Don't Worry, Be Happy

Ha! No Sunday night blues for me tonight! On Friday afternoon I finished school and was able to leave almost immediately and enjoy my two week break.

Don't get me wrong, this didn't just fall upon my lap because I am so awesome. I had to stay late almost every day this week frantically correcting papers, entering grades, and putting together my report cards. On Thursday night at 6:45, I let out a loud "Whoo-hoo!!" to announce to the janitors that I was finished with my report cards. Too bad they were busily vaccuuming to relish in my great accomplishment. Oh, well, I would rub it in everyone's face the next morning at school.

Second quarter is thankfully one of the best quarters, littered with a week long fall break in the beginning, Veterens' Day, Thanksgiving break, and Christmas break. It's glorious! However, I felt like I was hardly at school this quarter. It was the start of my first trimester from you-know-where: I had a few doctor appointments, a three-day ELL conference, and I took a mini-vacation to San Diego with Casey. My students would ask me if I was going to be at school for the whole week and would groan when I would start my sentence with, "Wellll...."

Poor babies. Really, I felt terrible for not being there. I've always prided myself with being present at my job. It's far more annoying to put together sub plans than to just tough out a sick day, which I hardly ever was...although, I am guilty of a rare "mental health day," but who isn't?

From my out-of-character absenteeism and no energy after coming home, my stack of papers kept creeping higher and higher. Again, it wasn't like me to let this happen. I felt like a hoarder. My stack of papers was my embarassement and humiliation, but when I looked at it, it was almost too much. Where do I even start? Spelling tests? Vocabulary assessments? Writing was totally out of the question, way to overwhelming to pour over each paper. So there they sat, hidden in the corner of my room.

Then the email came from Ms. Sandy, the school's secretary. "School Master is open to enter your grades for report cards. Report cards are due to me on Monday, January 4th." OMG. I couldn't believe it, had I slacked the entire quarter only to find out the day we return from winter break I have to have everything properly graded and entered into the system? I never want to be the one that authority has to tsk, so I told Casey the last week of school not to expect me home until late each night. There was no way I was going to come in over my break and do this like so many other teachers were planning to do.

And I just did it. I sat there with my stack that started over mid-calf, I pulled out the easy things to grade and enter, then the things that take more time, then the writing, and finally reading centers. It took ten hours over a three-day period. But that Thursday night I was extremely proud of myself. I corrected things thoroughly, I entered them properly, and I even wrote very specific, positive, and constructive comments for each of my students. (This is actually a really big deal, there are some teachers that only write one or two sentences that are very generic. I always think about each child and their home..."How do I put this delicately?" is my ultimate question for those tough cases.)

Now I am happy. I am not worried. Bobby Ferron and I will sing his song together and I will have a huge smile on my face the entire time. I will listen to the Vikings as I type this, I will stay up late to watch some trashy shows on E!, and I will wait patiently for those sweet little kicks from Baby H. That's the only thing I want to worry about.

Did I learn my lesson? Maybe...sometimes these things happen and at least I know that I have a little fire in me to get the job done right, just not the way it probably should have been done!

I Remember When...

..exactly one year ago I received a text from my brother at one in the morning, telling me that Trena was in labor and was going to have the baby around five. I quickly called my mom and dad and sister so we could pray, pray, pray for a healthy delivery. We were so excited for our "first" to be born. Not even an hour later a picture message came through on my phone and the most beautiful image of sweet Colbie swaddled in her little bassonette filled my tiny phone screen. I screamed and woke up Casey (who let's be honest, was possibly still drunk from going to the Vikings/Cardinals game). I was officially an aunt!

I love that I was one of the first people to hold her, that I got to see her second diaper changed, and that from the start I knew she was perfect! Colbie has brought so much joy to our family and we love her!

Happy first birthday to a precious little doll!

My First Sorority: Baby Baby Baby

Look, I'm writing again! I just needed to give myself that pat on the back! Now that I can openly talk about the belly that I was once hiding like a celebrity, I feel like I have so much to say but I can't think of it all!

Life has been good. Creating life has not been so easy. From week 6 until week 11, I don't even know the person that I was. I was taken over by an alien. Seriously. I don't even know how I got through the day. Let's be honest, some days I didn't without a long nap and a good cry. Despite the fact that I could sleep on command, every type of food made my skin crawl and I constantly felt like throwing up, but awesomely enough, I couldn't do it! There I would sit with that feeling always sitting in my stomach every day and every night. Then I would wake up every once in a while feeling normal and get really scared that something was wrong and pray that I would feel like poo, so at least I knew I was still pregnant. I didn't even know if that was normal, but apparently it is.

Which leads me into my next thought. Pregnancy probably has not changed since the beginning of time: most women feel icky, some do not, some babies survive, sadly, others do not. However, since my mother gave birth to me, she had to rely on faith that her little baby was okay and that God was in charge, she just had to do her best staying healthy. She had no ultrasound, no Downs Syndrome tests or Trisomy tests, and she certainly did not have the latest edition of What to Expect When You're Expecting to check to make sure it was normal when changes were taking place.

However, one thing is for certain when someone new is having a baby: you are invited into a sorority of women who have shared the same experience.

I. Am. Profoundly. Lucky.

I am surrounded and supported by the most beautiful people, and it's really not limited to those who have had children, either. Before getting pregnant, I had heard stories of other women having all sorts of issues with unsolicited advice being given, jealousy amongst family members and friends, or scary stories of pregnancy.

I can say that none of that has been true. Despite the fact that I felt super icky, which was no one's fault, just normal hormonal changes, I have had the most positive pregnancy. To start, the grandmas couldn't be more excited. To feel like we are giving a gift to two women who do so much for me and Casey is a wonderful feeling. My sister-in-law Trena and I are a month apart with our due dates. One would think that there may be animosity and spotlight stealing (as read and heard about before), however, there couldn't have been more joy. We are a support system for each other and I rely on her to answer those weird questions for me.

During this time, I have found out that a few other close friends are due with babies around the same time. Too cool. Again, another group of women to talk and laugh about those funny things going on "down there."

I have wonderful friends that have had children and are another place that I find new advice, baby items, and maternity clothes (thank you, Jenny, Heather and Trena!). Even my friends with no babies are so excited and will do anything to help. My sister-in-law, Steph, loves to talk about all the parts of pregnancy and babies and I couldn't love her more for her excitement to be an auntie!

My mom certainly did not have the internet when she was having her babies. It seems like I can google anything and someone has felt it, questioned it or experienced it. One place that was surprisingly not-so-supportive, yet set up to be the ultimate source of support for pregnant women, was the Baby Center website. It was the site that was recommended to me by a few formerly pregger ladies. It is great for getting the week-by-week information and little newsletter posts about how to eat, why we need to brush our teeth, etc. Then one day I looked at the posts that people write or ask questions about their pregnancy or raising their children. Some comments and questions were the same things that I thought about, too. I didn't leave comments, but I would read other people's opinions. Today I decided to look at my next week's baby information and looked at the current postings that others left. I was horrified to read the entries and comments that these mothers left about any subject. Many were very confrontational and accusational in their tone. It was horrifying to read! I even read some of them to Casey, who just shook his head. Yikes!

I decided that I was too lucky of a girl to get myself wrapped up in that drama. One of the first pieces of advice that was given to me was to avoid stress and stay positive. You know my sensitivity issues, so that did not seem like a place for me to get involved. I would take the important information that the site gave me and call up the women in my life, who I knew would give me a loving and supportive answer to my question when I had one. Some answers a book or a website can't give me, sometimes I just need a good friend, a sister, or a mother to reassure me that everything will be okay and if it's not, they will still be there, too. I wouldn't call that place a support system, what I have is a support system...the most rock solid, loving, supportive system a girl could have. You all make me say, "Yay for babies!"

A Dinner so Easy, a Caveman Could Do It

Up until about a year and half ago, I was not into cooking. But my mom told me a little piece of advice and it's stuck with me. I will let you in on her golden nugget because it obviously worked well for her: If you always have a good dinner waiting for your husband when he comes home from work, maybe he'll agree to let you stay at home all the time! In January, my mom just retired from working at Alexandria Technical College for about thirty years, so we can see how well this theory really worked.

However, I think cooking takes a little push from a few directions. My mom is an awesome cook, we had a family every dinner every night and still continue to have them when I am home. She made us eat all kinds of food and was definitely not a short order cook. If it was in front of us, we ate it. I thank her for making me open to all kinds of food, I am definitely NOT a picky eater. That is one thing I love about myself; have me over for dinner and I'll eat whatever you cook. I may not always like everything, but I'll always eat it. I can say the same for my sister and brother, there's not much we won't eat or at least try.

My other push came from my sister-in-law, Trena. Talk about an awesome cook! I love visiting their house; she has containers filled with yummy food that I gorge myself on. Trena loves cooking and baking and I love enjoying the things that she creates. She has always wanted me to get into cooking, too, but for many years I just couldn't get excited about it.

The final influence came from my other sister-in-law, Steph. When this girl got married and received all her kitchen gadgets and beautiful serving ware, she was pumping out the most amazing three-course meals! Her husband commented to us when she was busy making dinner that he thought she was such a good cook and everything she made was awesome. (I don't know if he relayed that information to you, Steph!)

After seeing the starry look in Tim's eyes talking about Steph's cooking, I decided that perhaps I needed to step up my game if I was going to keep Casey happy. I can't even remember what we ate before I started really cooking...turkey burgers? Spaghetti? Toast? Cereal? Salad? I'm seriously drawing a blank.

Last summer is when I really started cooking. I took down the 6 cookbooks that were given to me by Trena and my mom and made my list. I planned out 5 meals for the week and had a lot of crazy things that I needed to buy. $90 later, I was walking out a little stunned with the cost of some of these items. The spices, the fresh produce, the oils, the vinegars, etc. However, after being a "pro cooker" as I like to call myself, I found out that many of those things are only bought a few times during the year, not all at once!

It became a fun thing to surprise Casey with a new recipe each night he came home from work. He looked forward to coming home and would call me every time he left and asked what I was making. It would be waiting, piping hot when he walked through the door. Stuffed peppers, portobello mushroom burgers, baked ziti, and maybe a turkey burger (some food is always so good!).

At Christmas 2007, Trena gave me the Eat Clean Diet and the cookbook to go with it. Very enlightening book with lots of information on food and the kinds of food we should be eating. It made me re-think the way I was cooking and although I don't follow the book religiously, I am a lot more conscientious about the foods that I do eat. Tosca Reno would probably tsk, tsk some of my eating habits, but what's the fun in food, then?! Then this year at Christmas, my mom bought me a subscription to the Clean Eating Magazine (with a little push from Trena). It is awesome! It is filled with tons of recipes and every one is healthy and has lots of nutrients, fiber, and protein. It's food for all kinds of eaters. I have made meat and potatoes, pizza, potato and egg salads, pasta, desserts, and all kinds of interesting concoctions of food. The best part is that the recipes are pretty easy, fairly inexpensive, and totally delicious and nutritious. I highly recommend the magazine to anyone that enjoys healthy cooking.

Tonight I made something VERY yummy and it was really easy and there are lots of leftovers--wait, I just looked in the fridge, Casey must have dipped into it for another helping--I mean some leftovers! It's from the Eat Clean Diet Cookbook and it's called Wild Rice Summer Salad.

Here's how you make it:

In a sauce pan cook 1 cup of wild rice. (Basically boil 2 c. of water, then add wild rice, cover and simmer for about a half an hour or until cooked, drain)

Cube 2 chicken or turkey breasts and cook in a little olive oil, salt and pepper in a pan.

Mix in a big bowl:

1 bunch of green onions chopped

1/2 c. cooked endamame (I just heated up the frozen kind.)

2/3 c. no salt added sweet corn

2 or 3 Roma tomatoes chopped and seeded

Then add the chicken and wild rice. Add either fresh or dried tarragon and basil--I do a few shakes of each and mix.

For the dressing mix and whisk in a separate container:

1/4 c. or so of light rice vinegar

1 Tbsp. or so of toasted or regular sesame oil

1 garlic clove pressed

Add the dressing and some sea salt and fresh cracked pepper. I added a little more rice vinegar bc I like mine a little more acidic, but that's just me.

Here is a picture of the leftovers:

It was so easy, in fact I talked on the phone with Stacy the entire time I was cooking it! It serves 6 and has only 202 calories per serving...so of course I had a little more. I am very full and satisfied. I just hate feeling like I want to eat more when I get done with dinner. It also gave Casey that starry look, which is always the goal! (No work, no work!)

I hope you enjoy it!

Taking the Ass out of Assertive

I just did something assertive, but it didn't make me feel empowered, I felt like the first three letters of that word. It was something that really needed to be addressed, but it didn't make it any easier.

So, glass half full side of me says, "Yea! I just got my oven fixed and now I can bake and cook things! No one's hurt or dead and I am still on summer vacation!"

The glass half empty person says, "That shouldn't have been a big mess like it was. It was a simple thing to get fixed and it wasted way too much of my time and energy."

I will back up a month, if you remember a previous post, my poor oven wasn't working and after my exploding grill, I put my foot down to get the darn thing fixed! I went on the internet and Googled appliance repair+Chandler, AZ. I found several companies in the area that seemed legit and called them all the next day. I found one that I thought would be a good deal and they were very friendly on the phone. I forgave them when they lost my appointment and was able to get over it when the repairman came the last fifteen minutes of the four hour window they gave me. It wasn't their fault when the cost of the repair was much more than we anticipated.

But when I was scheduling the appointment to get my oven fixed, this is where I felt I was getting jerked around. I called them and was told they would call me back, which they never did. When I called them the next day, they apologized for not calling, but said they would call me back in fifteen minutes. I'm sure it comes to no surprise when they didn't call. Six hours later, I called them, and they informed me they lost my invoice so they didn't know what I needed fixed. It was quite frustrating, because I felt roped into using their business, I had invested $89 for the repairman to come out, which would also go towards the cost of the repair. I let the owner know that I what I had been through, and he quickly put my appointment through and found a part close by so they could get their sooner. I appreciated the haste in which they were working, but had a feeling that it wasn't going to end well.

The repairman was supposed to come today between 1 and 4. I got up really early to work out, I quickly ran my errands, and came home to clean my house, especially the kitchen. I quickly took a shower and got ready and at 1:05 I was ready for him to come. I waited, and waited...and waited. Finally, at 3:45, I gave the company a call, because maybe I had written down the wrong date. But it was the right date and the repairman was running 30 minutes behind. I said that it would have been nice to get a phone call letting me know, since I had been waiting for three hours. He responded in a sarcastic way, saying, "Yeah, I guess he shoulda."

I hung up the phone frustrated and upset. Casey said that I should call back and let them know I was disappointed with their business and maybe get some sort of discount. I completely agreed and hung up the phone with him ready to give them a call.

My assertive paralysis set in right away. What do I say? How do I say it? How would I want someone to talk to me with the same complaint? How do I let them know I'm frustrated? How do get my point across without coming across as being a you-know-what? Is my argument valid? What could they say to me that would cancel out my complaint?

As a teacher, calling parents for negative reasons invokes the same paralysis. Most of the time, it works out fine and parents are very supportive, but sometimes it can turn into a heated conversation, where I end up putting out the flames with my submissive and nonconfrontational personality. Sometimes, it's just not worth an argument or a bad rapport with a parent, because then for sure we will go nowhere with their child.

This situation seemed like I should be able to make a valid point. I rehearsed what I was going to say (which is what I often do when I am going to call a parent) and dialed. The owner was unavailable at the time, but he called me back a few minutes later. I was friendly and asked him how we was doing. Then I let him know my disapointment with the service that we had been receiving from his company and explained my reasoning. I must have been so friendly, because he went into great detail about changing ownership and how the old manager is going through a brutal divorce, etc. Did I really need to know this information? This wasn't the direction that I needed to be going in. I'm letting him make up excuses for the way he is running his business (I felt those same emotions from making parent phone calls, many excuses...), but I needed to stand my ground. I told him that it must be a very difficult thing to go through a divorce, but his personal issues shouldn't be affecting the way he runs his business and into my home. I also let him know that I felt that paying full price would be agreeing to the service they provided. I told him I thought that after all issues we had, a discount would seem appropriate. He immediately became defensive because now we were talking money. Yet another set of hoops he would have to jump through and things he would have to review in order to give a discount.

To end all of this madness, I let him know that I was going to put a poor review on the internet, so when people are looking up his business, they will read about the things that happened to me. "Do what you need to do, I guess" is what he responded, in a very snarky way. Then I told him, that people should know about the experience I had, and as a business trying to maintain new customers, they need to re-evaluate the way they ran their company. He agreed, but I guess it was in a way to shut me up. We ended with him reviewing the issues that I had and talking it over with the other owner to decide if they can give a discount.

It's sitting funny. I felt like my arguments were valid, I wasn't mad about the price, just disappointed with the service and felt that paying full price didn't seem right. I know you are hearing it from my point of view, and in my mind it seems right, but why am I feeling so crappy? I don't like when people talk like that to me, and I know I'm hypersensitive, but should I have called? Do you think he is still thinking about it, too? Did he go home and tell his wife about the crazy woman who is practically harassing him at work? I told him about 3 times that I'm not the type of person that complains, but....

Have you ever had these same emotions? How do I get over it?

Home Again, Home Again!

You may or may not have noticed that I haven't been writing the last two weeks. This also may or may not have made your day. The first week of hiatus I have no excuse, I was just plain lazy bones magoo. However, the second week I have been traveling all over state interstates and county roads of Minnesota. And so with great excitement, I will do my Minnesota call:

She's baaaaaaaack!

Every year I like to escape the heat of Arizona and spend time with my family back in Minnesota. Sometimes it is a couple of weeks, other times it is over a month. This time it is exactly three weeks. Before I came home, Minnesota was in a bad drought, however, since my plane took off last Tuesday afternoon, the weather forecast has had rain almost every day. (The kind that the farmers like, as said by numerous people in Alexandria.)

No bother, I like the rain. These are the highlights that I have enjoyed thus far on my vacation to Minnesota:

• Staying with my in-laws, Jim and Mary.


• Driving down to the St. James/New Ulm area for my friend, Kylee's wedding with my sister.


• Spending the night in Shannon's apartment in St. Louis Park.


• Waking up early and meeting Stacy and Julie at Lake of the Isles for yoga in the park.


• Trying to convice a mentally ill, possibly drunk, homeless man named Thomas, to move from the middle of our semi-circle right when the class started.


• Moving the class a little further down from Thomas when it was clear he wasn't moving, and practicing the most rejuvinating yoga on a gorgeous non-raining Saturday morning.


• Having brunch with Stacy, Shannon and Julie at Common Roots in Uptown.


• Visiting my 89-year-old grandmother and 91-year-old grandfather at Knute Nelson Nursing Home.


• Sleeping in "the cave" of a basement for many hours in a row without waking up.


• Spending time with my mom, dad, and sister, since we are all home. I don't feel nearly as lonesome!


• Visiting the Perinos in their new house.


• Playing with the next-door-neighbor kids.

This brings me to my next item, my neighbor kids. They are some of the sweetest children to have living next door. After playing for about an hour with them yesterday, I went inside to start dinner. We heard a knock on our door (actually it was several consecutive doorbell rings, a few knocks on the front door, then some on the garage door, followed by some yelling through the door). They were so excited to give us invitations to a picnic they were planning for the next day. It was going to be from 2:10-2:55 in their front yard, there was going to be lemonade, frozen Kool-Aid freezies and some other snacks, followed by games.

After visiting our grandparents today, Shannon and I pulled into the driveway at exactly 2:10. It was just as they planned. A blanket was spread on the ground, there were Oreos, lemonade, fruit salad, chips, Fruit Roll-Ups, and the highly anticipated Kool-Aid freezies (we were informed that there was enough for everyone to have two). We sat down with the kiddos and feasted on our delicious snacks.

We cleaned up the picnic area and played the following games in the following order: Everyone's It tag, Four-Corners, Annie Annie Over, and DuckDuck Gray Duck. It was a hot, muggy, super sticky day. We were all sweating profusely, but it was a wonderful time. It's interesting that as a teacher, I can't enjoy my students like I do my neighbor kids. For one thing, I have 25 to look after, they don't always play by the rules, and it seems that some sort of drama will always play itself out, no matter how structured you make a game. I just love being able to say to my neighbor kids, Well, that was a lot of fun! I'm going to go inside now, but I'll see you tomorrow! They can play as long as they want on the front lawn, ride their bikes a million times on our driveway, and I feel happy as a clam...they make me love kids again!

I hope the rest of my vacation continues to be as peaceful as it has been so far!

A New Set of Tea-th

At the end of December, I read an article in my Clean Eating magazine that recommended drinking tea to get extra antioxidants, etc. and in general be a way better person than I was currently being. Of course, I completely bought into this theory, this comes a week after I just got done bragging to the dental hygienist that I never smoke or drink coffee and very rarely would I dream of drinking tea or pop. Everyone in the office stopped what they were doing and all clapped for me and I stood up and took a bow for being so awesome. Or they just thought I was another Mormon. Either way, my dentist calls me one of his favorite patients. What a great set of teeth! he exclaims every time I open my mouth for him to admire.



After reading the article, I must have blanked out my conviction of "rare tea consumption" and wondered what I was missing out on. I could be a way healthier person if I drank tea--what does a dentist and a hygienist know anyway? The very next morning, I filled my electric tea kettle a little higher for the usual oatmeal and the rest into a giant mug with a bag of green pomegranate tea (it just sounds so healthy, doesn't it?). After the water temperature was low enough to not scald my tongue, I sipped this tea, already feeling more alive and excited for life.



I think this feeling was not so much health, but a shot of caffeine zipping through my system. Since I don't drink pop very often, caffeine will kick me right up a notch and I can't be stopped. I decided that I would start drinking tea every morning at school, because it would wake me up a little and I would have an amazing amount of pep--as if I needed any more.



That Monday we returned to school, I filled up my travel mug and headed down the highway to Casa Grande. I figured out that I couldn't drink the tea until I got to school, it stayed very hot in that mug for a long time! It was exciting to start on a new health adventure.

These are the side effects that occurred when I started drinking tea:

• My appetite was suppressed enough to last until 11:00 without starving (This usually started around 10:00--what can I say? I eat breakfast at 6!)


• I had to go the bathroom 3 times before 9:30.


• I had numerous stains on my jacket from constantly spilling walking from my car to school.


• My students were convinced that I was hiding something in that mug, because I was a lot more smiley.


• And to my deepest horror, I developed (even with the use of straws) brown stains in between the crevices of my front teeth that were pretty noticeable and I was pretty sure my teeth had a new tinge of yellow.

Here's the deal, my parents spent thousands of dollars to put braces on my teeth, replace a gazillion retainers accidentally thrown away, and fill cavities with the porcelain, not metal, fillings. I really try to hold up my end of the bargain by going to the dentist twice a year and brushing and flossing each day, and smiling the biggest smile in every picture. This seemed to be working out well, until I started my new habit.

My vanity got the best of me, and I decided that I could not drink tea anymore. It was not worth these so-called health benefits that I was clearly not feeling. So I quit, but my stains still remained. My smiles were not as smiley as they once were, I was feeling a tad more self-conscious about this little issue.

Yesterday, I had my 6-month teeth cleaning. I was so embarrassed to tell the hygienist about my problem and had to eat the words that I had proclaimed so adamantly to everyone six months prior. The hygienist happened to be very cool and went through and cleaned the heck out of my teeth. 30 minutes later, I was looking into the hand held mirror at perfectly white(ish) teeth with no stains! It was amazing! I gave her a hug and a promise to never to drink tea again! Again, everyone stopped what they were doing and clapped for me, I took my usual bow and exited the office stage right.