Brain Drain...Brain Dump...

Brain...whatever you want to call it. Clearing out the mental traffic, blah blah blah...rambling on...

*thank God for a 4-day week
*this teacher loves jeans day
*why are hashtags "a thing?"
*omg, my students are gonna fail STAAR
*remember to order Chick-fil-A for BHS Theatre tomorrow and deliver
*can't believe Target didn't have freaking sherbet to make punch did the bridal shower this afternoon
*no, stay positive,  your kids will do great on STAAR
*SERIOUSLY,  NO SHERBET?!?
*only 6 more Thursdays, only 6 more Thursdays
*if I go to sleep now, I'll get 8 hours
*(giggling to self) no sherbet, WTH
*Pepto-Bismol colored punch for the bridal shower...not living that down for a loooooong time
*#senseofhumor
*grace under pressure:when the punch geiser happened DURING THE SHOWER
*that might make a great blog title,  Grace Under Pressure
*omg, my students are gonna fail STAAR
*stay positive
*stay positive
*pray hard
*I'm going to be sore tomorrow: deadlifts and squats AND shoulders
*Julie is such a great trainer
*SO excited about the Shiner Half Marathon!!
*#startingoverrunning
*stop letting your homeroom make you rethink your career
*yes, it IS too late to consider stripping as a viable source of income
*omg, my kids are gonna...STOP RIGHT NOW!
REFRAME: My kids are going to ROCK the test
*remember changing the "I can" statement to "I can...make the STAAR test my bitch" and texting Bridget
*she replied,  "Pope. I can't even. "
*if I go to sleep now...7.5 hours
*watching Whose Line...i LOVE when they do "songs of the _____" (plumber,  butcher, bus driver) #hilarious

There's an App for That?!?

WHAAAAT?!? I can add to my blog...from my phone! Why I'm surprised by this is ridiculous. Of course I can blog from the tiny hand-held computer that I call my phone!! "Welcome to the nineties, Mr. Banks!" (5 points for getting that reference)

It's a Sunday night,  aka a school night. Sigh...even as a teacher, I get that "icky-night-before" feeling. You'd think after 23+ years "in the business" I wouldn't feel that way. But, alas, I do.  So to combat the dread, let's occupy ourselves with more pleasant thoughts! For starters,  tomorrow marks the beginning of the LAST 6 WEEKS OF SCHOOL!!! (Can you hear the cheers??) That means only 6 more Mondays...6 more Tuesdays, etc...
Also,  it's a 4-day week (cue the happy dance!) And, the likelihood of seeing friends before the week is out is high! Wow! Looky there! I'm feeling better already!!

Happy Spring!

It's gorgeous outside!! Today is a great day for taking a walk (done) and doing lesson plans outside! And it may or may not involve a binge watch of New Girl on Netflix.  Include some knitting and we have a perfect Saturday!!

Oops!  Almost forgot...give the blog a makeover!  It's another way to celebrate Spring and new beginnings!!

Streams of consciousness...aka My Mental Traffic

To Do List! (or my Just One More Thing list)

*Laundry from Evan...after camp.  Plus, prep trunk for another year in storage.
*Get taxes to accountant...more like, request another extension. 
*Clean that guest bedroom.  The in-laws are coming! The in-laws are coming!
*Perform garage exorcism.  There are too many clutter demons in there.  And in my closet.  And in the office. And in the laundry room.
*Bathrooms need a good cleaning.  Evan can help with that.
*Must organize yarn and knitting/crocheting patterns.  (It should sound fun...)


When Martha Stewart, whom I dearly love, has her staff plan her calendar, she sounds very industrious and sophisticated.  If I approach my tasks with the same aplomb, perhaps they won't seem so odious.  (Also, if I refer to them as "tasks" or "projects" not "chores" I am more inclined to acquiesce.  Pretty words help, too)

Please don't hate me because I'm sloppy!

Remember that ad from a million years ago, "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful"?  I think it can apply to the "dark side" of us, too.  Like me and my mess...my messy house, that is. 

So we finally moved Evan's bedroom to the other side of the house.  The room formerly known as "the scary room". In order to do that, I emptied the room of EVERYTHING.  Well, I started then dragged my friend Karin in to keep me company.  (I occupied her with the shredder AND treated her to lunch to make the offer appealing! She joins the esteemed ranks of "Great Friends Who Have Helped Stephanie Clean the Scary Room."  Members include Amy Wynn, Kelly Wilson, Elizabeth Osborne, Debbie Peterson, & Jamie Boyd)  Once the stuff was cleared, then Bobby and I moved the furniture.  We managed to do it in a day.  The furniture part.  Evan was super in re-stocking his new closet and replacing toys on shelves, etc.  The eye-opener was just how much c-r-a-p we had in that room!  OMW! The stuff had to go somewhere while we moved the big objects.  So, it went into the guest room AND living room AND breakfast table.  Karma moved in and stayed awhile, people!  This is sooooo what I get for dogging my father-in-law years ago when I helped clean out his office with my two sisters-in-law.  (even as a Christian, I still say karma is real and it works!)

Seriously, please don't hate me because I'm messy!  Please don't report us to "Hoarders"!  I am cleaning it up, I promise!  It looks 1,000 times better now than it did.  Here's the deal:  I am not doing the classic thing I always do when faced with unwanted mess:  shove it anywhere it fits.  That's my approach.  "Hey, it may take 15 minutes to put things where they belong, but it only takes 30 seconds to toss, cram, shove whatever in the spare room, then close and lock the door."  I am finally saying enough.  Enough of the crazy jam-style cleaning method.  BTW, it doesn't matter how many cleaning, organizing, decluttering, etc. books you buy.  Until you have had enough and your sanity can't take it anymore, that's when motivation strikes.  That AND seeing the entirety of your mess spread out before God and everybody.  It's like standing in the town square in your oldest, shabbiest underwear!  Not a pretty picture, people!!

My husband and son have been very patient with me in the process of going through and eliminating all superfluous junk.  (Especially when I threaten to throw out anything that belongs to them but has found a home in a place that really isn't its home.  Did any of that make sense?)

Better late than never...AND "Fender Bender-gate" continues

Not gonna dwell in the past.  At least not gonna dwell on the past missed months of blogging.  But I digress.  The real topic today is my neighbors who shall remain nameless (kinda like Voldemort).  It has been 2 years since "the incident" or what I like to call, "fender bender-gate".  I haven't spoken to them in all that time.  I relish the silent treatment AND I have some great friends who can certainly throw the icy glances as well.  (thanks Elizabeth and Karin and whoever else--you know who you are.)

Update:  STILL not speaking...I guess that makes this now year 3.  However, according to a couple of my other neighbor, The "he" of the "neighbors who shall remain nameless" is apparently a total terror of my street. Fortunately, he leaves me alone.  The stories of the misery he's left in his wake shall be related on a future post...

Just trying to do some virtual housecleaning...

The Prodigal Returns...

Looky looky here!! One year,. very nearly to THE day no less, since my last post.  What the butterscotch!! I really need to work on my blogging skills for 2013.  Not need to so much as want to.  I want to blog more.  I'm especially inspired by all the cute blogs I'm following that I've found through Pinterest.  (talk about addicting!!)  So, Stephanie, pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start fresh!!