My collection

I bought the nativity scene (Mary, Joseph, Jesus, a shephard and some sheep) for myself right before Christmas. My aunt bought me the angel, the shephard that is kneeling with the goat, the camel, and some more sheep. My brother got me a metal star backdrop (not in the picture), and my mom said that the three "wise guys" (as she calls them) are on order.

I can't wait to have the whole thing set up for next year's holiday!!!

A sweet gift

They don't look as pretty now, but I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers for Christmas from one of my favorite family of students. I teach all three daughters, and they are all wonderful!

Our new living room

The boy and I spent at least an hour of New Year's Eve rearranging the living room furniture, and here is the result:

We moved our couch across the room, the loveseat forward, creating a space behind it to put our shoes, etc. It seems to have made our living room a bit larger.

Back after a loooong hiatus

1 new hard drive, a new battery, and a new power cord later....



I AM BACK!!!!!!!



My computer is practically brand new now...



I didn't have to pay for the new pieces (it was covered under my warranty), but I should send them my cell phone bill for the 5+ hours I have spent on the phone with them...ugh...



Where should I start????



Christmas was great, New Year's was great, the first week back to school was looooooooooong.



I have started the loooooong task of the musical....auditions were this past Wed/Thurs. Call-backs are on Tuesday. The show is March 16-18...ask me for info and join in the fun of...

100th post!!

woohoo! 100th post!!

Anyways,

tomorrow the Harvard Town Band is playing at the Whitney Field Mall at 7:30...come see us!!

I went to Fashion Bug yesterday to buy a gift card for someone else's Christmas present, and I walked out with a bunch of clothes for myself!! Ugh...

I also thought it would be a good idea to go to Walmart...yeah, I was wrong on that one too.....WAAAAAY TOO BUSY!!!!! I stood in line (behind a student and his mom) for over 15 minutes!! At least I had someone to talk to while waiting in the line!

So my advice to you is....

STAY THE HECK OUT OF WALMART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ugh

I apologize for the lack of blog posts....however.....I have entered computer HELL!!!

After reinstalling Windows, it seems that my computer STILL does not want to cooperate.

BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH

over and over and over again

I have not had a chance to call Dell again, but this is getting ridiculous....


However, in other news....

I have had a BUSY week...but a good one.

The concert on Tuesday went well (other than the noisiness in the audience, which was VERY noisy) The jazz band kicked butt!!!

Several students signed up to play Christmas Carols at the mall, which I think went VERY VERY well. I have received a LOT of positive feedback on that gig!

Friday was the Christmas party, which of course was VERY fun :-)

I have had a cold for the past week and a half, I lost my voice for most of Thursday and Friday (which makes teaching very difficult). I'm still not feeling completely better....we'll see what the week brings......

We spent today at the boy's parents' house, celebrating mom's birthday, and decorating the tree. We had a lot of fun (and I hope she enjoys the many bottles of wine she received from all the family members)

Here's to a FOUR day week!!!! (let's hope I can make it through!)

yesterday's sunset

The pictures still don't capture the colors that I saw yesterday evening...it was absolutely gorgeous

and we're back...

Ok....as my away message read earlier today....





Die Dell Die





My computer went haywire this past weekend, and after backing up all files, reinstalling Windows, and over 3 hours of Dell technical support later, I think we are all better.





Ugh...

ugh...

My laptop is less than one year old...it's still a baby...



however, in computer years, it must be going through the terrible twos....



I keep getting the blue screen of death, and I have no idea why, I have not done anything recently except check my email and type in Word...



I liked it better in the days of the mac sad face...

Local Yokles Crime

After reading Kellypuff's blog, I had to post a comment....funny local crime stories for your reading pleasure...

My favorite is the guy who picks up hitch hikers and thinks his laptop is missing...

I am NOT your sweet babboo!!!

Watching Charlie Brown Christmas while drinking hot chocolate...what could be better?

Our Christmas Tree

This is our Christmas tree this year.

I bought it today at KMart. I dragged it into the car, and into the apartment, and put the whole thing together. I plugged it in, and half the lights didn't light up, so, I packed it all back up after spending a few hours trying to figure it out, finding the bulb that was smashed (and emitted a few sparks), and cursing a few times. I dragged the box back to my car, and back into KMart. No hassle, they brought me another one, and helped me get it into my car. Then I dragged it back out of my car, and up the stairs to the apartment. I set it all back up again, and VOILA!!!! it all lit up. The boy came home, and we decorated it. It is glorious.

In order to completely understand why I would put up with all this, you have to see the tree we had last year...

Doesn't that just explain it all????????

Fishy Update

Petunia is still alive and somewhat well. She is swimming around in her new home. I bought the vase at Crate and Barrel, and the sea glass at Foster's Clam Bake. I think she likes it. If you look really hard, you can see her swimming in there.

As promised...

Thanksgiving Pictures!!



My cousin and his girlfriend at Foster's Clam Bake on Saturday. That's a 2.6 pound lobster baby!!! (or was)



My brother licking the mashed potato bowl clean on Turkey day!

Thanksgiving

I had a GREAT Thanksgiving! I got to see family I haven't seen in a while, got to help my cousin pick out her wedding dress, eat WAY TOO MUCH FOOD, and go shopping! It was a great weekend, I had a lot of fun, but now I need a vacation from my vacation!!

PS-Pictures to follow...way too tired right now!

quiz

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
North Central
The West
Boston
The Inland North
The South
Philadelphia
The Northeast
What'>http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have">What American accent do you have? Take'>http://www.gotoquiz.com/">Take More Quizzes

Does anyone else think I have a "Midland Accent"??? I don't think I do...

Let me know what you come up with!

This randomness is brought to you by, Kellypuffs

loooooooong day

Today was a good day, a LONG but good day.

I had my first (EVER) yoga class this afternoon. I think it is going to be a lot of fun. There are three teachers in the class, and we meet in a classroom after school, which makes it very convenient.

The best part was when the instructor told us to do a pelvic tilt, and one of my fellow classmates said, "I'm still not sure what that means." And one of the more outspoken teachers there (I LOVE THIS WOMAN) replied, "She wants you to stick your hooha into the mat."

HAHAHA

Update on my craftiness

These are actually from a while back, but I am just now giving them as gifts, so I thought I would post them. There are two teachers expecting additions (of boys) to their families, and we are having a shower on Monday for the both of them. Since I have started the tradition of giving sweaters to expecting parents, I suppose I cannot stop now, and must continue to do so for all of my career at the school! :-)

Better than when I taught on Nantucket, I started giving out baby blankets....I made 4 in one school year!!!

Take a look at the artwork!

This was the picture hanging in our first hotel room (see my other post). The vase has the same pattern (if not the same then it's REALLY stinkin close!!!) as the dishes my mother inherited from my great grandmother.

Scott noticed it first, and then pointed it out to me, and told me to blog it. So I did.

Happy now Scott? :-)

Northampton

The calling hours and funeral were both quite sad, but it was great to see how many people care for Melissa and Zach. They were surrounded by friends and family, which is always a good thing.


I stayed at the Clarion Hotel in Northampton with my uncle and cousin. It was an interesting experience, to say the least.


Amy and I were watching ER, when Bruce asks, "Do we have a leak in our room? Does anyone else hear that?"


We look up to see:

Yup, that's water leaking through our ceiling. It was A LOT of water leaking through our ceiling! It started at the wall, and was dripping about 18" out into the room: dripping on the TV, dripping on the dresser the TV was sitting on, and dripping all over the floor.

We called maintenance, and the guy comes down to our room. We point out the leak, and he replies, "ummmm....yeah, you're going to have to move, I can't do anything about that right now."

So we moved to a new room upstairs, but not before we took this photo:

Yes, that's Amy with an umbrella INSIDE of our room!!!

You can see the giant watermark in the ceiling. By the time we gathered all of our stuff to leave, the water had extended more than halfway across the room, and was hitting the edge of Bruce's bed.

Needless to say, Amy and I laughed hysterically!

This website makes me giggle

You have to check out uncommon goods, it is hilarious.

I especially like this: I can't read

I love random stuff!

what a busy week

I have got something going on every night this week!

Mon: Music Boosters meeting

Tues: Parent/Teacher conferences

Wed: Jazz Band, HTB

Thurs: 1/2 day with students, 1/2 day of Parent/Teacher Conferences, Calling Hours for Ron's Funeral

Fri: Ron's Funeral

ugh

She's baaaaack....

Ruthie's back on 7th Heaven! Officially! Mackenzie Rosman's name was back on the opening credits! WOOHOO!

I'm so Crafty

Yay crochet!

I think I am going to donate this to the Music Boosters to sell at the December concert.

Cars

I bought this movie today, and we watched it while we ate homemade pizza. :-) It was great! (both the pizza and the movie)

The pizza was really homemade. I made the crust from scratch! It was yummy :-)

Saturday Movie

Saturday we went to Lowell to see "Stranger than Fiction". First, we went to Chili's then took a walk along the river. The movie was pretty good, it was cute. I don't think I will run out to buy the DVD when it comes out, but it was a cute movie. We had a lot of fun. :-)

Woah! Middle School flashback!!!

I'm watching Numb3rs and I see him:

BILL NYE THE SCIENCE GUY!!!! I used to LOVE that show!!!!!

Life is short

I found out that my mother's cousin's husband died yesterday. He was a loving father and husband. He was a great man, and will be missed by all who knew him. My thoughts and prayers are with Melissa and Zachary.

aaaaah.....

Today was great! I did absolutely nothing. Well not nothing...I watched tv, slept, crocheted, and that was about it. It was great. I LOVE 3 DAY WEEKENDS!!!

what did you say??

I snuck up behind the boy today and pinched his neck saying "Vulcan death pinch" (I'm a geek, I know)

He turned around and asked, "Did you just say 'Booger Dust Pans'?"

I laughed my ass off

and I thought I was doing so well....

I started my Christmas shopping INSANELY early this year....like over the summer...and here it is Nov. 7, and I am thinking I have A LOT more to go...namely my boy...they're the worst to figure out...

UGH

Life sucks when....

You're a music teacher with a POUNDING headache...

The band does not wait for a teacher with a headache, it goes on, at what seems like a much louder volume...

Don't push me...

My cooking rampage...

I've been cooking and baking up a storm recently.

Friday night's dinner: garlic & thyme rubbed steak with butter and herb mashed potatoes, caesar salad, and crescent rolls.

Sunday night's dinner: I took the steak from Friday night's dinner, and I shaved it (woohoo for my Pampered Chef mandoline!!) and we had steak and cheese subs (mine had onions & peppers on it)

Monday night's dinner: yummy meatloaf, with leftover potatoes and crescent rolls

I've also baked 3 loaves of cranberry-apple bread in the last few days. One loaf was eaten by myself and some girls from work. One loaf was frozen for the day after Thanksgiving breakfast, and one was eaten by a certain coworker of mine (she was ripping pieces of it off between teaching classes).

Wow...I am impressing myself here...

I am my Grandfather's granddaughter...

I took a Grampy shortcut today...took Mike and I a 1/2 hour out of our way back from Marshfield, swearing it would be quicker...

Trick-or-Treaters

So far...only 3

Debbie had 115....NOT FAIR

yummy

I baked a new recipe tonight from one of the books Debbie gave me. :-)

Apple cranberry bread

SO GOOD

Cinnamon and cloves
Apples and craisins

SO GOOD

I WANT THIS DOG

HOW CUTE IS HE??!?!?!?!? I told Mike to buy him for me...but he keeps making up some excuse about us living in an apartment, not enough room, landlord would kick us out, we're not home during the day...etc etc....

I WANT A PUPPY!!!!!!!!!

Punkin Carvin!!!!!

Here are the results of this year's pumpkin carving!

Mike carving his pumpkin:






Mike's pumpkin:



(I had to take the photo with the flash on, because Mike still has to tweek the carving...the candle keeps going out, there's not enough air getting in)

And here's MY pumpkin!!!



(In case you can't tell what it is, it's ghosts looking out a window)

Long Overdue Pics

Mike's preparations for apple picking...BEER!!



Mike with his apple picker-reacher thingy.



Mike attempting to use the apple picker-reacher thingy.



More problems with the picking of the apples...



This would be the reason that he had to practically climb a tree to find any apples....THEY WERE ALL ON THE GROUND!!!! The trees were pretty well picked-over, but we managed to find enough for two bags.



This is a really pretty view that we could see from the Nashoba Valley Winery, looking back towards Bolton center.



There, I think that should do it.

so busy....

Let's see...catch up time....

Way to much work, way too little time....that about sums it up!!!

Gross but hilarious

Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest pics to come later....

I had a GREAT time yesterday with my boy and his parents at the Nashoba Valley Winery's Oktoberfest. We weren't, however, expecting the crowd!!! There were HUNDREDS of people there!!

We went apple picking (or should I say HUNTING). It took us a long time to find enough apples to fill our two bags, the trees were picked clean.

We were looking forward to some German grub, but because of the crowds, there wasn't any left!! We decided to go out to find some instead.

We drove by Bose to show the parents where their boy works, not that they could see much more than a brick building, but at least they got the idea.

We went to Beef n' Ale in Stow. I've never been there before, and I liked it. It had pub food, and REALLY GOOD FRIED ICE CREAM!!!!

Mike liked Mr. Beefie...

Petunia

She's still alive, and still breathing. She's struggling, but is swimming and eating, which is good. I'm not sure if she will make it yet, but we're trying to save her.

Update on the fishy situation

IT'S A MIRACLE!!!

OH MY GOD!!!

IT'S UNBELIEVABLE!!!

So, going way back in the blog (September 18), I lost my fish. One day it was there, one day it was gone.

So, finally, I felt I was over Petunia's loss, and I went to the Fish Nook to buy myself a new fishy.

I brought him home, his name is Ruby, and I went to clean out the bowl. As I was pouring the water into the strainer (to catch the rocks) I saw a head pop out. At first, I almost screamed in horror, thinking it was just the head of my poor fishy.

HOWEVER!!!!.....it was the whole fish..............ALIVE........barely......but.........ALIVE!!!!!

He had buried himself under the rocks, and was living under them for the past month.
All the water had practically evaporated out, and I had not put any food in there for a month. He looks sickly, but I think he can make it.



Poor Petunia...fighting for life...please pray for Petunia!


Ruby, my new fishy