a penney for my thoughts

2012-02-09T12:02:00.001-06:00

My collection of squeeze balls. :)

2012-02-08T10:17:00.001-06:00

Tory from Mythbusters

2012-02-08T09:54:00.001-06:00

Note to self: next time arrive at the opening keynote session an hour after it starts.

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2012-02-07T16:41:00.001-06:00

Yes, that is a pink poodle.

2011-10-16T18:09:00.001-05:00

Yum!

2011-09-17T19:59:00.001-05:00

Beer garden

2011-07-26T10:42:00.001-05:00

I showered and got ready then came out to this -- Sofia showing V pictures of herself as a baby

2011-07-18T18:27:00.001-05:00

Yum!

Helloka

2011-07-14T08:05:00.001-05:00

Everything means helloka, yet helloka means nothing.

2011-07-03T10:12:00.000-05:00

Breakfast at the donut shop

2011-06-02T10:54:00.001-05:00

So stinkin' cute

2011-06-01T08:50:00.001-05:00

Garbage man

2011-06-01T08:34:00.003-05:00

2011-06-01T08:34:00.001-05:00

2011-05-31T12:47:00.001-05:00

And she's out again.

2011-05-27T08:53:00.001-05:00

Such a nice big sis.

2011-05-27T08:01:00.001-05:00

Our family with rain and thunder. She got frustrated bc she "couldn't make V or Lucy" so she stopped.

2011-05-12T08:51:00.000-05:00

Helping out this morning.

2011-05-11T12:03:00.000-05:00

Full tummy

2011-02-21T20:39:00.001-06:00

First pic with new phone. 29 weeks

2011-02-18T17:21:00.001-06:00

Yum

2011-02-04T07:55:00.001-06:00

Apparently this is the new norm for north texas? WTF?

2011-02-01T16:54:00.001-06:00

WTF?

2010-11-25T10:46:00.001-06:00

Poor penguin with a broken neck.

2010-10-25T09:09:00.001-05:00

Breakfast with my honey

2010-10-19T20:15:00.001-05:00

Lets hear it for puking in the sink during a quick break from Sofia's bath - first time this time around

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2010-10-07T15:14:00.001-05:00

9w2d. Heartbeat 167. Everything looks good.

2010-09-30T18:53:00.000-05:00

Riding her broom

2010-08-17T18:07:00.001-05:00

Yay!

Pictures of Me Taking Pictures

2010-08-16T21:10:00.007-05:00

Apparently at the wedding, I took a few pictures...

love this one

And a Bill snook the camera every once in a while

The gang

2010-08-02T07:51:00.001-05:00

First day of "school"

Experiment

2010-07-31T21:06:00.003-05:00

Nikon D60 with default no-flash settings

Canon Power Shot SD1200 IS with default no-flash settings
BTW - It is not recommended to drink alcoholic beverages while trying to potty train your kid and have her in panties when forgetting to remind her to go to the potty every once in a while. It's also not recommended to try and make mashed potatoes in the aforementioned state for the fear they may turn out too watery.

New Toy

2010-07-28T21:25:00.004-05:00

Time to play.

Of course she wanted her picture taken.

When doesn't she want her picture taken?

Thanks Dave!

Busy

2010-07-28T21:08:00.001-05:00

1 trip to the pediatrician

1 blood donation for Sia's allergy testing

1 trip to the pediatric dentist

2 trips to the regular doctor

1 trip to the lady doctor

3 donations for blood work

1 fast weekend trip to NYC

1 trip to San Antonio

1 trip to the Austin area

2 trips to the mammogram store (last trip including an ultrasound...found only cysts)

1 trip to the CT Angiography store (no arterial calcium build-up for me...yay)

1 trip to the surgery center for Dave (with 3 days at home for recovery)

2 days of visiting daycares (thanks Cori)

1 trip to my dentist

4 trips to the daycare we selected (including 2 today)

1 trip to the vet (planned for tomorrow)

Still trying to sell the house (pretty much giving up on that one for this year tho)

Sofia made most of this journey with me and, I must say, did a fantastic job.

I need a vacation from my summer.

Back to work on Monday.

2010-07-25T12:58:00.001-05:00

Our little ballerina

2010-07-21T10:47:00.001-05:00

At home

2010-07-21T07:07:00.001-05:00

About to begin

2010-07-12T11:20:00.002-05:00

First real haircut; done

2010-07-10T21:38:00.001-05:00

First attempt at Sangria. Tomorrow we'll know how I did.

2010-07-07T15:20:00.001-05:00

View from the porch off the kitchen

2010-07-03T16:12:00.001-05:00

2010-06-25T20:17:00.001-05:00

Birthday Girl

2010-06-23T10:07:00.001-05:00

Strange looking ant pile at the park

2010-04-03T18:17:00.002-05:00

Yum. De Tapas.

2010-03-20T20:22:00.002-05:00

75 yesterday, now this

Spring Break

2010-03-19T17:51:00.002-05:00

It's about time I finally got my toenails done again. Too bad it's the last day of my Spring Break and the weather's supposed to be crappy tomorrow (rain turning into snow).

Stars Game

2010-03-12T21:44:00.001-06:00

Kick ass seats (minus the dude with the red hat)

One Set Done

2010-03-08T13:19:00.001-06:00

Brave girl made it through the double leg shots to clear up her pesky ear infections. Two more shots tomorrow.

Anniversary Roses... Again

2010-03-05T14:03:00.001-06:00

Really, what a great husband :-]

10 Years

2010-03-04T19:08:00.001-06:00

I have a great husband. Happy 10 years!

It's Here!

2010-02-12T21:18:00.003-06:00

So... now I need ideas for free/cheap apps to get!

Sofia is in love with Spongebob (or as she calls him "bop-bob") Lite and Dora Saves the Crystal Kingdom. I'm liking Blowfish, My Shopping List, Facebook and Twitterrific...

:)

Thursday Morning's Snow

2010-02-11T07:33:00.001-06:00

Good morning

Oops, I did it... again...

2010-02-05T21:46:00.001-06:00

It should arrive soon... :)

I did it...

2010-02-03T17:33:00.001-06:00

... I broke down and got a Twitter account.

matosp27

Now I can finally "follow" all the super cool techie people out there.

Fail

2010-01-29T18:09:00.001-06:00

Sia Enjoying the Park before the Cold Weather Hits

2010-01-27T17:33:00.001-06:00

Damn It's COLD!!!

2010-01-08T08:12:00.001-06:00

Holy crap it's COLD

Everything Sleeps

2010-01-07T13:31:00.001-06:00

Everything sleeps, even school bus kids. These are the letters Sia pulled off the fridge.

Oh Yeah?

2010-01-06T21:10:00.002-06:00

Take that Weesa! Look at those low temps!

I know... it'll be that cold up your way soon too... but still!

Choose Your Religion

2010-01-06T20:56:00.003-06:00

The other night as I was getting into bed, one of those entertainment shows was on the TV and I heard some dude talking about how Tiger Woods should convert to being a Christian because as a Christian you can confess your sins then live your life guilt-free from that point forward and that as part of a non-Christian religion you can't do that.

It's nice to know that you can switch religions so easily to fit your current life situation. Don't like the rules? Need a religion that's more lenient about the things you are doing? Change religions!

Ugh.

4 in a row, baby!

2009-12-16T20:48:00.001-06:00

I don't know how it happened, but it sure was fun!

Really?

2009-12-04T22:05:00.004-06:00

So, I was stuck in a classroom alone with a crazy sub for 15 minutes today. She kept going on and on about the medical system and holistic medicine and making her own food and whatever. One thing she mentioned is how appalled she is that illegals (her term) come to our country very pregnant and give birth at Parkland and don't have to pay a dime. "This must stop", she exclaimed in a very dominant way. I told her that *I* can't change anything so, frustrated, she moved on to the next topic.

My thoughts now are... can you really blame people who live in poorer countries for trying to come here to have their children to give them a chance at a better life? It's not their fault (the new parents') they were born into the situation they were. They're trying to make things better for their kids.

I guess you should only help others when it's convenient for you and in the way you feel like doing it. Screw them if they're trying to help themselves and need a little help along the way.

Cheat Sheet

2009-11-17T20:33:00.001-06:00

Thanks to Kim for this one!

:)

Really?

2009-11-17T18:45:00.005-06:00

Today I was emailed by a teacher asking me to help her make a half-sheet worksheet so she could copy it and cut the pages in half to make them even. She had info in the header and then her "worksheet" was on the top of the page and duplicated again on the bottom of the page.

I moved her text out of the header, duplicated it above the bottom text, adjusted the margins, looked at it in print preview, added extra spaces between the top and bottom text, saved it and emailed it back to her. She thought I was a genius and wants me to show her what I did.

Oh my.

Yummy Dinner

2009-11-10T19:42:00.001-06:00

Can you tell it's spaghetti?

:)

New Discoveries in the Animal Kingdom

2009-11-04T18:56:00.001-06:00

Usually I just check out this site every once in a while but today it struck me as particularly funny. Check out today's "New Discoveries in the Animal Kingdom" entries...
http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

:)

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T13:34:00.000-05:00

Great Day

2009-10-16T17:38:00.004-05:00

I had a great day today. What does your great day look like? Well, today mine included:
- jeans day (with comfy shoes)
- helped a teacher book a video conference with the Amon Carter Museum next month
- set up for me and another teacher to visit a teacher at another campus to watch him teach with multiple Interwrite Mobis (super cool)
- got ordering information for more Mobis and docking stations
- peaked the interest of the AP over science teachers with the NASA distance learning resources
- learned about a website listing tons of other distance learning/video conferencing sites in Texas
- talked 2 more teachers into wanting to try out the multiple Mobis
- finished scheduling during-the-day training for my SpEd staff (in coming weeks)
- got more student work / teacher screen shots on my "Wall of Technology" (showing off what's going on around the school)
- laughed a lot at lunch
- talked my principal and his secretary into using a blog instead of a Word document for his weekly letters
- got 2 free tickets for the Arts festival this weekend
- was told (again) that I'm doing a great job and am very appreciated
- came home to find out my husband's crazy 12 hour days are over! back to "normal" work days now!
- was surprised by my parents with plans for a sushi date night tomorrow night

It's been a great day!

Happy Anniversary

2009-10-14T17:46:00.000-05:00

... to R&R and Weesa
May you have many, many more!

Spell it with Flickr

2009-10-11T18:53:00.004-05:00

As part of my new job, people send me links to cool websites. This is one of my favorites: Spell it with Flickr. If you don't like the image it pulls up for a letter just click on the letter and you'll get a new image!

:)

Happy Birthday Cori!

2009-10-03T21:14:00.002-05:00

Adam pulled off a surprise dinner for Cori's birthday last night! And yes, there are 29 candles on that cake. Looks like we almost needed the fire department ;)
:)

Giving it Another Try

2009-09-27T17:42:00.003-05:00

Back in the spring, Dave got me EA Sports Active for our Wii. It took me 90 days to finish the 30 day challenge. Then our Wii died. We now have a new one ($75 later, thanks to the Wii repair shop) but it doesn't have any of our previous gaming information.

So, I finally got around to starting the 30 day challenge again today. My legs are killing me. Maybe I'll finish it sooner than 90 days this time.

Wish me luck.

:)

Happy Labor Day

2009-09-07T17:58:00.005-05:00

Tonight's dinner didn't turn out as well as we planned.

Appetizers were great.
But the prawns didn't want to let go of their shells.
Sofia's afternoon request today: a movie and a sister. She's watching Wall-E (wlau-lee). Still no sister.

And how can you think it's okay to serve bbq sauce that expired 5 1/2 years ago?!? I'm at a loss of words.

:|

Tonight's Dinner

2009-09-05T19:52:00.003-05:00

One word.... YUM!

- Pan seared tuna with toasted sesame seeds
- Golden grape tomatoes and Nature Sweet cheery tomatoes on the vine with basil in vinaigrette
- Green Giant's Healthy Weight sliced carrots, sugar snap peas, black beans and edamame lightly tossed with butter sauce
- Bisquick's Garlic and Cheese biscuits
Total cost... around $15

Way too Much Fun

2009-08-24T18:26:00.003-05:00

We had way too much fun last night...
We're old.

:)

Saturday Night

2009-08-10T22:09:00.004-05:00

It was a night without the kid. Yum. :)

Neighbors

2009-08-04T21:01:00.002-05:00

They could be great or they could suck the big one.

The fence saga continues... apparently the dude that replaced our fence posts hasn't been paid by all my neighbors yet. So, he sent out invoices to them again. One brought the invoice to our door today and said he refused to pay it (we expected that one) and apparently another called the fence dude and told him that she wasn't going to pay. Since this lady never mentioned to us before that she wasn't going to pay I typed up yet another letter explaining the shared fence thing and included the phone number for our HOA lady, enclosed pictures of that section of the fence before and after the repair, and will have to drop it off at her house sometime. Maybe I could mail it to her certified like she did a letter she sent us a while back (requesting that we used the same materials that the builder used, WTF?). Anyway... it frustrates me. It's a SHARED fence! Seriously. Ugh.

:|

Realization....

2009-07-27T21:42:00.004-05:00

While watching the "Feeling Punchy" episode of Good Eats with Alton Brown, I realized that I like drinking.

There, I said it.

Have a good day. :)

Update - Chloroform and chlorophyll are not the same thing. hehehe

Birthday Dinner

2009-07-25T19:58:00.001-05:00

Thanks "The Foods & Wines of Spain" Cookbook

2009-07-24T21:18:00.009-05:00

Tonight's dinner: Shrimp and Tomato in Sherry Vinaigrette (pg 111) and Chicken in Garlic [and Brandy] Sauce (pg 251) with rice. Accompanied with a bottle of "garnacha de FUEGO" [from Catalunya in Spain] ... YUM!

"How much garlic do you put in 'Chicken in Garlic Sauce'?" you may ask....
"An entire bulb of garlic" is the answer.

Sofia watching Daddy cook.
(and sneaking a quick stay in his back pocket with her foot)

The most entertaining moment of cooking the meal
...adding the brandy to the chicken.

Sofia even enjoyed it!
She especially loved the rice and the shrimp and tomato vinaigrette.

I love having a husband who is a GREAT cook! (I did help; I made the vinaigrette dish)

:)

Hangin' with the family at Balboa Park

2009-07-19T12:51:00.002-05:00

This One's Better!

2009-07-06T21:39:00.001-05:00

White Wedding: Literal Video Version - watch more funny videos

Thanks R&R!
:)

Oh My

2009-07-06T21:29:00.001-05:00

If this is what the next one looks like, I think we'll go ahead and stop now while we're ahead.

Thanks for the link The Spare.

How Do You Catch a Fly?

2009-07-06T21:13:00.004-05:00

... or several?

Leave your glass full of wine on the table in the backyard for a few minutes.

The longer you leave it the more that come...

Ewww.

2009-06-29T21:50:00.004-05:00

We had only told a couple select people (like the sitter so she'd keep a spot open for us) but it looks like it was a "chemical pregnancy" lasting only 4 weeks 6 days.

Because of my new job, we won't be trying again until next year so please don't ask.

Just another reason...

2009-06-22T22:09:00.000-05:00

... not to use file-sharing websites or software.

Finally!!!

2009-06-21T20:59:00.002-05:00

We finally have one!!!! I no longer have to spend time every day on Craig's List looking, emailing, calling, hoping to get one!

:)

The Burbs

2009-06-19T14:38:00.005-05:00

You find interesting things living in the burbs.

Would you like to play on this?
They let their kids and friends on it all the time!
(I guess since they built it this way it must be more sturdy than it looks.)

Yes, this is a tree branch that fell off the tree in their front yard during the storm last week.
Do you think it'll grow? I'm going with "NO"!

And if you're interested in our fence posts... they'll be back tomorrow to cut some of the posts down a few inches then cap them all with metal caps. They'll also secure some of the corners to the posts (they needed different brackets). Then the fence will be DONE!!!

Now if all the neighbors will pay their share is a different situation...

Ugh.

2009-06-14T14:00:00.002-05:00

I'm having the hardest time finding a descent priced climber/slide/playhouse/whatever for Sofia to put in the back yard. The ones on Craig's list are gone before I have a chance to call or email. The ones on frisco-online don't exist except for one lady who called me back twice but then fell off the face of the planet. I'll be so glad when we finally get something for Sofia (for her birthday) and still have some money left in the bank. - I know, wishful thinking.

:|

Tetrazzini

2009-06-07T21:20:00.002-05:00

This one's for you, Spare!

Check out the last line!

:)

Update: Damn!!! They took the line off!! It said something about being a way to seduce someone else's man with references to Maury Povich and The Soup.

Done.

2009-06-06T12:51:00.004-05:00

I am no longer a teacher at WMS. It's bitter sweet. That place has been my home for the last 7 years - everyone so kind and friendly - I'll definitely miss it.

When my things were moved into WMS in 2002 I had 20+ boxes of stuff (mainly files, math stuff, books, decorations). I'm now down to 4 boxes (2 go to CHS later this summer, 1 of books for when Sofia's older and 1 of other stuff to stay home). All of my belongings are now at my house.

After 13 years in the classroom, I'm ready to start on another chapter in my professional life.

:)

Happy Anniversary

2009-06-03T17:59:00.001-05:00

... to The Spare and her hubby.
:)

Holy Cannoli!

2009-04-23T20:42:00.001-05:00

I have a new job for next year!

I'll be a Technology Integration Facilitator, campus to be determined later. I can't believe it. I've applied for this job probably 5 or more years in the past and never was even considered. I guess all the stars lined up correctly this time (and teaching classes that helped contribute to a good portfolio helped).

It adds 13 days to my annual contract, but I never again have to call parents for a misbehaving or failing student again!

:)

Cutest Thing EVAH!

2009-04-20T21:18:00.003-05:00

So, Dave and I agree every day that Sofia is the cutest thing on the planet.

Tonight she was laying on the couch with Dave while he did the "little piggies" with her toes. After a while she grabbed his foot and tried to say the whole thing (it sounded like a lot of very cute babbling) and when she got to his pinky toe she tickled herself. Apparently she doesn't get it that usually the one who the foot belongs to is the one who gets tickled, not always her... she's so cute.

:)

Interview

2009-04-09T20:25:00.000-05:00

I had an interview for a Technology Integration Facilitator position again today (I've done this several years in the past). A few things are different this time around so there's hope. The interview seemed to go pretty well. I should hear in a couple weeks. I'll keep you posted.

:)

I Know

2009-04-07T21:04:00.001-05:00

I know I haven't posted in forever.
There's not much worth posting these days.
One day when something worth blogging happens again, you'll be the first to know!

:)

Tonight

2009-03-17T13:03:00.001-05:00

Jon Lajoie

Check it out

The Way It's Supposed to Be

2009-03-14T18:07:00.003-05:00

Dave and I went to a wedding today and learn how things are apparently supposed to be. We've been doing it all wrong for all these years...

First, I'm supposed to refer to Dave as "Lord", he's supposed to be the "King of the Household" and I'm supposed to subjugate myself to him.

We also learned that he is "in charge" of my body and I am "in charge" of his body... that one's a bit more interesting...

9 Years and Counting...

2009-03-04T21:42:00.001-06:00

Happy Birthday R&R!

2009-03-01T20:35:00.001-06:00