
Ok, I think I am done rambling for tonight. Next blog will be 100% un-work or school related!

One Step Forward and About A Million Steps Back

The last blog I posted I got to brag about how brave I was sweeping a stupid dead mouse away. Well, the braveness has worn off, or only applies to dead mice.

I was packing up my stuff to take home for the weekend, and when I grabbed my lunch box guess what was in it........... nope, not a mouse. It was 3 roaches the size of a mouse. EWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!! Although I wasn't brave enough to throw the lunch box away myself, I was brave enough to continue working for another hour or so.

I had an uneventful ride home pulled into the garage and that's when the worst part of my day occurred. A MOUSE RAN across the garage floor just as I was getting out of my car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My mom was on the phone with me, and had to pretty much coach me out of the car and into house. Needless to say, the pest control people will be here as soon as possible! At least when I am at work there are people around to hear if they suddenly attack. At home, I am all on my own. The bigger issue of the mice is that I live half way to no where and back up to undeveloped land. I am thinking over getting an outside cat to take care of the mouse problem, but then that might open up even more issues with leaving it food. My mom has an outdoor cat, and skunks have invaded her garage and have been eating all of the cat's food. I don't like skunks either. Hmmmmm.... What to do, what to do......

I am so brave!

Around 8:00 tonight I walked out to the garage to take out a bag of trash. That is when I saw it. A dead, tiny mouse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I came in and pouted for a good 15 minutes before putting on my big girl shoes and going back out to the garage to dispose of the nastiness! I bravely swept the stupid mouse out into the ditch where he belonged.

Week in Review

I wish I had some really funny stories to post, but I don't. I can however sum up my first week.
First Grade:
I am still absolutely LOVING teaching the first grade. I know it is still only the first week, and I am sure there will be ups and downs, but we are off to a great start. I have discovered how funny my kids are this year. It is like all 19 became little comedians over the summer. I spent a majority of my week just laughing with my kiddos. Here is a funny comment I heard this week:
We were walking down the hall and my new sandals were sticking to my feet and making a really funny sound. When we stopped at our destination my precious line leader whispered to me with a very serious face, "Miss Shipley, I think you have a flat tire, you are making a funny sound." of course I was trying sooooo hard not to laugh as I tried to explain.
There were some other REALLY funny things said, but I of course didn't write them down and have now forgotten them. I will have to do a better job of keeping up with the funny stories!

Grad. School
My first class was ok. I met some great new friends, and am sure we will become very close before all of this is said and done. The class will keep me busy, but there isn't anything that is too complicated, or unmanageable. I finished my first paper this weekend, and have already started on the second. The main thing will to just learn how to balance my time for work, school, and personal.
Long Weekend:
On Friday, my Grandmomma and I traveled to Abilene to visit my mom. We had a great trip down. my mom welcomed us with a yummy salmon dinner. After dinner we watched a movie and I fell sound asleep before 10:00. On Saturday, we ran some errands and I was able to make my monthly Sam's stop to stock up on everything I would need for the month. WE stopped by Dillard's and I purchased some clearance back to school clothes for 75% off!!!!! ( My favorite purchase was a pair of pants I have been eyeing for a very long time. I got them for under $10!)
On Sunday, it was a perfect day for swimming!!!!! This is my all-time favorite activity! It had been 3 long weeks since I had been outside for a considerable amount of time. 10 minute recess, and 15 minute dismissal doesn't count! We came back home on Sunday afternoon.
Today I have spent just catching up. Laundry, errands, and working on some examples for next week, and papers for grad. school.

Next post I will try to have some pictures and other good stuff.