Wednesday...

I am thankful for my husband, my dog, my house, my car, a job, and my family. 2012 is near! Not sure what we will do for new years yet. We are invited to a party, which we probably will go to. Dusty and I both are working today and tomorrow, and we have plenty to do over the weekend. Go shopping, clean up the house, rearrange furniture, organize our gifts, and relax! :) whew! Sounds like a lot just thinking about it. I wish I could take the day off tomorrow, I would hang out with my mom, sew, and cook. My mom has some philo dough and we both want to cook with it! Well, enough talk for now. :)

Not a morning person

While dusty sleeps I am staying with granddad, my complaint is that it is so early! I was late getting here this morning...

Christmas

Overall, good year! Bummer that dusty worked the whole weekend :( but since we don't have kids he is at the bottom of the list. Don't know what else to say but merry Christmas !

Couponing

We really need to get our butts in gear again. We don't need laundry detergent or juice or cereal yet, but def need some things in our pantry! I made a Chritmas grocery list and we went to the store.. We found an awesome deal on hash browns! Not only are they bogo, 3.75 for two, but they have been giving out coupon booklets with a manufacture coupon for 1.50 off two bags of hash browns! That is 2.25 for two bags or 1.13 for one! Now if we had ink in our printer, target has a store coupon for 1.50 off three. Bags of hash browns! So, you buy six bags ( three bogo deals) 3.75•3=11.25. Then you use two target coupons which would be minus three dollars. 11.25-3= 8.25. Then use three manufacture coupons 1.50 off two which would be minus four and a half dollars. 8.25-4.50= 3.75. Remember you bought six bags for the price of one!!!! .63cents per bag! We also went to cvs and got a secret sale of wonder pets for a dollar but when they scanned the coupon it took off the original amount so we had almost a nine dollar credit three times! Free presents for the nieces!

Saturday date night

So my surprise date was going to see the nutcracker ballet! It was a lot of fun and reminded me of good childhood memories:) plus my husband must really love me because he took me to the ballet without any suggestions or asking!!

The week of parties!

Yesterday we had our first day of parties! First went to a church potluck and finished off the night at my parents house with a bonfire. :) Tonight I have a ladies dinner party and tomorrow we both are going to make gingerbread houses at a friends house! Crazy! I am working today, Wednesday, and Thursday. Sitting with granddad for the day. Friday I am staying home and cooking up a storm for Christmas weekend. Chili and cornbread, sausage and hash brown casserole, cookies, cinnamon scones, and another dish that is unknown to me yet. Lol! The last one is for dusty's work dinner on Saturday. Dusty works Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights... Boo, but we will still have a good Christmas morning:) Bella has a stocking but Ian not putting anything in it yet so she doesn't go crazy trying to get it. We got her treats and a friend gave us some barely used dog toys that she loves as well! I am pretty much done shopping all I have left to get is a Starbucks gift card. Dusty apparently still has money to spend as well! We have so many presents this year! So excited!!

Pillow Confessions

Do I push snooze on the alarm? Yes... Do I stay in bed for every possible minute? Yes:) Am I procrastinating now? Oh yes lol. .... Bella did not wake me up last night!! I told her not too and she woke up dusty lol! This morning they are both sleeping while I am about to be forced into the cold unknown (the kitchen) :) Today should be a easy day. The guest speaker is coming again and will be showing movie. Ooh I did my nails last night! They look purty:) even with a flower on my thumbs and big toe! Random I know but remember this is Marisa and her random thoughts:) well better be off to brave the cold unknown lol!

Long day !

So, I am at school and for three days I get to listen to a guest speaker over and over again! Boooring.... Easy days but boring. This morning before I left for work, Bella realized I was leaving and dusty and myself was having some "adult time" and was ignoring her.... I went back to go and put my shoes on and she had dragged one of my shoes under the bed and chewed the strap!! These are new shoes! Erg... Apparently she was unhappy with me. I am excited about Saturday dusty is taking me out and it is a surprise! :) just a couple weekends ago he surprised me and treated me to the melting pot!! But this time I think it will be a concert or ballet or something like that. Exciting:)

Catching up

Goodness! Been busy, decorated outside of house, restrung lights on tree after they went out..., been working overtime, got surprised and treated to melting pot! I am pretty much done with Christmas shopping and wrapping them. I do not like waking up early.... It makes me crabby. . . Today I was crabby, I woke up early to sit with granddad. He is not doing the best today.

Bella's birthday

Today Bella turned 1! It is hard to believe that it has been a full year! We went out last night and bought her a new toy. :) I gave it to her this morning and she loved it, thankfully. It is annoying when your pet doesn't like it!

Mournful Monday's...

Why oh why are we so tired on Monday mornings? I slept in during the weekend and relaxed. Well, I also went to bed after 11 and my alarm went off before 6!!! Boooo! I decided to go to the rehab center early for a couple of reasons. For one, it's better for me tone here when granddad gets his breakfast. Two, the earlier I am here the sooner I can leave. Well, I am sure I will post a few today ... Randomly:)

What a week

Last night I was to the point of exhaustion. I was starting to feel sick and I am thankful that sleep made me feel better. So, where do I start.... Dust's granddad recently had a stroke and now is in a rehab center. Basically like a nursing home, but nicer and they have all the therapy you could want. :) granddad has been taken care of by my mother in law for years. So, being in a rehab center is quite different and she does not trust the CNA's. I was skeptical at first, but it is true. I sure would not want to be treated like some are in these places. Basically, Patty wants someone with him every day and some nights. This is where I come in, they offered to pay me to sit with Granddad and keep him company and make sure he is being treated well. I was nervous at first, but I actually like it. I sat with him Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I also subbed Monday and Friday! Combined I worked over 40 hours! Exhausted!! Yesterday I got a headache at school around noon and I didn't get medicine till 7:30!!!! Let me just say. I was not in a good way. I am feeling way better now.:) Yesterday Dusty went Christmas shopping! Hehe, I like presents! I feel like a little kid, is that a bad thing? :) Today both of us have presents to wrap!!! Well, this is before coffee so I will probably write again once I am more awake. :)

The weekend after... Jumbled thoughts

The weekend after Thanksgiving is a mix of craziness. My husband works nights all weekend.. Boo! I like sitting on the couch with the soft glow of Christmas lights. Since we had no leftovers to enjoy I made my families famous apple pie yesterday:) Yummy! I will also make pecan since Dusty loves pecan and didn't get a decent pecan pie. Last night Bella was a bad girl and peed before I could get the back door open and pooped in our bedroom this morning! Erg! She is still learning and we really have to watch her. She will be really good and then suddenly she acts like she hasn't been trained where "to go".... Sigh, the little terd lol. I started shopping for presents and some ideas went bust, but then I bought a collection of items on eBay. :) I think it was a really good deal. I need a wardrobe update/ makeover... I have spending money for clothes, but I would rather go shopping with a friend versus alone or with my husband. He would gladly go with me, but what it boils down to I am embarrassed and depressed at how much weight I gained... I miss feeling cute and pretty in my clothes. I have a whole closet of clothes I can't fit into right now. I really want to get back into a diet, but it is hard to be married and eat like I used to. I don't feel like I overeat or eat really bad junk food, but for me it all adds up. Plus I was getting dizzy and I fainted at least once in front of Dusty due to low blood sugar! One doctor said I had hypoglycemia, and didn't do anything else. She said to eat higher protein snacks and high fiber. Well, I know I probably eat too many carbs and too many high in fat proteins, but I don't get dizzy! This new doctor I am going to gave me a blood sugar tester (diabetics use them) to prick my finger when I feel dizzy and test to see if my blood sugar is in a normal range. But this means I need to go back on the diet in order to do this properly. Sigh... It costs a bit of money to buy the food I would need plus it would be boring, my energy would be low, I remember sleeping a lot and drinking diet soda to take the edge off. Is that worth doing for losing weight and being happy with the way I look? At the time I thought so, I felt like it was a miracle! I had found something that worked!! I really want to do this I just don't know if I am committed enough to follow through. Maybe me blogging about it might get me motivated to begin. But then it means that meals will be pretty boring for Dusty... Like I said I have not totaly wrapped my head around all this. Weight is such an awful thing to have to deal with, it's very public, it's not a secret it's right there for everyone to see. I want to enjoy life! I envy those that don't struggle, but then you don't know what they might be struggling with I guess. Everyone has their battles, I guess I better be thankful for what I have and pray. Well I have rambled enough today:)

Thanksgiving day and couponing!

So we went out to eat at a resort with the in laws. Let's be honest not the best food. :( It wasn't awful, it was just very few options and the best thing I had was a salad and a fresh omelet made to order! But it was decent over all and we were treated to this by family. We left the resort around 2:00pm and quickly stopped by our house to grab my Dad's B-day gift and CVS bucks. CVS apparently has tons of great deals for "Black Friday"! Before we went over to my parents house we stopped by CVS and bought my mom over 120 dollars worth of stuff and only spent 12 dollars! Because my mom works so much this school year, Dusty and I coupon for my mom. She gives us 20 dollars or so and it lasts us for a couple months while buying a good amount of things. Then we went to my rents and watched home videos:) After that we went to CVS again for ourselves and got more than 120 dollars worth and spent less!! Chocolate, nail polish, cold and flu medicine, toothbrushes, and so much more! Now we are home snuggled in bed very tired but content... Maybe I can get Dusty to watch a Christmas movie, but I might pass out soon lol Good night sleep well

Productive day

Today Dusty and I cleaned the house, and he gave in and we decorated and listened to Christmas music!! Yah! Dusty works this weekend and today was a good day for it. I had no cooking to do because we are eating out tomorrow. We had more ornaments than last year when we mainly had bulbs. :) This weekend we will decorate the outside! I am pretty tired and fighting another headache... I am ready to go shopping, but frustrated. My husband wants a camera that is half off on black Friday at midnight. So basically if I go and buy it he is going to know :( On the plus side if I do not buy the camera it will not take up half my spending budget. Sigh.... Not sure what to do. I already had him open one gift due to the fact it went with the decorations. He has started collecting Leftin Christmas village people and buildings. I had picked a building for free when I went up to Iowa for the funeral. ... Needless to say he liked it:) Anyway, have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Students these days

So, I misunderstood what teacher I would be subbing for today... I thought I was subbing for some sweet ese children that are autistic. By the way this is high school. But oh no I am a ese teacher but I did learning strategies for students that need a study hall (not autistic) then went to iss (in school suspension) during the longest period of the day lunch! Ok so the iss room is huge with no AC, other than fans. This is deliberate in the attempt to make it miserable, they succeeded! As a teacher its pretty awful just sitting there making sure no one blinks wrong lol, it is mind numbing. There typically is two teachers at the same time in this class. Well since it was lunch that was a negative. The other teacher was running errands and was on her break! So annoying when the students "forget" the rules when they see a new face. In iss you are not allowed to talk, sleep,or do anything wrong. Because you will be written up even for getting up without asking. By the time I left, one kid got checked out for being sick, two students got escorted out by the dean, and several notes on other students. This is my break for the day and days like this make me want to leave before school is done for the day. Boo

Random thought

I am here subbing for pre-k today, watching them sleep .... Sometimes they can be so cute and other times such a terror. It is amazing how fast they grow up.

Tis a good morning

Woke up really early with Hubbie partly because he kept pushing snooze! But after he left I was able to sleep for a whole hour then play Christmas music before work :) yeah!

Confessions

I confess I started taking Christmas decorations out! I started fluffing our Christmas wreath and put decorations on it. Dusty just shook his head at me, but I don't care lol. I am waiting to really decorate after Thanksgiving, but I was just itching to see what decor we had this year. Since last year we bought decorations after Christmas we have new things this year! This will be our second Christmas together since we got married, and we have started a nice collection of decorations. I like the holidays because to me it is about family and togetherness. Presents are not bad either =) I am loving the fact that I live in my own house and not under my parents roof, because we get to do things our way. You know, decorate our way, celebrate our way, basically we get to make the decisions. When we have children I want them to have special holiday memories. It is not about presents, but about the whole experience. I have good Christmas memories, but it will be nice to put my spin on things. I was watching a TV show "Eureka" and one of the characters really liked to make their Christmas magical for their kids. This character would dip marshmallows in powdered sugar and make "elf prints" around the tree for Christmas morning! I wouldn't go that far, but the same concept is there. Making it special in your own way. As I have gotten older I have realized there is no wrong way to celebrate Christmas, but as long as you make it special for your loved ones it will be wonderful!

Home Videos

Today, Dusty and I are taking my families home videos and converting them to DVD! Oh my goodness, cute and embarrassing depending on when the video was recorded. We went to the mall today.... so crowded. The food court had a middle school band playing Christmas music and that was nice. I must be getting old because the mall does not excite me anymore. I know part of it is the fact I have gained weight and that we don't have tons of extra money to spend on clothes and other items and because my back injury. For those of you that don't know, I injured my back... I have had an MRI and now I have been recommended to a nuero surgeon. That is scary for me to think about. I do not like doctors, but when I stand or walk my left leg goes numb... needless to say not good! It is effecting my way of life for sure and I am so thankful for my husband. He is so supportive and caring through all this.  Anyway, the mall was way too busy for my liking. I have half of my Christmas money already, but I am still working on what to buy my hubbie. He makes me write a list and then he still has not giving me much to work with. He said pillow, a certain CD, and maybe a camera. Ok, so its not like I just go down a list to buy presents, but seriously give me 5-10 things small or large to go off of. Oh well I did decent last year without a list so we will see this year lol. I also really want to decorate already! Dusty wont let me lol! He works the weekend after thanksgiving but he said we could still decorate since he works nights. Well I am fighting a headache so signing off for now!

Applied for a job..

I just applied for a job at a bank... wouldn't it be nice if i got hired? I certainly think so.... but I am not getting hopes up. Boo! Dear Lord, Please guide me into a job that I will be happy in, not a teaching position (even though I keep getting compliments from teachers and assistant principals) ....... Not trying to be completely negative here lol =) I am very thankful for the fact that I have a husband that loves me and treats me wonderfully, a cute and adorable poodle that loves me even though she chews on my things, a decent house with growing room, and the fact that we both have decent jobs. I just don't understand why company's don't consider me a good candidate??? Or maybe they do but they have a more qualified person on the list. Well how am I supposed to get more qualified without some experience???
Anyway its getting late and I must go to bed =)

Blah morning

At school just waiting for the kids to come..... I really wish I could get a job that I like and get paid decent. Is that too much to ask?

My brother the musician =)

We just got to enjoy a jazz concert tonight at UWF, where my brother plays! I am very proud of him and I am always amazed to hear him play. He has been talking about composing lately at the encouragement of his professors, wouldn't that be cool! I am very tired and it is only ten at night.... Sigh I feel old sometimes.

Thanksgiving is near!

It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is next week! I love the holidays, families get together, traditions, and just the holiday spirit. All the wonderfulness comes with a price... I know from personal experience I get my hopes up and then things don't go the way I had planned. Emotions run high and low.. Last year was the first Thanksgiving with in-laws, and it actually was one of my favorite years! We all brought some dishes to my parents house and had a really good time. This year we are doing it different and it will be my first thanksgiving away from my rents! Craziness, lol :) Last year had many firsts, dusty and I fried a turkey and baked one! It turned out really well especially for first time. But like I said this year will be different, we will be eating at a resort in perdido key. No dishes, no baking, and no stress! Even though I like cooking, this will be a nice change this year.