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Don’t Be In Such a Hurry

Posted on January 21, 2011 by auburnchick

Lately, God has been teaching me some important lessons through every day events.

Take, for instance, my latest.

As you know, I am an overachiever and a perfectionist.  I also tend to juggle a lot of responsibilities at any given point in time.  I’ve been told I am a little like Superwoman.

It’s no wonder, then, that I tend to do things very quickly.

I walk fast.  I eat fast.  I talk fast.  I read fast.

My goal is to get done with things quickly so I can do other things.

The bad thing is that I frequently fail to notice bits of information I need to complete tasks thoroughly.

This is one of my weaknesses.

It is not that I do not do things well.  It is that I frequently cause myself undue stress because, if I was in the habit of taking my time, I would probably see all of the details and, thus, not stress myself out so much because I either misunderstood something or didn’t pay close enough attention to something.

Take my certification classes, for instance.

As you can imagine, taking three classes at one time means I have a lot of assignments and due dates to keep up with.

The program’s instructors make things as easy as possible for students, providing calendars with the assignments and due dates typed right on them.

Again, though, there are different due dates for different assignments.

That’s where I got myself into a bit of a bind this week.

I misunderstood one of the due dates for one of my classes and caused myself some embarrassment because of that.

Oh, I got my assignment turned in on time, but when I didn’t get feedback when I thought I was due it, I freaked out.

A chat with the professor cleared things up, and I realized I could have avoided my stress by carefully reading the instructions.

Let’s just say that I was mortified.  I want my teachers to know that I am a professional and care about small details.

I berated myself for half of the day before finally taking a step away from “me” and looking at what God had to teach me through it.

I have, for a while, felt as if God wanted me to slow down a bit…take my time and not be in such a hurry.

This is a lesson He tried to impart on me when I worked at the law firm and did not always address all of my supervisor’s questions in emails simply because I’d overlooked them.

Slowing myself down will not only help me with my classes, but I think it will help me when I interact with my children and even my students.

By slowing down my speech, I will better articulate my thoughts instead of letting my brain and mental to-do lists push me along at an accelerated pace.

Slowing down to listen will help me better discern the information that people are sharing with me.  Of course, this also means that I will have to shift my brain into a lower gear so that I’m not mentally thinking ahead to my response to people.  I’ve often found myself interrupting people and answering in response to what I assume is going to be their questions when, in reality, they wanted to take the conversation in another direction.

As a result of being so prone to speed along and accomplish things quickly, I also expect others to do the same.  I get very frustrated when I have to wait for someone else to do something before I can move to the next stage of what I need to do.

I could use a cop out and say that I’m very independent and self-motivated, but that only serves as justification for something called impatience.

Sometimes there is a reason I need to wait…like maybe so I can take a breather and won’t burn out or so God can put other things in motion that will help me complete my tasks.

What I heard God say to me yesterday was, “Slow down, Nathalie.  Don’t always be in a rush.  Everything will get finished in due time.”

That assurance means that I have to trust in God’s plan.

It is perfect.

He is perfect.

If He can create the world in six days (consider that one day is like a thousand years to Him), and even find another day (thousand years) to rest, then who am I to say that I can’t do the same?

Slow down.

Take my time.

The world is not going anywhere, and the work I produce will be of much more value.

Some of the hardest lessons are the ones that seem the easiest to do.  That is called growth, though, and it only comes with a lot of hard work.

Filed under: This-n-That | 3 Comments »

From China Via Podunk USA

Posted on January 20, 2011 by auburnchick

Yesterday, the AuburnChick family received a package…

No, you’re not mistaken…it really was from China.

You see, Chicky had ordered new cleats before she went back to school.

These weren’t ordinary cleats.

They were the kind she could customize…

Green has always been her favorite color, and I know she’s recently developed an affinity for purple.  I have never seen both colors on a pair of cleats before.

They are definitely one-of-a-kind!

Filed under: soccer | Tagged: , , | 2 Comments »

Hodgepodge

Posted on January 19, 2011 by auburnchick

Gotta love the Wednesday Hodgepodge!  Thanks, Joyce, for being a terrific hostess of this fun meme!  Now, on to the questions!

1. Do you like your name? Were you named after someone? If you have children how did you settle on their names?

I actually like my name, Nathalie.  I even love the “h” in the middle even though it makes people call me “Nath-a-lie” with the “th” sound (the “h” is actually silent).  Rumor has it that I was named after Natalie Wood.  Another rumor is that I was named after the woman my dad was supposedly having an affair with.  I choose to believe the former and have deluded myself into believing that I am every bit as glamorous (minus the money) that she was.

As far as my children’s names go…well, Soccer Chick gets her name from the fact that she is a ball of fire on the soccer field  Rooster’s full name is “Rockin’ Rooster,” named so because he can jam out on the drums (and he’s part of the AuburnChick family).

Oh wait, were you talking real names?

Duh.

Chicky was named after a woman in the Bible.  I spent a month on bed rest during my pregnancy with her, and so I had a lot of time to read my Bible.  I read her name in there, at a very pivotal moment in Jesus’s life, and I knew that would be her name.  As far as Rooster, he was given the Mr.’s grandfather’s last name.

2. How do you define success?

Success is living a life that honors God and sharing the Good News of Jesus’s saving grace to everyone you can.  Everything else pales in comparison.

3. Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy?

Jeopardy.  I love trivia games!

4. If you could own any single object that you don’t have now, what would that object be?

How about a million dollars.  Of course, do you really own money?

Ok…let’s try something else.

If I could own any single object, I would choose to own a set of lesson plans that incorporates everything I need to teach for all five of my classes for the rest of the school year.

Hey, what can I say?  Some people ask for diamonds.  I like practical items.

5. What is something that inspires you?

Something that inspires me is watching people make a difference in others’ lives.  My teacher friend, Barbara, is one of these people.  She works with a lot of hard-to-reach kids, and they absolutely adore her and thrive in her presence.  Many of these kids do not have positive role models, and Barb fills that void.  She challenges the kids but, at the same time, lets them know that she loves them.  She inspires me to want to become a better teacher.

6. Meatloaf-yea or nay? If its a yay how do you make yours?

Nay.  I am not a big fan of ground beef, so meatloaf just isn’t my thing.

7. Which is more admirable-the ability to organize and be methodical or the ability to adapt and make do?

Although I am a very organized and methodical person, I actually think it’s more admirable to be able to adapt.  I would love to be one of those people who goes with the flow; however, I do not think quickly on my feet.  That said, I think that teaching requires the ability to do just that, so I’m learning to go into class organized and with a plan but to be flexible if the unexpected happens which certainly does all the time!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I tend to use this part to gripe about something.  Hate me if you want, but we all need to vent sometimes.

So my random thought is this:  Why can’t companies train their employees about their policies so that everyone follows them consistently?  I had two rather annoying experiences yesterday that really peeved me because I got different messages from different employees.  The second one had to do with my use of coupons.  You know I was mad.  I could have done a running of the bulls and stared down any of those beasts and won afterward my experience.

A few days ago, I found a great deal on Kleenex and wound up paying only $.25 for each box that I purchased.  The first day, I bought four boxes, using two $2/two store coupons.  Yesterday, I went back to do the deal again before the Kleenex went off sale.  The store I regularly shop at (where I bought the first four boxes the other day) would not let me do the deal twice because of the language on the coupon.

Folks, I may not save money like I have in the past, but I know my rights as a buyer/couponer, and that employee was wrong, as was the manager.  Besides that, the cashier who rang up my total the other day let me do it, even after she found a different issue with a different coupon I was trying to use.

I was mad as a hornet when my arguing got me nowhere.  So, I bought two boxes, not four, and took my other coupon to the store across town and got my other two boxes.

This totally irked me because it was almost 5pm when I got home from work/the store…all because employees aren’t trained consistently.

:::stepping off my soapbox:::

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: | 9 Comments »

23 Weeks to Go

Posted on January 18, 2011 by auburnchick

No, my title doesn’t refer to the number of weeks left in this school year.

What that number refers to is the number of weeks I have left in my certification program.

I decided that, since I derive so much pleasure from watching as the number of car payments goes down each month, I might feel the same type of happiness by counting off my weeks of classes.    Everyone needs to see light at the end of whatever tunnels they are traveling down, though I don’t even see a glimmer yet.

Observe the picture below…

That, my friends, is how I spent my long weekend.  The only thing that changed throughout those three days were the books that kept me company on the couch.

I can already see that I am going to learn a TON of stuff.  In fact, after only one week of classes and assignments, I can honestly say that I am already going to be a different and better teacher.

I now have a teaching philosophy to call my own.  I now understand how to select standards for the units I will teach, and how to create objectives that match the standards.

I also understand the terms phonemic awareness and phonics, and that they are not the same thing!

Oh yeah.  I’m learning a lot.

And so the countdown continues…

Filed under: Teaching | Tagged: , | 2 Comments »

End of the Daniel Fast

Posted on January 17, 2011 by auburnchick

My Daniel Fast officially ended last night.

Although a lot of people might be glad when fasts end, I will tell you that I was not.

I will admit that I struggled during the beginning of the fast.  Some of the food was weird, and my sugar cravings were very hard to overcome.

However, something happened after Day 10 or so.

I started looking forward to dinner time and the preparations I needed to make.

I mentioned before that I was enjoying chopping the vegetables. Salads became tangy when I added chopped apples to them…

Fruits became like dessert.  When you deny yourself regular sugar, your taste buds rejoice at the taste of naturally sweet fruit.

I began trying more recipes and discovering, to my utter surprise, that they tasted good.  Dare I say that I became a decent cook during the last three weeks?

The health benefits from this fast surprised me and were the icing on the cake.  I cannot believe how quickly the flab that was hanging over my belt disappeared.  My thighs, which were getting thicker before, have thinned out.  I have no trouble getting into my pants; the legs are no longer tight.

I used to get headaches regularly.  I think I had one or two at the beginning (probably as a result of my body purging itself of the sugar I’d been regularly depositing).  However, the headaches stopped.

My energy level has gone up.  I no longer come home from school exhausted and brain-dead.  This has been especially important to me because of the classes I am taking.

And sleep…oh sleep.  I am sleeping about seven hours a day, and I wake up feeling great!  I am usually a person who requires ten hours to function decently.

One thing I really enjoyed about the fast was spending time reading a devotion every day.  I usually read devotions with Rooster every school morning, but that’s about all that I have done in that regard.

I’ve actually grown to look forward to my own personal devotion time.

The devotions really gave me food for thought.  Good stuff!!

So, I’ve been giving thought to what I’m going to do now, given all of the physical and spiritual benefits I derived.

I’ve decided to continue the fast….for a while.

My goal is to keep going until I am finished with my certification classes.

That is six months, folks.

I need to function at the highest level possible to get through the workload ahead of me.  I honestly don’t know how I’ll do it if I’m on the roller coaster of sugar/high/low.

I also don’t want to give up my devotion time.

Because the devotions in the book only run through 21 days, I bought this book yesterday…

If you’ve ever tried to find a new devotional, you’ll understand the angst I went through as I looked through the books.

I finally found this one, and it struck a cord with me.  My juniors and seniors are studying the part of English history that Martin Luther impacted so much.  The readings are a little deeper than others I’ve read, which I am thankful for.

The fast taught me that I need to dig into God’s word deeper.

And so I begin the next facet of the fast.  I can’t wait to see what other lessons I am going to learn!

Filed under: Christian | Tagged: | 4 Comments »

Week 21 of Teaching

Posted on January 15, 2011 by auburnchick

Good gravy, but every time I type my recaps, I am amazed at the number of weeks that have gone by!  Before too long, I’ll be discussing the last week.  I am looking forward to that…mainly because it will be a reminder that I am near the end of my certification classes.

So, let’s get down to business.

Monday

My Juniors and Seniors had to turn in time lines that highlighted the main ideals of heroism during  each era in English history.  Take a look at what MartytheSmarty‘s looked like…

By the way, thanks to the first week of my own classes, I now know that the time line is a product (Bloom’s Taxonomy), thank you very much.

My Freshmen and Sophomores had to turn in Capulet and Montague shields.  This was an exercise I think I mentioned last week.

I have to say that they did a wonderful job on them!

One of my students is incredibly artistic.  She free-handed the picture of herself…

The students have been divided into the two families from Romeo and Juliet.  They will be in competition with each other during our study, and they will be awarded points for good behavior, good test grades, or whatever I decide.  I will take points away for, obviously, the opposite.  If a family gets to -5 points, they will banish a family member.  By the end, the losing family will be the one with the most team members banished.  The losing family will have to bring food for a party that we’re going to have at the end.

My sixth graders are studying poetry.  I began by introducing “My Parents,” which talks about bullying.  This led to an interesting discussion.

Tuesday

Of course I had to share my excitement over THE most important game all year.  I especially wanted to let my sixth graders know WHO is the boss.  They had all been rooting for the quack quacks, so the kids got what they deserved.  heehee

My Juniors and Seniors got what was the beginning introduction for the English Renaissance.  The Seniors were not exactly interested.  They have Senioritis.  My Juniors, on the other hand, seemed to soak it up.

Wednesday

Three of my classes played Vocabulary Bingo to review for their tests the next day.  My sixth graders kept working on poetry, and my ninth graders learned about oxymorons and other fun stuff.

Thursday

Oh yeah, Baby!  I love the sound of testing…pencils rapidly scratching answers, the sizzle of brains as they try to reconstruct that missing bit of information that lies just on the outer edges of their thoughts.

heehee

Friday

I realized I had jumped ahead in my lesson plans with the older students, so we backtracked to read an excerpt from The Book of Margery Kempe.  Did you know that she authored the first autobiography?  Very interesting!

My sixth graders were treated to a fun exercise…

They had to copy the paragraph on the board, complete with the underlined verbs, and, working with partners, change the verbs to more vivid ones.  The bell rang as they finished, but I enjoyed listening to them try out new words and discuss what those verbs actually meant, and if they would sound good in the sentences.

My ninth and tenth graders had a fun exercise as well.  We’re still reading Act 1 Scene 1, and it’s where Romeo is uber-depressed about some girl (Rosaline, although we don’t know her name yet).  His cousin, Benvolio , is trying to help him.

Students had to pen a letter from a modern-day Romeo to an advice columnist, asking for advice on what to do.  Then, students exchanged notebooks and had to write letters from the advice columnist.  The letters had to offer the best advice they could think of.

A couple of the ninth grade boys went into the exercise grumbling and even wrote, “P.S. This is the dumbest exercise ever.”  Gee.  What great attitudes.  However, I was pleasantly surprised when, upon listening to them read the letters out loud, they actually did a great job.  I praised them for being creative.

My Sophomores love to write, so they needed very little encouragement.

One of the neat things about studying this play is listening as my students share their opinions of Romeo.  Most of them think his is quite the fickle dude and, in the words of the boys, “a girly man.”  Very astute, eh?

So, another week ends.  I am extremely grateful for a long weekend.

Filed under: Teaching | Tagged: , , | 1 Comment »

Time’s a Wasting

Posted on January 14, 2011 by auburnchick

Have you ever stopped to consider just how much time you waste on a weekly basis?

Last Saturday, after attending the first of six monthly in-class sessions, I sure did.

For those who think that the road to teacher certification is easy, take a good look at the picture below…

That is my dining room table.

It is cluttered with all of my class materials (neatly organized in binders, thank you very much).

Two nights ago, I spent five hours working on one assignment.

Which leads me back to the point of this post.

Just how much time do we waste during the week?

On Saturday, after going through a few hours of panic when presented with assignment details and due dates and wondering how the heck I was going to get everything done, I did a quick rundown of my time.

First of all, there are 168 hours in a week.

Next, I approximated the amount of time I spend on the biggest areas of my life:

  • Sleeping – 49 hours per week (average of seven hours per night)
  • Regular work week – 60 hours
  • Personal grooming (nighttime showers and morning routine)- 6 hours
  • Education classes – 25 hours (instructors say 18-20, but I overestimated)
  • Church  (round up to include travel time) – 2 hours
  • Blogging – 5 hours

What’s left is 21 hours of unaccounted time.

Now, to be fair, this doesn’t include Facebook or blog reading time, but still.  Those activities don’t really cut in too much, and I’m usually doing other things at the same time.

And so I ask…where is the rest of the time going?

I am already, at times, overwhelmed with everything I have going on right now.  I am concerned in two ways:  1)  That I’m not smart enough to complete the complex assignments that I have ahead of me, and 2) That I won’t have enough time with the very busy job that I have.

Taking a hard look at the numbers made me realize that I steal time away from myself, so, in essence, concern #2 should really not be a concern.

Looking at the numbers also made me appreciate how quickly time goes by.

I usually have a hard time getting up in the morning.  I am guilty of hitting the snooze six times (ten minutes per snooze).

Now, however, I only allow myself two or three slaps to the alarm clock before getting out of bed.

That is huge for me and is evidence of how much more I value and appreciate my time.

So, what about you?  Have you ever done a similar analysis, or am I the only nerdy one?

    Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: | 1 Comment »

    Don’t Make Me Get Out of My Jammies

    Posted on January 13, 2011 by auburnchick

    Every afternoon when I get home from work, I slip into my striped jammies and fuzzy white robe.  They provide a comfort that I need at the end each busy day.

    Yesterday was no different.

    I prepared myself mentally to tackle my first difficult class assignment.

    Then, Rooster burst my bubble.

    “Mama, the internet is out again.”

    Sigh.

    Not only was the internet out, but so was the phone.  Fortunately, the cable was working.

    I don’t remember if I told you, but in November, my cable, phone, and internet were out for three days.  It was difficult to be productive when most of my work requires me to be online.

    I quickly called Comcast, expecting them to set me up for an appointment the next day.

    The thing I actually despise about calling my cable company is that my call does not go to a local office but to a call center.  This irks me to no end because, in the past, I’ve had to go into the local office because the call center proved useless. 

    I, quite honestly, did not want to get out of my jammies.

    The girl on the other end of the line told me that there was not an outage, and that my problem seemed to be isolated.

    Great.

    I knew in that moment that this would knock me down the list.

    After resetting the modem and playing with other stuff, she determined that a service call would need to be made.

    Double great.

    The Mr. has been taking a class for work, and he’s had to travel out-of-town every day.  With my teaching job, it is difficult to get off.

    I still had every expectation of being set up with a Thursday appointment.  After all, the last time I had issues, I was told that if two or more services are disrupted, you are supposed to get a response within 24 hours.

    Apparently not every employee is familiar with the company’s policy.

    The girl put me on hold and finally returned to tell me that the first appointment available was Tuesday.

    Seriously?

    TUESDAY?

    Hello world, but that would be six days of no internet or phone.

    Seriously?

    I went ballistic, but in a polite yet firm manner.

    I told her, in no uncertain terms, that I teach five classes and take three online college classes.  Not having my internet would seriously affect my ability to complete my work.

    But wait.

    This gets better.

    Not only did she schedule me for a Tuesday appointment, but she also had the nerve to tell me that because I don’t have the Service Agreement Plan, if the technician comes into my house and finds a problem with the splitter (or some other minimal thing inside), then I would be responsible for paying for it.

    Um, hello?

    This is AuburnChick – the gal who’s had repeated cable problems for three months!  You’re telling me that you’re gonna charge me to come in and diagnose the problem.

    Oh heck no.

    I told her I’d like to see them try to charge me.  They might, in fact add charges, but they sure as heck would be taking them off by the time I got through with them.

    Now, at some point, I apologized for being gruff, and I explained that I knew she was just a voice on the other end of the line.  I used to do computer support, from a phone, so I know what it feels like to get blamed for the world’s problems.

    Before I hung up with the representative, I asked for the number to my local office.  I knew I would get a better response if I could talk to someone there.

    I absolutely did NOT want to get out of my jammies and drive there.

    The girl said she’d get it for me and then…

    She hung up on me.

    Oh.

    My.

    Gosh.

    I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt and say our call accidentally got “disconnected.”

    Right.

    Not one to be easily intimidated by a challenge (unless we’re talking about my education class assignment), I called back.

    This time I got a different person, and I quickly told him that all I wanted was the phone number for the local office.

    “I don’t know if I’m allowed to give it to you.”

    Seriously?

    Finally, he gave me a number.

    I called.

    It was dispatch…

    For a town two hours away.

    My blood was boiling throat high by now.

    I repeated my request for a local number.

    “Ma’am, I don’t have the number, but I can transfer you directly.”

    Right.

    He transferred me to a number in North Carolina.

    Hello world.  My blood pressure was rising to the point where I was about to explode.

    During my many phone calls, I walked out to the check the mail.

    What was inside?

    A flyer for a rival cable company.

    Hello God.  Are you trying to tell me something?

    The guy in North Carolina listened to my woes and “fit me in” on Friday…two days away…between 8-10am.

    Oh my gosh.  I know beggars can’t be choosy, but give me a break!  The Mr. would still be out-of-town, and I would have to ask off from my job to get the internet fixed.

    After hanging up with this representative, I did what I had been trying to avoid.

    I changed out of my oh so comfy jammies…back into my blue jeans…and headed to my local Comcast office.

    Before leaving, Rooster pumped me up…

    “Tell them you’re taking four college classes.  Tell them you teach a whole bunch.  Tell them you have a son who wants to play Xbox Live.  Make sure you get some free movies out of it.”

    That’s telling them, Rooster!  LOL

    I called the Mr. en route and explained that we did not have internet – again.

    He was not happy.

    He told to see if I could get a free DVR out of the situation.

    Really?  Good gravy, but what opportunists reside in the AuburnChick household!

    Before going into Comcast, I said a prayer.  I wanted to make sure that I was nice.  I am always conscious of the fact that as a Christian, I am a reflection of God.  This doesn’t mean that I always say or do the right things.  But in situations like this, it helps to calm me down.

    Upon going in, I was greeted by a lovely young lady who was wearing a beautiful smile.  I explained my problem, she worked her magic on the computer, and she told me that there was, in fact, an outage.

    Uh huh.  Told you so (I didn’t actually say this to her, but I thought it).

    She also told me that Comcast’s policy is that if ANY of your services are disrupted (even just one), you are supposed to get assistance within 24 hours.

    It turns out that the representatives on the phone were wrong.

    She sent them and their supervisors emails about the policy while I stood at the counter.

    Get ’em, Girl.

    She also told me that dispatch had already sent out workers to fix the problem.

    Yay!

    We chatted a bit more, and then she did a lovely thing.

    She offered me coupons for three free movies.

    There ya go, Rooster.  I didn’t even have to ask.

    I did ask about the DVR, and though there is a special going on right now, the Mr. opted not to take advantage of it.  Money is tight.  Because we already have one DVR, this was fine with me.  He just wanted an extra.

    I expressed my heartfelt thanks to the girl and told her how much I appreciated her professional treatment.

    Then, I went home, relayed the good news to the family, and got back into my jammies.

    I also discovered that my internet was fixed.

    It turned out to be a great evening.

    Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: , , | 7 Comments »

    Wednesday Hodgepodge

    Posted on January 12, 2011 by auburnchick

    It’s time for the Wednesday Hodgepodge!!  Yay!!

    Hop on over to Joyce’s corner of the world.  Play along!  It’s fun!

    1. Every January 1st since 1976 Lake Superior University has published a list of words they’d like to see banished from the Queen’s English. Words may be banished due to mis-use, over-use or just general uselessness and they receive over 1000 nominations. Here are the fourteen words/phrases they’d like to see banished in 2011:  viral, epic, fail, wow factor, a-ha moment, back story, BFF, man up, refudiate, Mama Grizzlies, The American People, facebook/google when used as verbs, I’m just sayin’, and Live life to the fullest.

    What word or phrase would you like to see banished from our everyday vocabulary in 2011? You can choose one from the ‘official list’ or you can get creative and come up with your own.

    I am feeling too lazy to check out the “official list,” so I’ll choose one that I hear ALL THE TIME:

    “Whatever”

    Ugh.  This word is so overused and totally in a rude, disrespectful, “I-don’t-care” kind of way by teenagers everywhere!  I have found myself using it when I am annoyed with my children as well, but I have made it my mission to eradicate it from my everyday speech.

    2. Do you consider opportunity something that comes to you or something you create for yourself?

    I think opportunity can be both, however, I rarely wait it to come my way.  I prefer to be proactive.  I usually find more opportunities presenting themselves as a result of my action.

    3. Since we’re all eating healthy this month, ahem, what’s included in your favorite salad? Is there dressing?

    Yes, I am eating healthy because I am on the Daniel Fast.  My favorite thing to add to salads right now are diced apples.  Oh my word, but the crunch and sweetness makes this veggie dish much more palatable.  My dressing of choice is homemade, per the fast’s suggestion.  The only dressing I’ve made so far is Mustard Vinaigrette.  The recipe is in the book The Daniel Fast.  The dressing is incredibly delicious.  It is, by far, the best homemade dressing I’ve ever tried.

    4. The fourth Monday in January is said to be Blue Monday…aka the most depressing day of the year. The date was calculated using many factors including weather, debt level, time since Christmas, time since we’ve failed at our new year resolutions, low motivation and feeling a need to take action. Do you get the blues this time of year and if so what is something you do to lift your spirits?

    I do not get blue at any particular time of the year.  As a woman, I experience this randomly due to hormones.  To relieve my sadness, I usually indulge in chocolate.  Of course, I haven’t had any chocolate since December 26, but neither have I been really down in the dumps.  Stressed maybe, but not blue.

    5. Do you wear a watch? Any other everyday jewelry essentials?

    I haven’t worn my watch in several months simply because my battery died, and I haven’t had the time or the money to replace it.  My jewelry essentials are earrings and a ring.  I usually wear a necklace, if it’s going to show with the top I’m wearing.  I usually wear a necklace with a cross on it (I have four different ones).

    6. What is something useful you learned in high school?

    I will name two useful things I learned in high school.

    Academically, I learned how to write.  This skill got me through college and will, hopefully, get me through my education certification classes, which require an insane amount of writing.

    Socially, I learned to pick my friends carefully…especially females.  Girls always tended to blab secrets.  I’ve been burned a few times since high school, so I am very selective about who I share things with.

    7. Do you use an accountant when completing and filing your income tax returns or do you attempt to muddle through all by yourself?

    I do not do taxes.  I stay away from numbers, unless they involve how much money is going into my bank account, which taxes obviously do not.  The Mr. is the unpaid accountant in this family.  Thank goodness he inherited his mom’s math brains.

    8. Insert your own random thought here.

    My random thought involves the teaching profession.

    You’d think, after five months of working as a teacher, that I would have fully comprehended the amount of work that is involved with this career choice.

    I surprised myself by really underestimating the time AND brainpower that goes into teaching effectively.

    I attended my first Saturday of classes last week.  I am taking three courses during this eight-week term:  “The Teaching Profession,” “Instructional Strategies,” and “Foundations of Research-Based Practices in Reading.”

    Not only are those a mouthful to say, but they are a handful to complete.

    Two nights ago, I began reading ahead for one of next week’s assignments.  I will be forming my own philosophy about teaching.

    People…I am not a deep thinker!  I don’t care about philosophies.  I care about going in and getting the job done!

    This teaching thing requires a lot more critical thinking than I ever imagined.  Not only do teachers stretch their students’ brains, but teachers also stretch their own as they continue to learn and grow within this noble profession.

    Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: | 8 Comments »

    National Champions!

    Posted on January 11, 2011 by auburnchick

    Monday night, Auburn fans everywhere gathered around televisions.  The lucky 50,000 or so got to watch the action on-site.

    With baited breath, we waited…

    It came down to a field goal in the last four seconds of the game…

    A hearty celebration followed…

    Young and old alike joined in the jubilation…

    Players could not stop smiling…

    Good job, Tigers!  Thanks for an incredible season!  Let’s not wait another 54 years to grab the next championship!

    (More photos can be seen here.)

    Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: , , | 2 Comments »

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