This could get interesting...

One of the blogs I read (http://www.mamakatslosinit.com/blog/) gives writing prompts and I've chosen this one. :)

2.) Create an FAQ page for yourself that answers frequently asked questions if people were to frequently ask you questions. People make those up all the time. YOUR TURN!

Here goes...my FAQ page.

Do you have other redheads in your family?  No, not yet.  Who knows what'll happen if we decide to have offspring (we being my sister and I).

How many kids do you want?  1 probably, MAYBE 2.

When will you have kids?  When I'm filthy rich...lol.  Probably around 30.

How old are you?  24, yes I know I still look 16.

Oh! you're married? Yes, yes I am.  People that look 16 but are 24 are allowed to get married. :P

Do you play video games?  Well, yes, if you count computer games.  None much lately though.  There might be one I start playing in December... (Star Wars Old Republic).

What are your hobbies?  Reading, OMG I love reading!  Into classic and newer fantasy.  Like LOTR, Harry Potter, and Tamora Pierce.  I also like to surf the internet, speak french, entertain my students, and eat.

Favorite food?  Pasta, Italian, Cheese, Creme Brulee, chocolate... oh! only ONE thing? ;)

What do you spend waaaaay too much time doing?  Surfing the internet, hands down. :P

What do you do?  I'm a high school French Teacher atm. :)  Give me high schoolers and no younger and I'm happiest!

How is teaching going?  It's going pretty good.  I'm SO busy it seems.  I finished doing the bare minimum today and will just have to finish the rest later.  My students make it so worth it, though.  I always feel sorry for my 1st and 3rd periods though because they are my "guinea pigs" while the following periods receive a much more cohesive and refined lesson plan.  They don't know any better though, so at least there's that.

Hubby:  Do you want to go to Thai Won On?  Yes dear, always.  (Our fav. restaurant a little ways down the road).

Are you hungry?  I'll never say no...

Got any weird habits?  yes, I love cleaning under my nails.  I like to decimate blackheads (my husband thinks I'm beyond gross for this). I have a problem with remembering to turn off the oven and stove. I get really really itchy legs in cold weather.  I always wake up 5 minutes before my alarm ONLY if I go to bed a 8:30pm. I like the blankets on my bed to weigh me down, regardless of the temp.

Some cool things...

Ziplist.  It's a new way to save recipes you find online all in one place.  It doesn't matter where you find it from either, just enter the info into the recipe clipper and voila, its in your online recipe book.  If you find as many recipes as I do on various blogs, this is very handy.

Pinterest.  I've been hearing about this quite a bit lately.  It's the hot new sharing website these days.  Too bad I'm only on the waitlist still, but hopefully I'll be able to sign up soon.  It MUST be popular, or they're doing background checks or something... ;)

Seattle Restaurant Week.  It's several days where top end restaurants in Seattle have 3 course meals for 28$/person.  Considering its usually 50, it's quite a deal.  Hubs and I will be trying out Ray's Cafe in a couple weeks.  If you're a fellow Seattelite, you might wanna check it out.

Giada.  Seriously, I love this lady.  Her cooking show is just my style.  She's talented, italian, quirky, and yet so down to earth.  Except her house.  Seriously, this lady has it all.  Even an adorable baby and perhaps a SAH Husband?  He never seems to work that is . . . she makes bank.  If you like cooking italian with a twist, you've gotta check out her shows.  Sometimes, they have full shows available on hulu too.

Things I've made lately:  Roasted corn with lime/parm, Edamame stir-fry noodle (I didn't use chicken (veggie hubby) and added mushrooms), basil pesto (substituted edamame for nuts, you should try it tonya), and thyme biscuits (didn't do the thyme this time, running low on fresh, but I'm sure its good).

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend.  We sure did.  Today we went to our Patriots bar and watched the game.  We beat the Jets, it was epic.  Next weekend I'll be heading out to visit relatives, especially the two newest ones, Luci and Dru. See the newborn pics here.

I love this song...

...no matter the day.  Happy Weekend everyone!

Funny story...

Ah the things that happen...

We have quite a bit of new technology in our classrooms in Northshore, including a microphone that has four speakers in the ceiling throughout the classroom.  To the students, it sounds like you're talking directly over their shoulder and helps with keeping their attention.  Not to mention how much it helps save a teacher's voice.  Anyway, I was using mine turned up medium volume when all of a sudden ...

I leaned over, even closer to the mike, and sneezed.  The class gave an audible gasp.  It must've sounded like I'd just sneezed right into their ears.  I looked up and grimaced for them and then started laughing at myself.  They joined in, thinking it all rather funny.  And it was...

Oh the joys and quirks of technology.

Mad Men . . .

What I've been doing lately . . .

planning, teaching, coming home and watching Mad Men.  If you haven't heard of it, it's a show about the "mad" ad men during the late 50's and 60's and their families.  It sure gives you a pretty accurate picture of what life was like for the middle-upper class during that time.

And boy are they mad.  The housewives struggle keeping up spotless appearances while their husbands work extra long hours coming home late or not at all.  It highlights interesting tidbits, like the total lack of litter control.  The main family in the show goes on a picnic and the father throws his empty beer can into the woods.  Then, the wife simply picks up the picnic blanket, shakes off the garbage and they all walk off.  Evidentally, there were enough clean places left to pick a new one the next time.

The men in the ad agency are constantly vying for recognition and raises and the one woman copywriter struggles to get paid 2/3rds of their paychecks for the same work.  Affairs and flirtations are commonplace and the office is filled with women doing all of the meaningless, dull tasks (yay secretarial).  And then come the weird and strained, husband-wife dynamics, the distanced relationships between fathers and children, the practice of women giving birth while heavily sedated, and other fun stuff.

And then there's Peggy.  She's amazingly successful for the time, becoming a copywriter after the men surprisingly (or not) discover that not all secretaries are brainless as they try to seem.  But, she just doesn't ever seem to fit in.  She's practical, cool-headed, learns from her mistakes, and is talented.  Nothing that is expected from a woman in these times of course.  (Either you are poor, or a secretary, or if you are wealthy, a housewife).  She isn't any of things, and people just don't know what to do with her.   She's simply before her time and she's so refreshing to watch.  She's my favorite character by far, though perhaps not the most "mad".

It's all so perfect looking on the outside, with corruption abounding inside despite people's best intentions.  It's simply fascinating and makes me laugh when people call them the "good ol' days".  They were simply different days with their own vices and problems. Today it seems that the middle class has fared much better in recent years, especially women, but we still fail at providing for the lower class, especially women and children. But that is another matter...

If any of this sounds interesting to you, there's four seasons on netflix and its in the middle of the fifth I believe.

Any of my lovely readers want to share what their fav. show is?

Cruise part deux

 So, yeah, sorry this post is so late. :P  Here's a few highlights of our cruise.  And now, our ship:

We had a tour of the galley, here's a little taste of the artistry of our crew. :)  Yes, it's all fruits and veggies.

A refreshing drink before a tour.  Yay for free stuff! :)

 Us on the first day. It was lovely weather, and rather breezy.

Mum and Dad on the first morning.

 Our dining area.  The windows overlooked out the back of the ship.

The first sunset view from the ship.  A little slanted, but beautiful all the same.

Our first port was Ketchikan, where my cousin and her family lives.  We had a great time getting a tour from the "locals".

Here I am overlooking a river overlooked the pathway that used to lead to all the brothels that used to be rather popular with the men a few decades back. ;)

Below is me loving on my cousin's little black kitty.  She was sooooo happy to be petted.  I wanted to take her home, but didn't think they'd let me for some reason . . . :(

They have some gorgeous forests and plants in Ketchikan, I had to get a picture.

Micah wishing there still were brothels here . . . lol . . . j/k   But, yes, another view of brothel row.

 The "young folks".  My sister, her husband, us, and my cuz and her husband.  We are a good-looking crew, if I say so myself.  It was sad to say goodbye later that afternoon.

Aunt Karen and Palin, best buds. :P  We found her acting the "momma grizzly" in Ketchikan and catching fish evidentally.

The dining on our cruise ship was FANTASTIC!!!  Some of the best food I've had anywhere.  We hope to take this particular ship again somewhere new sometime, mostly because of the food.

Here's our water, showing the famous "baked alaska" we were served for dessert.

Me trying frog legs for the first time.  It might not be my last, they weren't bad.

 More dinner shots.

 Janelle and hubby.

The entertainment was also top notch!  We went almost every night.  Some nights you just gotta be lazy on a cruise . . .

 Our theatre.



The main attraction (and most awesome) were the acrobats.

 And more.  They were beyond talented.  Micah liked them so much, he's friends with them on facebook.

And the last day and evening on the ship was bittersweet.  We got some nice cruiseship pictures though.

Farewell pretty ship.  We'll be back again someday.  Micah and I are determined to become "gold" captain club members someday.  (Which means a lot of cruises, which would just be oh so hard to put up with.)

If you haven't been . . . go.  Simple as that.

So tired . . .

I haven't been posting as I should because it's been a very busy week.  I taught all day and even though I got my 8 hours last night I came home and crashed for another two.  Teaching can be very emotionally draining.  I ended up arriving a little late and was rushing around a bit for most of the day like a chicken with its head cut off.

The day seemed to fly by and by the time the last student left, I just wanted to lie down in the middle of my classroom floor and take a nap.  But, like a good person, I did prep for tomorrow and then dragged myself home.

The kids are awesome though, so it makes it all worth it . . . :)