Where Was I?

Greetings from the end of my first week of summer! I'm not going to apologize for my brief blogging hiatus because I've been doing really, really important things. I have a personal feeling that summer can't start without a few important to-dos being checked off the list. Such as:

Going to a ridiculously hot concert where you are going to sweat your buns off. My besties since first grade, my main squeeze, and I headed to see Dispatch in Millenium Park last week. It was hot as balls. It was full of seventeen year olds drinking and smoking pounds of inappropriate things. It was full of super awesome summer music. It was full of besties. And most important, it was at the most beautiful place to see a show in the city.

See?

I've also been babysitting/tutoring my cousins a TON. One set lives a mile away from me, the other in my parents' neighborhood. I have watched some hip new cartoons (What the HELL is Dinosaur Train? A baby T-Rex hatches out of a Veloceraptor mom's eggs and rather than assume the mom is a ho they go on a Dinosaur Train? I'm confused. Also, veloceraptor is not in my spell-check. Weird) I have colored, I have played soccer, I have demanded that my older cousins go outside instead of playing Wii all day. I have made some fat cash to spend on sundresses, I mean, paying off my loans. Very relaxing.

Kev and I also went up north last weekend with Kev's high school dudes and their sig others. I love those humans. We wore sweatpants all weekend, made campfires, ate smores, and drank delicious Wisconsin beers. It was awesome, and relaxing. I can't believe I've had so many awesome people in my life for such a long time. If you would have told me 10 years ago that Kev and I would be married, and how many CHS people would stand up in our wedding and be generally awesome, I would have laughed. Life is funny like that....

Despite the fact that I have NOT been training for the half-marathon, eating healthy, blogging, or generally thinking about work, it has been an awesome start to summer. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go get ready for this afternoon's Cubs v Yankees game, to which I have free tickets for one of my besties and myself.

I don't think I could EVER work all 12 months out of the year :)

Graduations

Last week was my last day of grad school. Today was kindergarten graduation for my sprouts. Things are changing and coming to an end, and to be honest, I've been in such a swirl of last minute to-do lists, that I haven't really had time to sit down and reflect.

This morning, I got to watch my kiddos onstage. It was the first time that we had tried to do a music show and graduation with ALL the kindergarteners, and I have to say, they were fantastic. They came dressed up, gelled down, and extra-obedient. Some of my rowdy kiddos were downright solemn. It was nearly miraculous. After the ceremony, my toughest student today sidled up to me. This was a boy that cut people with scissors, had problems nearly everywhere he went, and made me want to cry on more than one occasion. But then, he stopped me in my tracks today for something good. He gave me this:

Something about the bamboo heart, from a boy who just yesterday had drawn a monster in his kindergarten memory book when asked to draw a picture of me (little hilarious jerk) made me pause. To me, it meant that deep down even if he couldn't say it, he wanted me to know he cares. He loves me. He even picked it out for me all by himself.

This year was a hard year in lots of ways for me. I fought some battles, won some, lost some. I chose to move on from a group of people that love and support me, knowing something better had to be out there. I hit rock bottom and came back up. But I also got straight As in grad school, taught my kiddos to read and write, learned to find wells of strength and dignity I didn't know I possessed, and was shown how many people believe in me and in what I do for students.

With one action today, my rowdy punk changed the way I'll remember him. I'm not going to remember the times he sneezed on me, or kicked other students, or looked at me and said "no, I'm not doing that." Instead, he'll be the boy with the bamboo, who reminded me that the kids who need the most patience from you are often the ones that you end up making the biggest impact on.

I hope as I "graduate" my current school, that people remember me similarly. I know I demanded a lot of patience from people at times, just as I gave infinite amounts to the naysayers at my school. When it comes right down to it, however, I hope people remember me as somebody with a big heart.

Maybe graduation isn't just for kindergarteners after all :)

A Day on the Lake

One of these beers is not like the other.....one of these beers has been in the sun too long.

*** If your brain does not think in song like mine does, that should have been sung to "One of these things is not like the other" a la Sesame Street circa 1988.***


ANYHOO, Kev and I went up to my parents' lake house for the first lake weekend of the summer this past weekend. It was rad. I loved the chance to get away with my family and my best guy in the midst of the final days of the school year and masters program. Most of the weekend was cool and crisp, but yesterday, just after my parents left, the sun came out to say hello. Kev and I decided to take the boat out. We had a fabulous day on the lake with lots of sunshine, moderate SPF and beers, and minimal stress. I finished the last 400 pages of a 461 page book (She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb for my chunkster challenge) and lounged in the sun. We ate a picnic lunch at sea and soaked up the rays of the second real day that has felt like summer since last October. All was well and good until......

We couldn't get the boat started to get back in and head back home. I'll spare you the grunting, swearing, sunburning and panic that ensued to say that I am proud that Kev and I managed the ordeal by making a plan, not screaming at each other, and getting the boat towed back to my parents' place. I will also say that I am glad to have such a strapping, able-bodied, tall husband that was able to stand near the shore and push the boat up to a stranger's dock so that we could tie it up and call for help. I will also tell you that I now have created a rule that I am not allowed on a boat without my phone again. Nothing like a broken boat and a sunburn to make you realize how much less of an adult you are than you thought you were. Good thing I had my partner in crime by my side.

Fill in the Blank Friday

Kev and I like to sing via gchat to each other when moments are boring at work. This is rare for me, but fun when it happens. See if you can name how many terrible top 40 songs we "sang" today.

me: FRIDAY FRIDAY
gotta get down on FRIDAY
Kevin: ha ha ha
ohhh YEAH
me: half an hour and I will be out like a trout
uns uns uns
Kevin: YEEEEAH BOY
me: I cannot wait
Kevin: Bump some Pitbull/TPain Hey baby
me: ooooh baby bay-bah
nananananaNAHna

We are pretty cool, I know. Wanna know what else is pretty cool? Fill in the blank Friday, brought to you by Lauren Link up or comment to play along :)

1. If I could get away somewhere for the weekend I would go to Napa Valley, California. It has to be warmer than 40 degrees there. I could drink outside with Kev-o, eat fancy shmancy foods, wear a sundress, and get to see lots of it with just one long weekend. It would be pretty bangin'. Although Kev and I are going up to the lake tomorrow-Monday, so that will be a pretty close second place.

2. Something I often rant about is how messy my house is. Although I must say I rarely feel moved to really do anything significant about it. I really need to do a little more each day so it doesn't pile up and leave me smothered by cat hair. Yeesh.

3. One item I need to have in my fridge at all time is salsa. I am salsa obsessed. I love to have a few different kinds so I can spice up my meal with whatever I'm in the mood for. I almost always have ranch as well. Lots of things (pretzels, pizza, turkey sandwiches with lettuce) taste better with ranch.

4. My "life-saving" product is Pond's makeup wipes. They smell fantastical and get all of your make up off at night. Boots No 7 also makes a great brand. For some reason, I'm so lazy that I see actually washing my face as a chore- these do great after workouts or before bed.

5. A friend is someone who loves you because you are a weirdo and not in spite of it. To quote CoCo Chanel "To be irreplaceable you have to be different." I love all my weirdo friends.

6. If I could write my own blank it would be Something that I was scared of as a kid that still makes me nervous is________________ For me, it's worms. No doubt, hands down. Those things are skeevy,

7. My favorite kind of art is a toss up between paintings and photography. So maybe something mixed-media would be my real favorite. I am in awe of painting, because I have no idea how to do it and most paintings are so alive, but I am fascinated by all kinds of photography.


Happy Friday! Partyin' Partyin' YEAH

Sweat Lessons

Today was a brutal day. Things were awful at work, and I came out in tears over a committee meeting in which things somehow went terribly wrong. I firmly believe that the worst feeling in the world is discussing a problem with people, and seeing a solution that would work, but being so flustered by the emotions of the situation that you can't really get your words out to help the situation. That's exactly what happened to me today and it was rad. Not.

Thankfully, I had registered for an hour long weight lifting circuit class with a dear friend who always gives me perspective. What I love about this class is that it moves quickly and has a lot of variety, so that the hour flies by. I also love that it leaves me sore the next day. I'm sort of a masochist when it comes to my workouts. If I'm not sore the next day, the whole workout seems a waste. Maybe that's why I run.

Anyways, I've had one foot off the workout and healthy living wagon for a while now, and some pounds I lost have slowly been finding me. My head was cloudy while the instructor was explaining the circuits, and I was a little sloppy. It was also an instructor I hadn't experienced before, and he was a bit stern. While it's too early to tell if I'll be sore tomorrow, I will say that being taught by somebody I didn't know at all who was none too kind left me with some lasting lessons that I would like to share with you all today. Namely:

1) If you really pay attention the first time, you will be shamed much less frequently later on when you have forgotten all the things that you were pretending to listen to earlier. Feigning interest does not actually mean you have absorbed the information you should have. And man, that makes me feel like an ass when that happens.

2) It really is true that when teaching somebody something new, your praise for them should outweigh your criticism. By the end of the lesson I was seriously craving some positive reinforcement. I was definitely the elephant in the room today, and I grew to dread each time the instructor walked by. My butt was too high while holding my plank pose, then it was too low. My feet were farther than shoulder width apart. Our "active rest" station was really a plank station in disguise. The resting should last one to two seconds max. Ack. I definitely need to remember to give my kids more love. It sucks when you try to do something new, and nobody sees how hard you are trying. Lesson learned, kindergarteners. I'm going to praise your pants off tomorrow.

3) It is a much better idea to maintain being in good shape than to take three weeks off due to bronchitis, then a cough, then remembering how much coughing sucked last week. Take it from me, people.

4) A good workout can make a bad day go away.

TGTIF people.

Fill in the Blank Friday

Usually on Fridays, I do Five Things Fridays, but I'm getting kind of sick of the routine. Not to mention all of my posts are incredibly random anyways. To change things up a bit, I decided to link up with Lauren and give you some randomness in a new and different way. So here you go! Want to play? Link it up!

1. People always tell me I look like........Minnie Driver. I think its the big boobs and big lips thing. Or the unruly mane of lion hair. Although, my dad swears I look like Angelina Jolie. If I was a parent, I don't know that I would admit that to myself. Maybe I need some tattoos.....

2. Friends don't let friends........moan about needing to lose weight if it's not really necessary. They also don't let friends say something negative about themselves without saying something positive. Friends also shouldn't let friends be picky eaters. Friends know how to talk friends into and out of bad decisions.

3. A sunny day is perfect for........reading outside, drinking outside, or taking pictures outside. A sunny day is also perfect for aww-ing over people's cute puppies or babies. Or both, apparently, if you live in my neighborhood. Some families just hog all the cuteness.

4. My favorite accessories are ........my wedding band and engagement ring. I love, love, love, love them. I also adore the Pandora bracelet that my mother-in-law got me and that my family keeps adding on to.

5. If I could afford it I would ..........take an international vacation every single year, forever. I'd make sure I got in 3-4 good airplane-worthy trips a year. I get stir-crazy if I don't have a trip planned.

6. The cure for boredom is to............... get out of your house. Go for a walk, bike-ride or drive. Take a book with you- if you can't find a cool place to go, you can go read in a park or a coffee shop.

7. I am currently "in like" with .... I'm slowly welcoming more salads in to my life. I've discovered that if I add a lot of stuff to them, that it doesn't taste like rabbit food. I'm also in like with some new running shorts I got from Target. They are tight like bike shorts but on the longer side to prevent chub-rub. I'm hoping I can grow to love them as I run more. I'm also currently only "in like" with my students. Usually I love them but they are getting the May crazies, and I'm losing my mind.

How would you answer these questions?

Disturbing Dreams

Hello long lost friends. I haven't posted in ten days, and have been getting many a text reminding me so, which makes me a very bad friend indeed. Kev and I have been living in chaos lately, what with the upcoming end of quarter in grad school, end of my school year, and general emergence back into the social scene after a long winter of hibernation. Things have been downright busy and disturbing around here, including our bedroom.

See? Yikes. Kev and I have ordered a new, big kid bedroom set, which comes tomorrow. However, because our new QUEEN-SIZED (!!!!) mattress arrived and my brother claimed our old bed for his college apartment, we are temporarily sleeping on a mattress on the floor. Like meth dealers. (Sorry if you are a meth dealer, but it's true. You all sleep on mattresses in your dens.)

Now, sleeping in such minimal conditions has its perks. When you lay down and gaze up at the ceiling, the fan sort of looks like a UFO.

(Sidenote: should I say "a UFO" or 'an UFO'? I know 'an' follows the vowel rule, but an UFO sounds awkward. Help.)

Also, from this vantage point your room looks ENORMOUS, since the door appears to be very, very far away.

Best of all, sleeping on the floor has induced strange, strange dreams in both Kev and I. The past few nights I have dreamt that I was a 50s housewife, wearing gloves in the supermarket. I have also dreamt that all the floors in our apartment were trampolines, which was a much more inspiring vision.

Kev's dream was much more fabulous. He dreamt that he surprised me with a baby seal, which he kept in our bathtub so that he could swim. Sadly, however, I was furious, because I felt that he was trying to torment me with heartbreak, since clearly a baby seal would grow out of the bathtub in a few short months. I feel that if this happened in real life, I would find a way to make it work, though. Baby seals are really freaking cute, and a big seal would be pretty rad. I also feel bad that Kev was picturing me mad in his dreams. Have we really been married so long that I nag him in his dreams instead of fill him with lust or joy? Sigh.

Thanks for tolerating the long delay, folks. I promise to get back to my regular 3-4 times a week schedule soon. In the mean time, what bizarre dreams have you had lately?

Fun-Sized

Sometimes, it's tough to be fun-sized.

For example, when you go to a favorite sushi place and realize that they've redone the bathrooms in a trendy unisex style that fails to differentiate for the petite woman.

How is a lady supposed to make sure no inappropriate cleavage is showing? Or check to make sure that she doesn't have bunches where there shouldn't be?

I guess the lady in question should return to her gal pal and consume as much wine as possible. At least, it worked for me.

Seis de Kevin

Today is a big day, people. See? Even Kev has been anxiously awaiting it.

Today is the date of birth of one Mr. Kevin G. Huzzah! Huzzah! Let the people exalt. However, Kev gets extremely concerned on this day, because he feels that cinco de mayo steals all of his birthday thunder. He frets about this rightfully. Yesterday, a student brought me homemade tamales for cinco de mayo. Today, nobody has brought me any food at work.

But, I digress.

Kev demands that his birthday be called 'seis de Kevin' and that it be celebrated in a style much grander than cinco de mayo. Therefore, I shall now make a list for you of six things I love about my husband, the birthday boy.

1) Kev makes anything fun. He is the best partner in crime a gal could ever have. We have laughed harder at the grocery store than more people probably do in a month. He also uses this fabulous sense of humor to humor my whims, which I appreciate. He even loves puns. Furthermore, Kev also has the best laugh ever. Really, it's more of a giggle, but that doesn't sound burly. So laugh it is. Even if I don't think something is funny, it's impossible to stay mad at him because of that laugh. Trust me, I've tried, too.

2) Kev has the widest range of interests of anyone I know. He's a rabid sports fan, he loves to cook, he is a talented artist, he reads avidly. He loves anything to do with history. I love that he's curious about the world, and can talk intelligently on such a wide array of topics.

3) I've seen the kid grow up. Because we've been friends since high school, I've seen many incarnations of this guy. He's made bad choices, good choices. He's been an athlete, a world traveler, a pre-med student, a business man, and so many things in between. It amazes me to think of how far he's come since we've met. It's even more amazing to think of how much more we're going to experience together and change together as the years pass. I feel privileged to have been a small part of that.

4) Kev pretends to hate our cats. Back when he used to contribute to this blog, he even write a whole post about our "hell spawn." However, he really, really, adores them. I am told they have epic chats in the morning before he goes to work. Kev always makes sure to buy them the good food, not the cheaper stuff I try to get away with. He worries about them when we go out of town. The old softy.

5) The man loves ice cream and is 'meh' about cake. As am I. I love that he sees the pure joy in making an unexpected stop for ice cream, and can appreciate the joy of sitting on the deck splitting a pint. Love, love, love. Believe it or not, it's a rare quality in a guy.

6) I don't know how to put this into words, but we're never bored together. We talk, we chill, we watch good (Mad Men) and terrible (Teen Mom) tv together. We read side by side. Having him in my life has made things better in every way possible. I'm blessed beyond words.

If you see KG today, be sure to give him a big hug and sing Happy Birthday really loud. He likes that. Happy 28th my dear!

Photography Update

I took this photo about a month ago, while I was on spring break. A friend and I headed downtown with our cameras and got artsy with our bad selves. Throughout the day I think my photography skills got better. I took a few duds, but a lot of shots I really liked. And that's when it hit me.

To be a better photographer, I need to PRACTICE. Duh. I constantly tell my students that if you want to learn to do something that is hard for you, you need to practice, practice, practice. That if something is hard, then you need to work harder to make it happen for you. And yet, I haven't quite been able to apply these lessons to my own photography.

I think the problem is time. I'm not making time to take the camera out and wander. I'm not making time to complete the MCP photo challenges that I wanted to do. Grad school and work are getting in my way. To top it all off, it's been raining, and really, there are only so many things you can photograph in your home. Especially if you only have two crotchety cats rather than cute babies or something. Maybe I'll get really good at self-portraits.

So I ask you photo people out there: what websites/tutorials/books helped you unleash your inner shutterbug? Help!

Mental Space

Oh, hello strangers. I'm sorry I haven't written in a whole week, my mental space has been cluttered. My thesis was due on Tuesday, and I spent Monday writing, editing, polishing, and getting things under control. It feels phenomenal to be able to see the finish line on my grad school horizon.

Along with seeing the finish line on grad school, though comes seeing the finish line at my current job. I've been feeling low about it lately, possibly the lowest I've felt since realizing I should leave. It's hard. I love many of the people I work with. Now that the announcements have been made about who is teaching in what positions next year, the general public knows that I'm leaving, and are processing the information in a way I processed it many moons ago. I've been truly touched by the number of people that have come to me to say that they will miss me, that they love the way I work with my students, that they feel I am an amazing teacher. On the other end of the spectrum, two of the people that made it necessary for me to go have been unspeakably cruel. Ignoring me. Not asking my opinion regarding instructional decisions being made for my students for next year. Calling me unprofessional and disappointing to my face over something trivial. All of it. Knowing I had so many people that loved and supported me in a place I'm about to leave. Knowing that people I work with daily have such a misconstrued opinion of my motives. Not knowing what I'm walking into next year.

All in all, I think the change will be good for me. I walked into my current school feeling cocky, with six months of teaching experience under my belt, sure that I was God's gift to teaching. Over the last four years, I've learned to be humble about my skills, to admit my mistakes, to grieve for and laugh with my students without letting the tough times define me as a person. I've learned how schools really work, about special ed and gifted ed and ELL and native language transfer and more acronyms than one profession should really have. I've learned how to take marker stains off of almost any thing. I've also learned that I am a force to be reckoned with, while also learning to choose my battles wisely. Yet, on some level, I think that on some level, my current co-workers will always see me as that disorganized, impulsive 22 year old, and not the thoughtful, hard-working teacher I've grown into. Maybe moving on will help me to find my voice as a teacher, in a way I've only really begun learning how to do this year.

Processing all of these upheavals in my career has been taking up a lot of mental space. I'm only now starting to clear the cobwebs that two years of accelerated grad school and school changes have left behind. Writing this long post today really helped me to put my emotions in check. So thanks for reading, friends.

First Comes Love, Then Comes?

One of my co workers recently had a baby, a beautiful little girl with a head full of hair and some chubby cheeks. Her husband is also a teacher in our school district, and together they sent a video to their students of them with the baby. It was the cutest. I happened to be in the room when the video was played, picking up first grade students for their ELL time. Walking back to our classroom after watching the video, the following discussion was had between students I, E, and myself.

I: Mrs. Gas, do you have a baby?
Me: No babies, just you guys.
I: Not US! You need a baby that you can keep in your house.
Me: Someday I will, but not today.
I: You are too skinny to have a baby. Your baby will be too small if you have it right now. (Note: I am NOT pregnant. I am also not making this conversation up.)
E: You need to eat a lot with your husband to get a baby.
I: Yeah. Eat together. Do the eating. Do it in the kitchen. Do it in your bed. Do it in the bathroom maybe. My mom does it all the time. That's why we have lots of babies.
E: Then, you need to bring the baby to us after you get super fat and it jumps out. We can play with it for you.

It's good to know my unborn children are in such good hands.

Shipping Mysteries

I love online shopping. It is ridiculously convenient, especially since I am crazy busy these days with grad school and other assorted mayhem. Of course, I prefer to shop locally when I can, but for my chain stores like Express, AE, or Toms, it's sometimes easier to go online. I love many, many things about the city, but often when I want to shop at one particular store, I find it easier to do so online, since I get too lazy to take public trans and too skeptical to try and find a place to park my shiny red Focus.

Of course, online shopping comes with hazards. Clothes that don't fit the way I imagined. Mishaps with what has actually been shipped, versus what was ordered. Thankfully, I tend to have very positive shipping experiences when I do shop online. I also love to track the packages and see when they are coming in. Recently, though, with Old Navy, I had a package tracking mystery. Check out the dates and locations of this package below:

This really, really boggles my mind. My package started in Ohio, went to Georgia, came up to Highwood, and then decided to CHANGE LOCATIONS and go back to Atlanta? Maybe the weather wasn't warm enough for it. I'm totally stumped. Good thing I only ordered some basic tank tops and not anything really valuable.

How does this shipping stuff work, anyway? Postal workers of the world, please explain it to me. Mil gracias.

My Morning Warm Up

As I alluded to yesterday, I'm not the greatest morning person. In fact, I hate mornings. My brain needs until about 10 am to wake up- which is a major buzz kill when you are a teacher and have to be "on" as soon as the kids walk in. To help my brain wake up, I've had a very similar routine for the past four years upon arrival to my classroom that I thought I'd share.

The first thing I do when I walk in the door is to do a quick temperature check. My room is used after school by the homework club, and has a fire door that leads to the outside. Because of this, my room is often freezing or boiling, depending upon the whims of the teachers using the room or how many people have snuck in and out of my door to avoid being caught by our principal.

Next, I fill my gigantic water bottle. As a result of my Game On! diet days, I have become extremely concerned with making sure I get 100 ounces of water over the course of the day. My "suitcase of water" as my friends on staff have dubbed it, is a giant hot pink water bottle with a straw from Target that holds 50 ounces, which I try to drink over the course of a school day.

After that, I go for some brain candy and skim the headlines of People.com I'm a sucker for anything royal wedding related, or related to the gals from Teen Mom. I also have a strange love for the Kardashians and Bethenny from Real Housewives of something. Don't know why. Can't explain it. But somehow, this morning dose of brain candy helps me to get my ideas flowing and my mind in order.

Following my brain candy, I go to swagbucks.com. This site is totally rad. For doing simple searches, they reward you randomly with "swagbucks" totally FREE dollars that you can spend on different things. Although my heart belongs to google for searching, I try to do a few searches a day on this site to earn my bucks. Typically I earn one buck a day for voting in the daily poll, one buck a day for checking the surveys, and a few for searching. I tend to save mine for $5 Amazon gift cards or for free magazine subscriptions. Score!



All of this takes about ten minutes. The rest of my morning (typically about an hour before the students arrive) is spent in a frenzy of coping morning routine or assignment papers:

and trying to find my happy place. If it's a Friday, we have a staff provided breakfast in the lounge, where I go try to get a few minutes of grown up time in before the kiddos come. If I have extra time, I'll browse a blog or two on my Google reader before the kiddos come in. (Let me know if you want to know what I'm reading on the interwebs.) It's funny, but having the routine I do lets my body go on autopilot for a few extra minutes while my mind wakes up. Often, I find myself subconsciously brainstorming activities and tweaking the plans I've made to get things done.

Am I weird? What websites do you visit first thing? What routines at work could you not function without?

Laments

This weekend was super fabulous. Kev and I met up with some friends at one of our favorite places on Friday to watch the sad, sad opening series of the Blackhawks playoffs. Let me tell you friends, it has only gotten worse since Friday, too. Stupid Canucks and their stupid physical playing. Or, more accurately, stupid salary cap for forcing us to get rid of my boyfriend and role model for defensive playing:

(Thanks, ESPN)

See how he is using his booty to prevent scoring opportunities? That's how I solve all my floor hockey woes, too! I also use that move to close overstuffed kindergarten lockers and kitchen cabinets. My booty is multi-talented. See how Buff has a Hawks jersey on? That's how it should be.

Anyways, I digress. So, I had a major lament on Saturday when it was cold enough to necessitate my trusty sweater boots with a dress and leggings combo instead of the sultry sandals I had planned for my date night outfit with Kev. I moaned, I groaned, but I persevered so that we could visit a favorite restaurant and check out a new bar nearby. (Sidenote: this bar has my favorite beer, Victoria, ON TAP. Totally rad.)

However, the above lamenting is nothing compared to the laments I have regarding today's weather.

It is April 18th and there is snow on the ground. Snow that makes my trusty sweater boots once again necessary, instead of the cute five dollar dress I have been yearning to wear. Aggggghhhhh. Woe is me. Lament. Lament.

At least my kindergarteners are eternal optimists. The weather discussion of the day during morning calendar yielded this consensus:

My fingers are crossed.

5 Things Friday

1) The above scene made ma laugh out loud this morning. Which is a hard thing to do, because I am a beast in the morning. I hate them all. I do, however, believe that this is the politest house near us. They also have a sign on their gate that says "please close me." Although, I must admit, I think I now qualify as a large pet because I stepped right where the sign gently admonished me not to in order to capture this photo. Oopsie.

2) Why does my entire facebook feed revolve around people getting pregnant, their babies, or their uteri? (uterus-es? what the butt is the plural of that wretched word?) Facebook might as well just have put a big magenta sign on my home page that says "YOU ARE GETTING CLOSER TO THIRTY! BEWARE!" Yeesh.

3) We are going to one of my favorite dive-y northside bars tonight to watch the Blackhawks playoff game. All I can think about is eating my body weight in their fried pickles and buffalo chicken tenders. Thank God I went to an abs class yesterday. I think I have the soul of a 12 year old overweight boy. Or any of the kids from the movie Heavyweights. I love my inner fat kid. Or at least accept it.

4) Felix (orange cat) pushed out the screen from our second story window this morning and sat on the sill wrestling and playing chicken with Dante (black and white cat). Good thing we have two cats just in case an accident happens.... Our neighbors, I fear, think we are insane and/or permit our cats to do such things. Kev was ticked, to say the least.

5) Speaking of my dearest husband, his 28th birthday is coming up and I have NO idea what to get him, as the art supplies that I thought were such a brilliant gift for Christmas have gotten zero use. Message/email me if you have suggestions.

Happy Friday!

Rock 'n' Roll

Spring is my favorite time of year for many reasons. I love living in Chicago and trying to figure out what the weather will do. Will I wear flip flops? Snow boots? It makes a really nice spring day even better because we don't take it for granted out here in the Windy City. Mostly, though, spring means that a new running season has started.

Last summer I took a little hiatus from running. With my RA, I wasn't really sure if I'd be able to train for anything serious, and quite frankly, I was sick of running and training. This year, though, I'm back in action, and I'm training for something exciting.

Excuse the crappy banner picture, folks. I just don't really have another pic to go with this at the moment. I'm registered and training for the Rock 'n' Roll half marathon in Chicago! I love to run. I love the pacing, the pushing yourself, the opportunity to be alone and just listen to my music and plan routes that let me check out different parts of the city. I love the squeaky clean feeling you get in your lungs when you are done running. I love having a schedule to work out to, especially in the summer when I need extra structure. Love. Love. Love.

I started my training on Monday, when I ran a whopping three miles. I used this as a little test, to check out where my body was at. You know what? I rocked it. I think all of my Game-on diet and exercising and cleaning up my act this winter helped me do more than just drop 12 pounds. I think (gasp) it ACTUALLY MADE ME MORE FIT! So, yesterday I ran 4 and finished two minutes above my goal pace. Woop woop! Today is a day off since I have grad school, but I am feeling absurdly proud of myself. I also like to know that I am doing something good, since summer is coming and I plan on spending as much of it on or near the water as humanly possible. Plus, with Kev getting up early to workout in the mornings now, I feel like less of a slacker if I get a good run in.

I'm planning another post in the near future about running tunes, but I have to ask. What is your favorite running/workout song? I'd love some new tunes for my new lil baby iPod.

Happy Spring!

Senior Slide

Oh, friends. It was 75 degrees out today after a long, cold blizzard-filled winter in Chicago. Kev and I went for a walk after church, and then I came home and did grad school homework. Really, if I'm honest with myself, I should still be doing said homework instead of sitting around with magazines. Senior slide has hit full force with me this last term of grad school. I have a thesis to write and one more class to take, and somehow I cannot seem to get motivated in the slightest to finish any of it. I'm the laziest of lazy beasts.

Spring is definitely in the air. The countdowns to summer break (42 days!) have begun, and soon my principal will announce staffing for next year-which will not include me. It's hard to believe that in 8 weeks I will be finishing grad school and ending the last four great years I spent at my former school. Next year I'll be moving to a new place, with new people, and I'll have left the kindergarten world behind for the world of junior high ELL. I have to keep reminding myself that change is good. My friends are also all moving on- moving to new, far, neighborhoods. Seeing us less. It's a strange, crazy season in my life right now, and I'm alternately thrilled and terrified.

5 Things Friday

1) I am meeting up with one of my favorite people and bestest friends tonight for sushi. Not the chill, byob sushi by my place, but a trendy sushi place in my old trendy neighborhood. I am greatly looking forward to some swanky drinks. I'm not, however, in the mood to look terribly cute. Skinny jeans, t-shirt and scarf it will be!

2) Speaking of jeans I have a terrible pair of mom-ish jeans with wide legs that were in style about five years ago. Even though they are hideous, I keep them around to wear on Friday jeans day at work. Today, however, they busted a hole in the upper thigh. Thankfully, you can't see them. Also thankfully, I'll be working with older students next year so I can buy a cute pair of trouser jeans without fear that they will end up ruined by purple glue stick. Junior high teaching may have more secret joys than I realize.

3) I need to learn how to use manual focus on my camera. Last week I went downtown and practiced shooting. While I ended up with some cool pics that I will post soon, I somehow couldn't get the camera to capture the vision I saw. This is for sure my fault. Reading and practice would help. Being done with grad school would give me the time to do so. Good thing June is around the corner....

4) My parents came to school today to talk to my kindergarteners for "community helpers" (career) week. They are a doctor and a nurse. It was really weird to hear them call me Mrs. Gas. Even though everyone else at school has been for almost two school years. So odd.

5) Speaking of Mr. Gas: the other day, Kev asked me a tough question. Namely, if I were to be stranded on a desert island with only three ice cream flavors to eat, what would I choose? I chose Moose Tracks (fudge and peanut butter cup chunks in vanilla) dark chocolate fudge, and vanilla with raspberries. Kev argued that vanilla with raspberries is not a flavor. I disagree. I know there is a raspberry vanilla swirl out there somewhere, and that is what I would want. Kev picked strawberry (his fave), moose tracks, and cookie dough, arguing that if you got sick of ice cream, you could get the cookie taste. I love the way that man's mind works. What would you choose?

Spoils of Shopping

I love to shop. Always have. As a baby, my mom and grandma would take me shopping, and when I fell asleep they would just buy me pajamas and keep on going. However, I don't let myself near most major stores for fear of going overboard, so I frequently go on binges at my favorite store of all time...Target.

I talk about Target so often, in fact, that all I have to do is mention that I went shopping, or that I got something from the classroom, and a few teensy Mexican children will curiously ask "a Tar-git?" or "did you buy Target yesterday?" Let me tell you, the joys of kindergarten ESL teaching are many.

Back to Target. I talked my sweet, loving, adoring, devastatingly handsome husband into the necessity of a new ipod for me for the running season. Specifically, the new ipod nano with the handy teensy size and little clip to put on my shirt or pants while I run. I also pointed out that if i purchased said ipod at my favorite location of my favorite store, I would save 5% with my Target visa (I know, it's a sickness. They don't even pay me to write with this level of passion) and I would ALSO be in the suburbs, just avoiding the obscene Cook county taxes. Double win. So I came home with this....

(Please excuse the blurries. I was trying to take the photo with my phone. Plus, the blurries hide my hideously swollen hands. I haven't been being very nice to my arthritis lately, and it shows. Thank you for putting up with my semi-intentional terrible photography so you can see my new toy.)

Now, this is freaking sweet. Seriously freaking freaking sweet. I cannot wait to go on my very first run of the running season tomorrow with this bad boy. BUT THEN...the day got better. I happened to stop by the clearance rack to see if there were any fabulous pieces of clothing. (Kev, remember how much you loooooove me? and how you ENCOURAGED me to go to Target??? I do) Behold....a cute teacher dress!

Covers the goodie bits, cute color, slight style, long skirt so I can sit on the floor with my peanuts- this dress needed to be purchased. And, wait for it.....IT ONLY COST $5.05. YES! YES! YES! A win for everybody. A five dollar dress....and a 5 dollar times a billion ipod. Rock on.

Dante even likes it.

Triple win.

Date My Friends...If You Dare

Lately, my friends and I have been on a bit of a hiatus. Nobody's fault, but it's true. Many of my friends have new significant others/jobs/apartments, and it seems that we are all growing up a bit, and becoming more absorbed in doing our own things.

For a long time, Kev and I were among the few of our friends in significant relationships. When we got married, I heard a lot of "Oh, when you're married, you will never come out." "You're going to be so much busier after you get married." "You're going to move far away and just stay in together all the time." "You will never let Kev out." Believe me, I've heard it all.

Now, though, my friends are starting to look at things through their own (mostly) rosy relationship-tinted eyes. As the old (one and a half years!) married couple, people often ask me if I like their new-found dating partner. The truth is that I almost always like the new people in our group, because they usually meet the criteria I've set forth below.

I want my friends with people who make them a priority. With a boy or a girl who plans fab dates for them, is happy and sad right along with my friend, even if not always in agreement. This person needs to be flexible, as when he/she gets introduced to me and Kev, Kev will probably harass them. The ideal dater of a friend of mine must therefore must have a hearty sense of humor. Most of all, I want to see my friends with people who make them happier than they've ever been before. Even if they are wearing sweatpants.

....because really, I've found a great guy like that, so I want, more than anything, for my friends to be as happy as I am. And who doesn't like sweatpants?

Soothing Repetition

I'm slowly working my way through the MCP 52 photo challenges, and one of the assignments was to photograph around the theme "soothing repetition." I had a hard time thinking of things for this challenge. Initially, I wanted to shoot a bunch of churches, or something to do with prayer, because that has soothing qualities for me. However, when I started taking pictures, I started thinking about sunsets. The day comes, and it's often crazy. Then things start to slow down, Kev comes home from work, and we end the day together. Somehow, during the sunset, the day's troubles melt away, and we end up just us, together. Calming each other. Hence, today's photos of sunsets. Enjoy!

Spring Break!

I've been on spring break all week, and it has been awesome. I've done a ton of lounging, and have mowed my way through the first two books in The Hunger Games trilogy. Oh, friends. Read them immediately. A strong female character to be the anti-Bella Swan that is still relatable, action, romance, these books have it all. I'm mildly obsessed. I'm also super pissed that they whitewashed the characters for the movie version, but that's another post for another time.

Now I realize, you might be thinking "Why Nicole, with all this free time, wouldn't it be wise to update your blog more frequently than you usually do?" and I hear you. I meant to bombard with my usual posting schedule and more but I....didn't. Because I've been sitting on my couch. See?

I'm also being stalked by cats, which is more terrifying than it sounds. I'm fairly certain Dante is judging me for not working while Daddy slaves away in his office all week.

Sometimes, it's so terrifying that I have to flee outside, get on the el, and head off to poke around new places in the sunshine. Today, I'm headed out with my fancy camera to take some pics of the city, and then probably finishing Citizen Girl, a book that ended up being much more chick-lit than I usually prefer. Meh.

If you are rivited by this post of my exciting staycation, follow me on Twitter @colie025, where I will be giving hot updates under the hashtag #springbreakbitches. Also, as a personal favor, if you have a gmail account, please oh please would you follow this 'lil blog? It helps me figure out how many people are reading, and my goal is to hit 50 followers by the end of 2011. So do it, I won't bite. Hard.

5 Things Friday

1) Today, in exactly one hour, spring break will commence. To say that my heart will fill with joy when the final bell rings will be an understatement. I'm going to have an epic staycation at home filled with photo taking, pumpin' workouts, and hopefully some healthy eating. Even though as I write this I am eating a smore. I can always start tomorrow. Besides, I'm still seeing snow when I go grocery shopping (see below) so I'm not too concerned about getting into a swimsuit just yet.

2) My students earned a good behavior party today during which we watched Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2. In this fine epic film, the chihuahuas get married and have babies, but unfortunately the dad just wants to play with his pups instead of being a responsible parent. I would say it was the worst movie I've ever seen, but my dearest husband did subject me to the awfulness of 300, which I haven't yet forgiven him for. This was a close second however.

3) I'm about to start the Hunger Games trilogy over break. I cannot wait. I'm planning on doing a LOT of couch time in the coming days. I'm also going to start Ahab's Wife soon, and I cannot wait. It looks chunky and delicious. Hurray for having time to read books.

4) Speaking of time to read, I start my LAST GRAD SCHOOL CLASS for my masters on Wednesday. Yes, people, my VERY LAST ONE. I am one thesis and one 10 week class from being an officially licensed reading specialist. Booyah Grandma.

5) I can nevr spell the word license. Or exercise. Or Chihuahua. Because of that this has been a particularly difficult 5 Things Friday post to write. Epic fail. Blame it on the spring break brain.

Huzzah

Life these days is pretty freaking good. After all the drama with work and my decision to leave my current school, I have a new job! It's a junior high ELL position a bit closer to our house than my former job, and the pay and benefits are bangin. I didn't realize how stressed I was about next year until I fell asleep last night and slept without waking up.

Going through the drama and emerging victorious has made me realize how truly blessed I am to have Kev by my side. Whether discussing best and worst case scenarios with him through the decision making process or surprising me with some freaking delicious cookies (pictured above) and dinners out, I've realized how awesome it is to be married to him. This is one of the first big decisions we've made since buying our house, and we survived and came out better than we thought we would. I'm slowly learning that decision making is one of the hardest and best parts of being married. I have my best guy to celebrate with, commiserate with, and grow with, and I like to think we are making each other better people because of it.

Oh, and did I mention that spring break is a mere two work days away? Even though we aren't going anywhere, and Kev has to work all week, I'm really looking forward to the time off. I'm hoping to get things in order around the house, start my half-marathon training, and catch up on all the photo challenges I've slacked on over the past few weeks. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. I mean, seriously, I'm not asking for sundress weather yet, but fleece and jeans weather would be greatly accepted.

Overall, things are going great in our neck of the woods. I'm proud of the way we are growing together, I'm relieved to be gainfully employed in a career that always makes me think, and I've got a great family, awesome friends, and a kicken husband to celebrate with. Huzzah, indeed.

Goals

I reached into the depths of my work bag today and pulled these out:

Perhaps I need to get more organized.

5 Quick Things

1) I've been crazy busy with work lately, as it is report card and parent teacher conference time. I'm really proud of myself though. I feel like I tackled some tough discussions this time (bullying, lack of attendance, recommending a child repeat kindergarten, and domestic issues to name a few) and I did it with grace. I'm so blessed to work with such great parents and for the first time ALL OF MY PARENTS SHOWED UP FOR THEIR SCHEDULED TIME!!! Woop woop.

2) I think spring is finally starting to arrive to Chicago. I wore a dress to school today without freezing my patooties off. I even threw on some open toed shoes. It was awesome. See? Sun.

3) Kev and I are starting to feel like roommates. Stupid grad school raining on our fun. While I love my friends, I feel a date night might be in order soon. Time to start planning something mysterious and fascinating where I can utterly charm my guy.

4) All of the sundresses in stores right now are taunting me and its not fair. Yes, it's getting warmer, but it's still not warm enough to be ogling the potential lounge-ability of the dresses. Harumph. STOP TAUNTING ME TARGET.

5) I'm in a real conundrum about a job offer. Do I take it even though it isn't my ideal position? Or do I hold out hoping one of the other places I applied pans out? Door Number One? Door Number Two? Ack. Being a grown up stinks sometimes.

Alright friends, off to do my LAST CONFERENCE of the school year. The life of a teacher....so glamorous. I can't wait to get in my car and drive, drive, drive.

March Classics Challenge Update

As I've mentioned before, I'm a bit of a book nerd who loves to read anything, but sometimes needs a bit of a nudge to get more reading fiber in her diet. As I've alluded to before, I'm participating in three reading challenges this year: The What's in a Name" challenge, the Chunkster Challenge and the Classics Challenge I'll be posting a more general monthly reading wrap-up at the end of the month, but here's the progress I've made and some bite-sized notes on each book that I've read for the classics challenge.

Yes, I also realize that I haven't been posting as regularly lately. It's report card and parent teacher conference time, people. I'll try to get back to a regular posting schedule later this week. I swear.

Classics Challenge Requirements:
1) A Banned Book- ??
2) A Book with a Wartime Setting (can be any war)-??

3) A Pulitzer Prize (Fiction) Winner or Runner Up: To Kill a Mockingbird- I hadn't read this book since I had to read it back to back years in eighth grade AND freshman year of high school, but I got so much more out of it as an adult. Awe-inspiring, beautiful and full of life lessons in a story that moves at just the right pace.

4) A Children’s/Young Adult Classic-Farenheit 451- I would never have picked this book up without this challenge, and I'm so, so, glad I did. It is on my list of favorites of all time. Haunting, beautiful tale written in the 1940s about the dangers in a world where books are forgotten. Prophetic and wonderful.

5) 19th Century Classic--
6) 20th Century Classic-- The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton- This book, about a girl who loves the champagne life on a ramen noodle budget hit a little too close to home. I loved the tragically flawed character of Lily Barth, but the book moved a little too slowly at times.

7) A Book you think should be considered a 21st Century Classic-
8) Re-Read a book from your High School/College Classes -

I'm planning on re-reading The Great Gatsby because I love it as my re-read, and I haven't quite decided on my other options. Does anybody have any strong opinions on a book that you think SHOULD be considered a 21st century classic? I haven't quite decided mine yet, but I'll keep you posted when I do.

Happy Reading!

Ash Wednesday

As a catholic school girl for one third of my total years of education, and a Catholic for my 26 years here on Earth, today is a big day. Ash Wednesday. Traditionally, Catholics (and, I think, many Christians as well) give something up for the 40 days of Lent in remembrance of Jesus' sacrifice for us.

I always greet this day with a bit of dread. I never quite know what to give up. I mean, 40 days is a long time. I'm just not good at the self-sacrifice thing. At all. Which, I suppose is the point, if you get down to it. I remember sitting in church during one Sunday of Lent when I was in eighth grade and the priest announced that really, Lent was actually longer than 40 days because the Sundays didn't count. I was overjoyed when I realized this meant I had a cheat day each week on which I could eat sweets. My mom, on the other day, was less than thrilled by the advent of the cheat day.

It has been interesting to read Facebook today. Most of my friends are also some type of Catholic/Christian, and the messages have been interesting. I've seen a lot of people posting about giving up pop/sweets/all carbs/treats/alcohol. Good for them. I, on the other hand, feel that I do not have enough willpower to think in such absolutes after my rounds of Game-On dieting this summer and fall, so I've decided to make other sacrifices.

For Lent this year, I'm going to church once a week. I'm thinking that weekday night masses might be the best for my schedule, but who knows, maybe I'll even pop in of a Sunday. Growing up, my parents made sure we were at mass, well, religiously. Since I've been a grown up, I've slid on this. Considering I'm job hunting, getting into the final stages of a school year, and in the final stages of grad school, I'm thinking some quiet space to listen might be exactly what I need these next forty days.

I'm also giving up unnecessary shopping. You know what I'm talking about. That cute cheap(ish) t-shirt that jumps in the cart when you swear you were only at Target to buy cat litter? Those Goldfish that appear in your hand when you were in the gas station paying for your gas? That shampoo that makes your hair super shiny but you can only buy when you are at the salon so you HAVE to get it every time even though you don't need it? I'm a terrible sucker for those types of things and it has to stop. Lent, here I go.

By no means am I suggesting that you are remiss if you don't observe Lent or give things up. I just know for me, it seems to be helpful to have a regularly scheduled time on the calendar to do so. Wish me luck. Goldfish would be really delicious right now, and its only day one.

Cookie Monster

This weekend, Kev and I had a killer dinner party on Saturday for a few friends complete with fancy shmancy cocktails, a delicious corn chowder, and some fab steak fajitas with tomatillo sauce. All of these tasty treats were cooked by my fabulous husband. Have I mentioned that I am the luckiest girl in the world because I have a husband who likes to cook? Because I am.

Because I was feeling so lucky, I was also feeling generous, and busted out the remainder of our Girl Scout cookies for dessert. Together we consumed some of these:

And some of these:

But none of these, because they are Kev's favorite and thus already consumed:

Pictures courtesy of mentalfloss.com and leantowardsthesun.blogspot.com as I was too busy eating to whip out my own camera

I was feeling all contented and hostess-y and mellow as I bid my guests adieu. Then I closed the front door, reached for the boxes of cookies only to realize that they were all empty. All of them. Gone.

Thus, today I was forced to compose this frantic email to one of my dinner guests this morning:

Hey Lady,

You said a girl scout might be coming by your office today taking orders. If so... I need some replacements:
3 boxes thin mints
3 boxes samoas
1 box tagalongs

Please, please order these for me and I will give you cash. Yep, we're fatties.

me

The worst part is that I'm not even ashamed.

It Never Ends

Yep, it's late. I realize this. I just got home from an after work happy hour that ended now, at close to midnight. No, this is not a reason to call teachers irresponsible either. Harumph. Also yes, I'm probably irresponsibly blogging. So there.

Kev and I had planned to spend tonight staying in. We spent last weekend in Madison toasting my sister's 21st birthday, and tomorrow we are having a dinner party for some of our favorite people. Accordingly, we decided to stay in tonight for a date night with wine. Until I got these messages yesterday:

Kevin: Do you have plans tomorrow night (1st Friday club?)
me: nope
zero plans
Kevin: My coworker Alex has a bday party
at The WHistler
me: nice!
Kevin: it's in Logan Square
me: we have a work happy hour after school
so I probably won't be home til 530 or 6ish
Kevin: Sweet - would you want to go with me?
me: totally!
Kevin: or is your happy hour going to be like last time
me: no, its not

(Sidenote the "last time" Kev is referring to is the blizzard, when we knew we would have the snow day off. We got rowdy on a Tuesday, which is a foreign concept for teachers (and therefore spouses of teachers) and it was awesome)

The interwebs are a hard place to have a change of heart. I didn't see Kev last night because of his grad school, and therefore spent most of today trying to puzzle out whether he really wanted me to come meet up, or he needed space. The sad part of all of this is that it wasn't an issue either way. I was just confused because I couldn't read his tone over computer, and tried to back up because I didn't want to be the obnoxious wife tagging along. I ended up having an unexpectedly great night with my coworkers, and all was well.

The reason that I'm blogging about all of this now amidst a healthy buzz is because while relating my story about potential plans for this evening one of my coworkers looked at me and said "Wow, I didn't realize awkward moments still happened after marriage." Until she said it, I hadn't had that realization either. And you know what? It's all okay.

I'm good with the uncertainty, because it means my boy will be home later. I have the confidence and independence to make other plans because I have a safety net that will come home eventually, even if it means I will go to bed and see him in the morning. At this point, half of the fun of being out separately is that we can have a gossipy catch up tomorrow morning. Despite my sometimes misgivings, we thrive on letting each other make our own space separately. I feel this is one of the ways we have grown together the last year that we've been married. Awkward moments still do happen, and I'm getting better at embracing them as a wife. I've learned over time that the best part of being married is that I have someone who loves me for my awkwardness, and not for my constantly date ready state of preparation. Oddly enough, I'm good with that for now.

Happy Weekend!

MCP Project 52-Week 3

Yep, I'm behind, but I'm okay with it. Ideally, the challenge is designed to spend a week photographing a theme, and then posting your results. I haven't really gotten up the courage to submit any of my photos to the actual blog, mostly because the featured photos tend to be by professional photographers. You know, not teachers...real photographers.

Despite my insecurities, I am learning a lot from this challenge on my own. I've been using my Droid camera more, simply because I don't always have the space in my purse for my big camera. I've become one of those crazy people that stops in the middle of the street to whip out my camera and take a photo. The pics below are a mix of Droid snaps and pics with my big kid camera. Below, here are my interpretations of the theme "Shades of gray." I used this assignment to really look for interesting textures in the day to day of my life, with some interesting results.

From the walk to the train after work, these next few are taken with my phone cam:

Later in the week, when I was at home with the fancy camera:

Still in the mood for more gray? Check out the winning photos from the actual challenge here!

Oscar Commentary

Sunday night, after an eventful weekend in Madison toasting my sister's 21st birthday, Kev and I came home and flopped on the couch. Being the elderly folks that we are, we were exhausted from a weekend of trying to keep up with college kids while drinking. Luckily, the Oscars were on.

I love the Oscars, mostly for the outfits. I love to see what people are wearing, although I rarely watch the movies that are up for awards. (I did watch The King's Speech and loved every minute of it. Huzzah for Colin Firth.) Below, some actual texts exchanged between my mom and I during the show. We like to pretend we are Joan and Melissa Rivers.

Regarding this: (pic from starandstyle.com)

Me: Yikes on the Mila Kunis neckline
M: Looked like her boobs were tattooed. Your sister loved it.
Me: Definite tattoo0-age. Or pasties.

Later....
Me: Colin Firth better win or I will be in a snit.
M: A bloody snit?
Me: Indeed

Regarding Nicole Kidman's white dress and red shoe combo:
Me: Love Nicole's red shoes
M: Ugly dress though. At least Hugh is hot
Me: Kev just said the same thing. About Hugh.

On Oprah:
Me: Oprah has some hideous makeup
Mom: Oprah looks great. She's got some big girls! (Momspeak for boobs)

On Jennifer Hudson:
Me: Jennifer Hudson looks amazing. Love the color.
M: Holy cow. J Hud is beautiful. Implants?
Me: Real. She's the current weight watchers spokeswoman and has lost a crapload of weight. That color is unreal on her.
M: After this, they will all be signing up for WW tomorrow.

Back to Halle:
Mom: Halle rocks it every time.
Me: Agreed. Flawless.
Mom: Between our people mag talks and this text stream I've never felt so deliciously shallow.
Me: Agreed. Awesome way to power down the brain before the weekend ends.

Sometimes, it's great to have a mom and sisters. As much as I love my husband, I don't think he would have offered quite the running commentary I needed. Although he would have at least as many boob comments. Every married girl needs her ladies to keep it real.