July in a Nutshell

I wish I could say that I have been MIA due to something SUPER exciting. Like winning the lottery. Or David Boreanaz whisking me off to Tahiti. (He is my MAJOR celebrity crush. MAJOR.) But alas, no lottery win, no Tahiti, no David Boreanaz. Just doing Slacker-Summer-Stuff ..... Going to the gym, watching bad TV, catching up on my DVR shows, hanging out with the munchkin.

I have actually spent quite a bit of time up at school too. Yes, I know I am on summer break. But there is SO much to do before the school year begins! My room was a DISASTER OF EPIC PROPORTIONS. It is getting better though. Organized all the cabinets, my bookshelves, all my teacher crap. I think to be a teacher, you have to have a "pack rat" gene. Almost every teacher I know has SO.MUCH.STUFF. Too much. But you cannot get rid of anything! You NEVER know when you might need it! Of course, if you really need something ... I can guaran-damn-tee there is a teacher (or ten) in the building that has what you need. And the best thing about teachers? They are always willing to give you what you need OR help you find it.



Soooo ... What have we done in July?

I got super excited when I saw THIS SIGN! *GASP* Whole Foods is coming to Oklahoma! SO HAPPY! Of course, it is not until the end of 2011. Apparently, it takes over a year to build a freaking Whole Foods. Oh well - it is COMING! That is all that matters! There IS hope. Now, only if Trader Joe's would make it out here .... Or In n' Out.


For the Fourth of July, Rachel and I went to the parade in Downtown Edmond. We had fun! It was cloudy and sprinkled a few times - but the REAL rain held off until AFTER the parade! Whew! Rachel loved the parade, except for the fire trucks and police cars. they were SO loud! They came out forst, and lasted about 10 minutes. She turned to me MANY times and said "I want to go home Mommy!" But my brave girl stuck it out. And looks darn cute while doing it!

We also went to the fireworks at UCO (University of Central Oklahoma). We had AWESOME seats. We brought Brian's truck and put blankets down in the bed. It was super fun. Again, very loud since we were so close, so Rachel was a little freaked at the beginning, but warmed up to them REALLY fast. She really HATED the finale though. lol These were taken with my super-high-tech phone camera >insert sarcasm<.

Brian's parents came last week, but I have no pictures of that visit. :( We didn't do too much, it was HOT HOT HOT. Ugh, this humidity is awful. Rachel had a fun visit ..... She is like a little Energizer Bunny. It was nice for Mommy to get a break! I was actually able to sit and do NOTHING while she played with Grandma and Grandpa. *ahhhhhhhh*

We leave tomorrow morning to go to my parent's place in NC/TN. Our flight LEAVES AT 5:25 AM. YES, MORNING. We have to leave our house about 3:45. IN THE MORNING. I have to wake up about 3:00 AM. IN THE MORNING. Ugh. This is going to be brutal. But it is going to be a fun trip. We are going for about 10 days. Brian is actually coming too! Woot! He is only staying until July 31st.... Rachel and I are staying until August 3rd. There should be some great pictures after the trip .... going boating, tubing, going to Blowing Rock, Mini Golf and, of course, seeing THE ALPACAS! Yay!

All Hail Sticker Charts

So we have gotten into the BADDDDD habit of letting the munchkin sleep in "Mommy's Big Bed". This is, of course, after spending a small fortune on her kickass bed .... had we known she would end up sleeping in our bed, we could have just bought her a sleeping bag. Or a cot. Or stick her in a drawer. (I kid, I kid, don't call CPS.)

Well, discussing sleeping in her bed, pleading, begging ... yeah, means nothing to a four year old. When we bring it up, she basically is all "blah blah blah, I can't hear you, I can't hear you!" And then laughs. Mocking us, I know it.

So, then the teacher in me thought about doing a sticker chart for her .... I am ALLLL about bribery. Bribery gets stuff DONE. For those not in the know, sticker charts work like this: There is a paper with 10 squares in it. For every night she sleeps in her bed, she gets a sticker. Once the chart is full (10 stickers), she gets to pick a toy. She has been asking for a Mariposa Barbie, so I thought this might be a good way to get her to "earn" the Barbie.

I was not sure if she would really go for this, because my child is not known for her patience. She is VERY like her mother in that regard - Neither of us like delayed gratification or waiting for things. BUT, I brought it up and she was GUNG HO. I did not have to explain it very much either. I think she heard "Mariposa Barbie" and was all, "yeah, whatever lady, I'll jump through your hoops and get my stinking $30 toy. Now be quiet and cook my chicken nuggets."

She was even ASKING to go to bed early. But don't be fooled - that doesn't mean she actually WENT to sleep at a reasonable hour. That will be our next sticker chart if this one keeps working - please child, go to bed sometime before the sun rises.

We are taking baby steps - I had to sleep with her for a little bit, but she stayed in her bed. She did wake up sometime in the middle of the night crying, but Brian went to get her and she did not want to get in bed with us because she wanted a sticker. So he stayed with her for a couple minutes, then left her in her bed (still awake). She ended up in the guest room with him for a couple hours though - he felt guilty leaving her in case she was scared. Awww. When I went to get her this morning, the first thing she said was "Do I get a sticker?" Hysterical. I told her she did, and she was OVER THE MOON! Fingers crossed this keeps up ... I am tired of sleeping with feet in my face. Seriously.

Blog Love .... And WOW, I am BORING!

I have come to realize that my life is very unexciting. I am much more interesting during the school year - when I actually have things to do. SO I have had 2 REAL days of summer now (in the weeks before, I have had some trainings to do - FOUR days last week!). Let's see ... what did I do?

Monday .... Gym, straightened the guest room and Rachel's room. Went to school (YES! For real!) and met a friend up there to talk about some things for next year. Pathetic, I know. Didn't even make dinner. Slacker. Bad wife. Gave Rachel a bath. Played with her. Went to bed.

Tuesday .... Took Rachel to school. Went to the gym. Went to school - AGAIN. Cleaned both bathrooms. Made dinner (YES! Good wife!). Did some dishes. Played Candy Land and Memory with the munchkin.


WOW ... such excitement. Seriously, someone should make a movie of my life. And please get someone HOT and SKINNY to play me. Oh, and funny. I am thinking Jenny McCarthy. Even though I think she is a tad looney. Or Baywatch-era Pamela Anderson...Not current Pamela Anderson - she scares me. Lots. I am sure there are more people I would want to play me in a movie, but lets face it, I had a busy day. I am too tired to think. (HA!)


So, on to some Blog Love .... Thank you to Jess for mentioning me on her blog ... go visit her!





SO to honor her, and continue to love .....

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award.

2. Share seven things about yourself.
3. Pass this award along to fifteen bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic for whatever reason!
4. Contact the bloggers you’ve picked and let them know about the award.

7 random things about me:

1. I have a irrational fear of wiggly teeth. Seriously, loose teeth freak.me.out. What really rocks is that I teach 1st grade .... Guess when kids get LOTS of wiggly teeth? Yep, 1st grade. AWESOME.

2. I still bite my nails and chew on my hair. Disgusting isn't it? I gross myself out with it, but cannot stop. I am too old to change. Accept me as I am. (Just smack my hands when I start chewing.)

3. My husband is a fabulous cook. Seriously, he kicks my ass in the kitchen. He can't do veggie-based things, because, well, he is not a veggie fan. But meats and starches - he is fabulous. Love him!

4. I have lived in 5 states .... North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Nevada and Oklahoma. I am not sure if we are in Oklahoma to stay ... only time will tell. I am happy here though. Surprised at how happy I am! There are some great things here - well, not the tornadoes. Or the hail. But everything else, yeah, I am happy.

5. I love sugary kids cereal. LOVE it. I would eat a box a day if I could. And when pregnant, I think I did.

6. I have seen every single episode of CSI (Las Vegas), CSI (Miami), Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed, Seinfeld, Friends, Bones, Criminal Minds, 90210 (both the old AND new ones), and I am sure there are more shows I have watched all the spisodes.... I LOVE TV. Love it.

7. I do not like Reality TV. Well. most reality TV. I like things like House Hunters and the like, so all that stuff on HGTV. And I like watching those Kardashian people. They make me laugh. And Gordon Ramsey - woah, he gets angry! But the other crap? No thanks. Not into it.

Now ... are you bored to death yet? No? SERIOUSLY? I am so boring. You are at the very least, nodding off. Admit it, it's okay. really. I won't be sad. Well, go check out these people .... they are quite fun!

Happy Meals and Happy Hour

Finslippy

Letters from Crazyville

Skinny on a Dime

Babblings of a Mommy

Yeah, I think that is like 11. I can't do 4 more .... My adult ADD is kicking in. And, yeah, I know the buttons and links are not all centered. I really wanted them to be, but got bored. It is annoying, I know..... Sorry to all you OCD viewers, that has to really suck for you. :( (I think I fixed it! Woot, go me!)

Fatty McButterPants

I was a TOTAL slug today. I will blame my husband. No real reason, other than it is better the blame him than my lack of motivation today. I will use the excuse that it was Father's Day so I COULDN'T leave him alone today to go to the gym!

I need to pick another Half-Marathon to run in early fall - to help motivate me. I have turned into a big fat tub of goo. After the OKC Memorial Marathon in April, I took a week or so off. Then I got stitches in my foot (from a glass shard slicing it open), so I was out of the gym for about 3 weeks. So I was out of commission for about a month - almost all of May. Hellloooo, 15 lbs of goo added to my body. Because, apparently, if you eat like a maniac and NOT workout, you gain weight. That seems supremely unfair.

So, I am going to go research a Half-Marathon to do in September. Maybe early October. I am thinking the Joplin, MO race on 10-10-10. But not sure on that, seems a tad far.

Well, regardless, SOMEONE needs to buy a padlock for my fridge. Or I need to eat less on my own. Yeah, right. Like THAT is going to happen.

Don't let this cute face deceive you ....

Awwww, isn't she CUTE?

 REALLY, REALLY cute???















Don't let her fool you. She has LOTS of attitude. However, being so cute helps. A lot. I tend to forgive her quickly.

We went to the neighborhood park the other day ..... Rachel had lots of fun swinging on the disc swing, all by herself .....

We couldn't do anything else there because of the rain several days earlier .....

But Rachel was a trooper and was just happy to be out .... it helped that we saw 5 dogs, 4 turtles, big ducks AND baby ducks. My kid looooves animals ......

Giving Thanks

Watch this video and be thankful for the house you are in tonight .... these people have nothing left.

FLOOD DEVASTATION

It is awful. Several of these families go to my school. It is so sad. I cannot imagine having this happen. How helpless a feeling ....

Rachel and I went through her closet and donated 2 bags of clothing to one of the families who have a 3 year old girl. We also bought snacks and made cookies for them. Nothing huge, but I hope it brought some sort of comfort in an otherwise terrible situation. It just makes me cry every time I think about it. :( I am going to hug my baby extra tight tonight and give thanks for the roof over my head and the bed under me.

Survived the trip ... May not survive this rain!

My trip to St. Louis went totally fine! Rachel survived just fine, and I was not too traumatized. I had a really good time, went with a GREAT group of girls. There were 6 of us total ... drove up to St. Louis together (7 hours!), stayed in a nice hotel The Embassy Suites in St. Charles, MO. Oh, they had the best FREE breakfast. So yummy. I highly recommend staying there, if not only for the breakfast!

The conference was really, really good. It was about PLCs - Professional Learning Communities. I had some trouble in some of the sessions - it was SO HARD to be seated for so long. I am not used to sitting all day and it was tough to be the student. Not to mention, the chairs were >thisclose< together and I had some claustrophobic episodes. But the presenters were wonderful and I actually started wishing school was starting soon. Yea, that sounds a tad insane. Nevermind, I am happy it is summer and there is no school!

We had a couple adventures while in St. Louis though .... for example, there was a naked man on our floor. Apparently, he was "dared" to go into the hallway naked. He was also at our conference - so we had to run into him a few times during the event. Um, HELLO, Mr. Teacher-Man, don't you realize that you can be ARRESTED for things like that? And lose your teaching license? Hello, poor judgment much? I can make some dumb decisions too, but this one was a doozy. However, it does make for some funny stories.

We also did a LOT of shopping while there ... there was a Gymboree Outlet! That is one of the BIGGEST things I miss about Las Vegas - the shopping. *sigh* We went to old downtown St. Charles - it was so cute! And there was a small winery, had some yummy Blackberry Wine. YUM! We bought a few bottles and had a "slumber party" that night ... drinking wine, listening to music and playing cards. I have a new favorite game - Phase 10. LOVE it. I am going to have to buy it and bring it to my parent's house this summer. We also ran twice while there - very impressed. Once inside in the hotel gym, and once outside in a neighborhood. I am very proud of myself!

But, of course, I come back to INSANE Oklahoma weather. We had over 10 inches of rain in about 8 hours or so. There is terrible, awful flooding on my side of town. Our neighborhood is totally fine - we are actually on higher ground, so we did not accumulate much water. Also, our neighborhood pond is wayyyy down low, so it did not overflow into the neighborhood. But there are several neighborhoods around me who are destroyed. Families lost everything. They just escaped with the clothes on their back. Several of these families are from my school. I just start crying when I think about it. Not to mention, we are getting more rain tonight. I cannot even imagine what they are going through.

Just a LITTLE Bit of Anxiety .....

I leave to go to  St. Louis tomorrow morning .... won't be back until Saturday night. This is the FIRST time I have been away from Rachel since she was born. Well, I have been away from her ONE night in that time - last March. I went to work on a Friday morning, drove to Laughlin, NV after work and stayed in a hotel that night. Ran a half-marathon race the next morning, drive home immediately after. SO I was gone for about 24 hours or so.

But this is VERRRRRRRRRRRY different. I will be away from her for THREE NIGHTS. I am a little freaked out. I am sure SHE will be fine ..... she gets a little sad now when I talk to her about it, but I know she will be fine here with her Daddy. Me? I am going to be a wreak. I will probably cry tomorrow morning when I leave. :( Poor me ......

On the plus side, I am really looking forward to the trip. I am going with a few people from work for a conference. We are staying at a nice hotel, and I get to sleep without little feet poking into me AND without my husband snoring in my ear. That is going to be pretty darn nice. :) And did I mention there is a BIG OUTLET MALL out there? YAY! (shhhh, don't tell Brian, he might steal my credit card!)

Wish me luck .... I'll be missing my baby! Oh, and Brian too. haha

Gymboree Threw Up In My Closet

Anyone who knows me very well, knows that I have a SLIGHT obsession with buying Rachel clothes. Specifically, clothes from Gymboree. Yeah, sometimes I cheat on Gymboree with GAP, Old Navy or Target ... but Gymboree is my first choice for her clothing. They hold up great, wear well and are so stinking CUTE!


Anyway .....  I am leaving for an out-of-town meeting on Wednesday and will be gone for four days. (As an aside, this will be my first trip away from the child .... in four years, I have been away from her ONE NIGHT. I am a little worried ... about ME, not her.) Brian is not pleased about having to dress the child ... so he asked me to lay out stuff for her. I trust him 100% (well, maybe like 75%) to dress her appropriately, but I think he knows I am particular about her attire. lol So, I humored him (Or he humored me? Not really sure who humored who?) and laid out a couple outfits for her - down to the panties. Reminder - I am gone for four days ....

Yeah, eight outfits. Not really sure what Rachel will feel like wearing, so I left her choices!

Shorts? CHECK! (four sets, including a swing top and bikers)

Skirts? CHECK! (two sets, left out the long skirts, since I don't like her to wear those to school.)

Dresses? CHECK! (Two of them.)

Obsessive much? HA!

Well, her closet is still overflowing .... 

Two drawers stuffed with shorts:

And the left side of her closet:

But don't forget the right side either:

Yeah, those eight outfits didn't even DENT her closet. And there are still some clothes that have not been hung up (maybe 5 shirts or so) and stuff in the laundry (maybe 5-6 outfits). She only has a FEW things to wear this summer! hahaha .... Given my hatred of all things laundry-related, this allows me to NOT do laundry every week. I keep thinking I want to count her items - but don't really want to know the answer! I am sure there are people who think it is silly to have so many clothes for her, or that it is a waste of money. Eh, whatever. People think what they want, makes no difference to me! :)

But all I have to say ... if our next child is a boy ... I will be having one heck of a yard sale! Someone will hit the Gymboree Jackpot for a little girl!

My Big Chicken

Rachel has been HOUNDING me to ride a horse. Every time we see horses (which in Oklahoma is A LOT) she begs to ride. She basically is all, "Mommy, you are a bad Mommy because you don't let me ride a horse. You must not love me." Well, she doesn't actually SAY that, but I know that is what she means.

So I have been looking into places to ride horses around Edmond. For the number of horses I see around, not that many places give lessons. And even LESS give lessons to 4 year olds (now I know why, more on that later). But a friend of mine knows a place, so we went today.

See how excited we are? We have out cowGIRL hat and everything. Don't call it a cowboy hat, you will get scolded. Many times. I learned the hard way.

I know she is thinking here, "Hmmm, how can I torment my mother?" Please also notice she is holding a horse in her hand. She was going to bring her Merliah Barbie, but "DUH MOM, mermaids don't ride horses." So we brought the horse toy. Because, of course the HORSE rides horses??? Don't try to reason with a 4 year old though ... you will lose. Trust me on that one.

So we make the trek out to Piedmont, OK. Never heard of it? Not shocking. It is in the middle of nowhere. We get there, Rachel is excited. We get out the car, Rachel is excited. We walk to the barn, Rachel is excited. We SEE the horse, in all it's hugeness?

And we refuse to get on.

See the lady holding the horse's reins? That is Stephanie. She tried very hard to get Rachel to brush the horse, get on the horse with her daughter ... no go. Rachel DID pet the horse, but that is it. *SIGH*

So NOW I know why most places don't give lessons until kids are 5-6 years old. Because 4 year olds are stubborn little chickens. Well, at least, MINE is!