The awesome things we can do for each other.

Another fellow blogger posted this from Harper's Happenings and it was so cool that I've passed it on to all of you.



Happy Thanksgiving!

No School AGAIN!

So our half day of school tomorrow is canceled, meaning I didn't have to work one day this week. Woohoo! I love having so much time off! Though I am worried that we're going to be using our quota of snow days early this year and will have to make it up later. :S I'm also hoping that everything will be just dandy next week, because now I have less time to prepare my chilluns' for the end of quarter grades. :S The last two days were meant for them to catch up/turn in work/etc.

It snowed several inches last night, so the hubby and I did not venture outside at all. I've heard though that drives of a few minutes are taking hours because of the snow/ice. It's been several degrees below freezing allll day long and I'm sure that school is closed tomorrow more because of the black ice than anything else.

I need to venture out tomorrow sometime though and get grocs. I'm making a mincemeat pie for Thanksgiving and mashed potatoes. I'm really hoping it's not too icy by then . . . I once really busted up the tire/axle of my previous car because of snow/ice, and I can't afford a repeat.

I can't wait till Thanksgiving! I'm going over early Thurs. afternoon to help mom with everything. We always do Thanksgiving piecemeal at our house. Everyone contributes something to the meal which makes it a lot easier for everyone to do the fun things at Thanksgiving without having to spend the whole day cooking.

I seemed to have lost my mincemeat pie recipe, so I'm going on a limb and just going from what I remember. But, I've always thought pies were just so simple to invent. As long as you remember that you need lemon, spice, fruit, and something for thickening, then you're good to go. I haven't used exact measurements for pie filling in a couple of years now. That's partially why I like making pie so much. It's quick and easy and no one believes I just sort of made it up.

Here's a few pics of the snowfall:

I forgot to take a picture this morning, but see all the ground in this pic? Yeah, all covered in almost 3 inches of snow. The rooftops are still almost 5 inches thick. The parking lot still looks rather icy. :S

It's supposed to warm up Thanksgiving Day and even rain, so I'm sure it will all be gone by this weekend.

And, mom sent me another sweet pic of me and Libby, so that's what we'll end with:



Saying goodbye . . .

My parents put down Libby, one of our pets since I was about 10 years old. She was getting old and had sores and issues with daily functioning so mom and dad decided it was time. She was put down this afternoon.

My mom wrote a touching obituary for our baby doggy:

LEGACY’S SWEET LIBERTY
Libby was born in Richland, Washington in February 1997 and died on a snowy day in Bellevue, Washington on November 22, 2010. She lived thirteen years and nine months.

She brought a lot of joy to her family through those years. She helped Janelle and Jillian grow into fine young woman and was even on sight at Jillian’s wedding on August 7, 2010. She walked thousands of miles with Sherry and Gordan and was clipped around 70 times in her lifetime.

At the end of her life, she was still a loving and gentle little dog who loved her family more than anything.

She will be greatly missed and fondly remembered by her family: Gordan, Sherry, Janelle, Jillian, Misty (her faithful companion, and at the end of her life, her body sore moistener), Derek, Micah and Milou (Janelle’s kitty who loved sneaking into Libby’s bed to sleep with her).

We love you Libby and will remember you forever.

Evidentally, Misty (our younger snauzer) knows that she is gone, and is grieving today with mom. I think my mom plans on finding her a new companion so that she won't be so lonely. Misty is a very sweet and social puppy.

This pic was taken about a week ago when I saw her last to say goodbye.

I leave you with an excerpt of a poem written by Cristina L. Tronnes

Special Friend

I lost a special friend today

the kind you can't replace,

and looking at her empty bed

I still can see her face.

I see the endless energy

the sparkling puppy eyes,

Not the tired, fragile friend

I had to bid goodbye

It will truely be a struggle

I don't know how I'll face each day,

I have to let her go--I know

But in my heart she'll always stay

 



Cute pics from this last summer

For our first outing as a married couple, my family invited us to play in the sun with my sister and her hubby's little sailboat they inherited from grandpa-in-law. It's rather tiny, but a zippy little thing. Once we got far enough we had a good amount of wind and really went flying.

We had a picnic as well (of course). Misty wanted Micah's cookie . . .

I sure hope I look this cute for a long time to come. I don't even look too white because the sun was setting. :P The long was cute, wasn't it? It was way too hard to manage though. So it had to go . . .

So, my readers, what's your favorite memory from this last summer?

Enough about summer, now on to WINTER!!! and hot chocolate (which I'm having now) and Christmas and gifts, and Thanksgiving and decor! I'll have plenty of posts to make about the holidays I'm sure. Stay tuned.

Conversation from this evening . . .

Hubby:  I know what to make for dinner!

Me:  what?

Hubby:  My pasta stuff, white cheddar with shells.

Me:  Ah, do you wanna make it?

Hubby:  No, I wanna raid (gaming term, don't bother asking unless you wanna hear about WOW).

Hubby: *pause* can you make it?

Me:  If you ask nicely?

Hubby:  Will you please make it, since I did the dishes, and the laundry and cleaned . . .

Me:  So you want to guilt me into making it?

Hubby:  Your such a good, sweet wife, will you make it darling?

Me:  Now you're trying to bribe me?!?

Hubby:  Will you please?

Me:  Alriiiiight, I'LL make it. *smile to myself*

Later On

Hubby:  I accidentally washed one of the cat toys today.

Me:  Oh? what does it look like? . . . Is it a fuzzy one?

Hubby:  It's one of the little mice toys.

Me:  They are all little mice, dear.

Hubby: Well, it's one of the small ones.

Me:  . . . they are all small, dear.


Hubby:  Oh you! It's NOT a fuzzy one! Kay?

Christmas is a coming . . . .

Oh my goodness! I've been bit by the Christmas bug! I'm really siked this year, more than usual. Perhaps it's because it is our first Christmas together and I get to plan everything in my own new place and do things however I want. I've already bought some ornaments and decided that our tree will be silver and red to match our regular decor. I also bought Christmas cards already. Now we need to do a family photo. Not sure what to do for that. But we've gotta do a pic with our new baby, Milan. She's lounging on the bed looking adorable as I type.

Anyway, I realized just how excited I was while I was shopping at Macys today. I already bought some gifts for my mom, sister, and baby niece. So many gifts that I need to get/make this year, now that I belong to two families. My heart soars just thinking about it. What's so great about Christmas? It's the world's best holiday. We all take time to think of others and to do nice thing for each other. And that's makes us all feel really great inside. All holidays should be like Christmas.

But first up is Thanksgiving, and I'm going to make mincemeat pie. Speaking of cooking, I need to make dinner . . .

I'm all over the place, aren't I? :P

My other baby . . .

The Hubs and I clipped my parents' dogs the other day and this is the younger one, Misty showing off her messy beard and new haircut. :P (You're not supposed to trim beards on Snauzers) I miss my little cutie pie every time I look at this. I'll be cuddling her this weekend when we visit and try out Kinect! :D Until then, I will cuddle my own little fuzzball . . .

Oh the gold ol' days

This is one of my fav pics of my sister and I. Bet you can't guess which one I am! Isn't my sister darling? She has such precious baby pictures. I don't really remember this buggy, but it looks like it would've been a lot of fun. I think we upgraded to a red wagon, and that became our main transportation till I turned at least 11 or so. Now the red wagon is something I remember! :D Love you sissy. You were such a great playmate, till evidentally I became a pesky upper grade schooler and you decided reading books was more fun than entertaining your much younger sister. Not much to blame there. ;)

Anyway, hope you enjoyed my little flashback. I had to share since Mumsie had it on her desktop this week in honor of our cuteness.

First sub job cont.

So, I only taught two classes, and I just administered a test for both. So, a really easy way to get paid, imo. But, it has to be done. :P The first period I had was a little more challenging. It was clear that they did not have many rules they had to follow and it was challenging to make sure they were all sitting far enough apart so they wouldn't cheat. It was obvious that many of the students did not give a rip about whether they passed or not. Evidentally, listening to music and using electronics was "ok". Many were not pleased when I banned them for the test. Blah. There weren't enough calculators to go around, and I wasn't even sure they were supposed to use them. I let them use non-graphing calculators, just to makes sure. But, some had to use their cell phone calculators since I had run out. Not ideal. I had to do a lot of class wandering just to make sure that none were being used for other purposes. They were noisy, disrespectful, the usual. Anyway, not my fav. experience, but I finally got them quieted down and then I got some respite.

The second class was worlds better. It seemed like the teacher cared a little more about whether they learned, or she just didn't give up on this class like she may have for the other one. They were all very motivated to study for their test, working problems on the board, etc. They were eager to start the test, so they could finish on time. When I asked how they felt about the class, they said that they didn't learn nearly as much from the teacher as from youtube videos. Hmmmmm. Great. Anyway, they were quiet and respectful and motivated, so I was happy.

I really hope none of my students says "oh she's nice, but I have to learn from the internet because she doesn't actually teach". I have no idea who the other teacher is (besides her name), but perhaps she's sort of given up on her profession? Ah the realities of the real world . . . .

Subbing today!

Well, it's my first day subbing. My students are in the middle of a rather long and grueling test, at least that's how it appears. So far so good, but more updates later. There's been some good, and some not so good.

Some Kittified and hubbified Cuteness

 My husband will most likely NOT appreciate me posting this picture. Ah well, beat me hun! ; )

Oh my goodness, aren't they precious? Gosh, just imagine the look on the hubby's face when he holds our future baby. That is, if we have kids, like in 10 years, maybe.

*Yawn*

Look mom! I founds your blanky! It's so nice nn sooooft.

Gosh, life is juss soooo harrrrd sometimes!