Enclosed, you will find my bracelet and necklace. I am hoping that these can be repaired.
Before you begin to inspect them, I feel the need to share the sordid tale of how they came to be in their current condition.
You see, it all started with a little visitor we had on October 10th.
His name was Michael, and he arrived with a vengeance.
He thought he was going to be sneaky, but boy when he left, he gave us a few things to remember him by.
Even though it’s been two months, evidence of his little visit is strewn everywhere – in the form of tons of debris.
It was such detritus that is to blame for my misshapen bling.
Well, that and a little thing I call Hurricane Brain.
You see, last Monday, I had dressed and gotten in my car to head to work at the butt crack of dawn, another wonderful change since Michael departed because, well, we start school at 7am now.
I rushed out, jewelry in hand. I figured that I’d put my bracelet and necklace on in the car at a red light. I had already put on the matching earrings and ring because I was afraid I’d lose them.
I got about three houses down my street before I remembered that I needed to check my tires. My pressure gauge light had alerted me to the fact that something was amiss, and the car had been feeling like it wasn’t riding right. A few days before, I had run over a piece of debris that was in the road.
So, I stopped the car, got out, and took a look.
That didn’t look good, so I sent a picture to the Mr. and asked if he thought it was flat. He told me to take it by the Toyota place after work just to make sure.
Then, I got back in the car and drove to work. When I got there, I looked for my jewelry. I’d placed it in my lap when I’d left.
I couldn’t find them.
I got out and looked all over my car . . . to no avail.
And then I knew.
Sigh.
I knew that I’d dumped those glittery pieces of happiness right in the middle of my street when I’d looked at my tires.
My heart fell.
I called the Mr., who had gone back to bed. He doesn’t have to get up with the roosters because his work hours are for humans.
He groggily answered.
I felt so bad about waking him up again.
I told him what had happened and begged him to go down the street to see if he could find my baubles.
He fussed at me but ultimately agreed.
He texted me back a few minutes later and said he hadn’t been able to find them.
Ugh.
The bell for first period hadn’t rung yet, so I walked as fast as I could back to my car. I tore that thing apart on the hunt for lost items.
Then, he called me.
He’d found them! This time, he’d walked down the street instead of driven. He had missed them the first time because they’re the color of the asphalt. Who knew that asphalt could glitter too.
I apologized, but he assured me that it was okay.
When I got home and looked at my jewelry, I noticed that they had not fared well. Instead of laying flat, they now twisted around unnaturally.
Take a look at them for yourself. It would appear that someone, whether it was me, the Mr., or a neighbor, had run over the jewelry.
Sigh.
I’m kicking myself over what was a stupid mistake. It’s as though Hurricane Michael is trying not to let me forget him. As much as I’d like to put him in my rear view mirror, I’m finding that an impossible task. Cat 5 hurricanes have that effect on people.
And so I’m sending you this letter. Please let me know if you can repair my mangled bling. It would mean a lot to me; this is one of my favorite sets.
The last couple of days have been all about pampering.
On Friday, Barb and I had our nails done. We had spent the evening before texting pictures of nail art back and forth to one another.
I wound up breaking three nails before my appointment the next day, so I opted for a new set of tips. Although I usually keep my nails a little shorter because of all of the typing I have to do during the school year, I decided to keep them longer this time around. Plus, keeping my nails longer would allow for a larger “canvas” for my nail tech to do her thing.
Boy did she do her thing! Lookie…
Oh. You might have noticed the ring.
Yeah.
It’s Sorrelli…Midnight Moon…to match the necklace, bracelet, and earrings I purchased on Thursday.
:::cough:::
Please take a moment to admire the fine details…
Sigh.
I do love pretty things…especially when there’s sparkle involved.
Here’s a closeup of the nails…
Pretty, eh?
My toes were still sporting red polish from my last trip to the salon.
That simply would not do. I am of the firm opinion that fingernails MUST match with toenails.
I made an appointment for a pedicure and took Chicky with me to give her some pampering time as well.
Linda, the sweet gal who did my nails the day before, was working again, and she expertly matched my toes with her masterpiece from the day before…
Oh yes, I think the following song sums up my feelings at the moment…
Well, I felt a little like the mouse yesterday when I was out and about running errands.
After dropping off some paperwork and picking up my summer pay stubs at school, I decided to stop by a cute boutique one street over.
This boutique is known for its jewelry…its Sorrelli jewelry.
I was on a mission.
I usually am.
I’d discovered a surprise in my paycheck…my Reading Endorsement pay incentive.
It was more than enough to treat myself to something nice plus have money left over to take care of a couple of household things.
I’d been wanting one more set of bling for a while.
I love the Running Water that the Mr. had started me off on…
He’d also bought the matching earrings.
In February, I purchased the necklace after receiving my Fred Jones training money…
I also have Auburn-themed Sorrelli…
Now, though, I wanted a color scheme that would go with the school-themed colors…red, black, and white.
Being an Auburn fan, I could not purchase jewelry with red in it. Just wasn’t going to happen if I didn’t want the Mr. to change the locks on me.
I walked into the shop and tried on three different colors.
Snow Bunny was the first one, but I didn’t want a pastel stone in the mix since Running Water already has pastels.
I also tried on White Bridal, which was lovely but did not look good up against my skin.
When I put on Midnight Moon, I was in love…
The necklace was shorter and much lighter than the others I’d tried on. The color, black, with the clear stones looked good against my skin.
Of course, I couldn’t stop with the necklace, so I perused the bracelets…
As I walked to the register, I realized I was forgetting something.
We went back to the counter, and the young gal pulled out a bucket full of earrings! I tried on quite a few pairs before setting on these…
I was nervous when I thought about what my total would be, so I was surprised when the girl told me that I would get a 15% discount for purchasing three pieces! I would up saving $37.50, which covered most of the cost of the earrings!
I wore the jewelry out of the store…that’s how pleased I was.
I’m happy because now I have bling to wear with any outfit I select, and I do like to sparkle when I go out. That’s one thing I’ve picked up from my friends, Barb and Maegan.
What a crazy week I had…so much so that I only blogged on Wednesday.
I had every intention of getting up and working on Saturday.
Every intention.
Before I could, though, I was awakened to a text message from my friend, Barb. She forwarded a picture of our sweet, young reading teacher, “T,” who is also one of our basketball coaches. He genuinely likes his students, and they are responding to his instruction. Well, he’d studied and studied, and on Saturday, he awoke at 3:30am to drive to BIG CITY, Florida to take a certification exam.
He PASSED!
Hoorah!
I sent him a congratulatory message and got out of bed to get ready.
The only thing besides work that I had planned for my day was my nail appointment.
I had soooo been looking forward to it because Barb was going to be there as well. It was going to be our chance to chat since we only get five or ten minutes at a stretch during the school day.
I’d seen something on Pinterest and, much to my nail tech’s chagrin, presented it to her.
She was actually happy with my choice. Did you know that nail techs don’t like to do the same design on each nail because it’s too hard to make them look identical?
I’m so glad she told me!
I let her do her thing, and here’s what the finished product looked like…
Very Easter-y/Spring-y, eh?
After Barb’s nails were done, we headed out.
I’d told Barb that my Fred Jones money had been included in Friday’s paycheck, and I wanted to spend it.
You remember Fred Jones, right? I blogged about him a few weeks ago.
I received a whopping $195 for attending the 12-week classroom management training.
What does a girl who works between 80 to 90 hours a week purchase with a check like this?
That, my friends, is Running Water Sorrelli. I bought it to match the bracelet and earrings that the Mr. bought for me two Christmases ago.
I’d been ogling the necklace ever since, but the price was too hefty.
Barb had called one of our friends. She owns a boutique downtown with her sisters. Our friend had this necklace in stock…along with a lot of other pretty bling.
I still had some moolah left over because the necklace wound up being a bit cheaper than I’d expected.
And our friend had some bling that was half off.
And it was Auburn bling…
So…
Yeah.
Another splurge.
Oh.
My.
My wardrobe this week will only include items that I can wear my new bling with.
BUT, my day of fun wasn’t over.
Barb deposited me back at the nail salon, where I’d left my car so we could ride together and chat it up like good friends do.
She had another social engagement to attend. She’s very social, you know.
Me, not so much, but I’m getting there.
I ran into the nail place to show off my bling (and explain why I was back).
Then, I went home.
BUT, I kept looking at my toes. With the warm weather on Saturday, I’d been wearing sandals, and my green toenail polish that had matched my St. Patrick Day’s nails from the previous two weeks was clashing with my newly painted nails.
So…
I called the nail salon and asked if they had time for a pedi.
They did.
I apologized to the Mr., who had been stuck at home taking care of the dogs…
And off I went.
My nail tech has got to be one of the most patient girls around. She asked if I wanted to have the same colors, and I said yes, but that I trusted her with the design.
She had a bit of fun, as you can see…
While I was at the salon, a couple of friends walked in, so we chatted it up for a little while.
Then, it was time to return home.
I was dreading it because I had a huge stack of grading to do…
I was energized, though, and spent the next four hours grading while watching a variety of DVRd shows that stretched back WEEKS. I try to collect as many grades as I can to help my students out. My tests are notoriously difficult because it is my goal to prep them the best for FCAT. As such, it leaves me with tons of grading…especially when I don’t get to it the week before (oops). My para had organized all of alphabetically, by class, for me. God bless her!
When all was said and done, here’s what I was left with…
I’ll tell you what. Spending the majority of the day playing…indulging myself…was what any doctor would order for a stressed out teacher who is doing her best to do right by her students.
Onward to another week…one that will be busy and somewhat stressful but offers up Spring Break as its pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
I’m a second-year teacher with a full plate of activities and a to-do list three miles long.
Anyhoo, it’s been a busy week, and I’m feeling a little random, so here are a few unrelated musings.
Favorite Teaching-Related Moment From the Week
One of my students handed me a notepad at the end of class on Monday. She told me to read it. It contained a message about how glad she was to be in my class and how thankful she was that we had worked things out during a talk we’d had before Thanksgiving.
Oh, how my heart swelled with joy. This little gal and I have a few things in common. Her mother and I are the same age and grew up in the same small town in Alabama (which we discovered before Thanksgiving.) During Christmas, when my family visited the Mr.’s grandmother (who lives in the above-referenced small town), I asked the woman who takes care of her (and cooked lunch for us) if she happened to know a person with my student’s mother’s name. Not only did the lady know her, but it was her daughter, and she proved this by mentioning my student by name (she has a very unusual name too).
I was shocked.
My student and I shared a chuckle when school resumed as we discussed this God-incidence, which is what I prefer to call it over the word “coincidence.” It’s obvious that God put this student in my class.
Puppy Update
Gambit, our new puppy, continues to thrive. He’s making himself quite comfortable…a little too much so as evidenced by some of his shenanigans, which shall go pictureless…for now.
A few people have raised their eyebrows at the fact that we now have four dogs in the house. This doesn’t matter to me. Gambit was meant to find us…I see proof of this every day as he soaks in the love that Rooster, the Mr., and I shower him with. The other dogs are getting their share of loving too as we are working very hard to assure them that they are not being replaced. It’s been a win-win situation.
Another neat teaching moment occurred this week when one of my students asked me to attend his wrestling match. I usually sleep in on Saturdays, but I set my alarm and was out the door before 10. He was surprised to see me. I guess he’ll know that he can count on me to keep my word!!
My love affair with bling is going strong. After we returned home from visiting family during Christmas, I spent my Christmas money on the following…
That, my friends, is Sorrelli…”Gold” to be exact. I had gone in search of a matching necklace to go along with the bracelet and earrings the Mr. gave me for Christmas. Unable to afford the necklace, I started to leave the store when, upon talking to the owner about my love for Auburn, she pointed out the above line, which happened to be on sale for 30% off.
You know me and a sale. It’s hard to pass one up when it smacks me in the face.
I was able to purchase a necklace and a pair of earrings with the Christmas cash I had in my purse…nearly the exact amount. I only had to pull out $.46 from my change purse to finish out my purchase.
It was another God-incidence. 😉
Now, I’ve gotta tell you a little something about bling, in case you’re a naysayer. See, I used to poo poo the affect that bling can have on a person…the addiction that people have with this Sorrelli stuff.
Things changed, however, when I got ready to attend a movie with my family, selected a blue sweater to match my new jewelry, and then put on the necklace…
I actually squealed out loud when I saw myself in the mirror sporting the new jewelry.
It was sparkly, and I felt extra-pretty.
The Mr. asked me what was wrong, and I told him absolutely nothing…that I had just discovered the dizzying effect that bling can have on a person.
He chuckled.
So, totally changing the subject (remember that this is a post titled “Randomness”), my mom always gives my sister and me sets of flat chunks of wax that are individually wrapped. They’re usually holiday-scented. They have no wicks. I’ve never known what to do with them…that is until after THIS Christmas.
See, by the time I was into a week of my vacation, my brain was functioning normally again, and I was able to think straight.
I headed to Bed, Bath, & Beyond and saw these…
Uh huh. I’m sure you’re wondering how the Mr., Chicky, and Rooster have managed to survive having this not-so-bright woman leading the family, eh?
But give me a break. My brain is fried SPECIFICALLY from taking care of the crew, so it takes me awhile to “get” things nowadays.
Anyhoo, back to my story.
Seeing the above items in the store, I started to put the pieces together. But first, I needed to call Super Sis to see what she thought.
We both agreed that we should be able to melt the wax blobs by buying other things that are called “tea candles,” sticking them in the bottom part of the above-pictured items, putting the wax blogs in the top “bowls,” and lighting the tea candles, which would heat the wax blobs above them and then make the house smell wonderful.
I was willing to give it a shot…
Voila!
All of a sudden, I felt smart…
Sorry. Had to throw that in…just could not resist the opportunity.
Ok, so being a reading teacher means that maybe, just maybe, I should actually be doing some reading on my own.
Being a new teacher doesn’t leave much time, but over the Christmas break, I managed to read three books.
Actually, I read more like two full books, three quarters of another book, and the second half of another book.
First off, I read Pretty Little Things, by Jilliane Hoffman…
This is Jilliane’s fourth book, and it is an excellent read! It’s set in Coral Springs and Miami, Florida and chronicles the search for a teenager who, it is discovered, meets a man online through a chat room. It’s quite gripping and a bit scary, if you’re a parent. I read this book in one day…even staying up until 3:30am to finish it.
Jilliane’s style is very similar to James Patterson’s with short chapters and characters you can connect with.
What I love so much is that Jilliane, who the Mr. and I know, combined the names of people she worked with when she was an Assistant District Attorney in Miami. Because I know a lot of the people personally, it was fun to see the various name combinations.
This book is actually the second in a series, although you can read Life As We Knew It after this one and not really miss anything. What’s important is that you read these two before reading the third.
The Dead and the Gone is told from the perspective of a 17 year-old boy who is left to take care of his two younger sisters after a meteor hits the moon, causing catastrophic natural disasters. His parents go missing, and he has to become the man of the household.
One of my students had told me about the book and let me borrow it. This student is a voracious reader, and he frequently checked in with me to see if I’d finished the book. I’m going to return it on Monday. Perhaps we’ll have a little discussion about it.
The book was good, although it was a little difficult to get into. I connected to it by remembering a movie I’d seen a few years ago…The Day After Tomorrow. The book was a little similar.
The other book I finished was Mockingjay, the third in the Hunger Games series…
I loved the third book…so much more than the second one. I think that Suzanne finishes developing the characters well, and I just loved the ending. I cannot wait for the movie to come out!!!
I saw these at Walmart and just could not resist picking up a box. Those who know me know how much I love Angry Birds…
Before Chicky went back to school, we had one last family outing…a movie night!!
The Mr. had purchased new Blue Ray versions of the Mission Impossible movies, and the packaging had coupon codes for free movie tickets, up to $10 off. We decided to watch the iMax version, so we only had to pay $3 for each ticket. Below is what the free ticket vouchers looked like…
I’ve gotta say that I’ve never believed much in the whole IMAX thing, but after watching this movie on that screen…all I can say is WOW! This was the perfect movie to see on that amazing screen. It felt as if we were actually a part of the action.
The movie was very good…very fast-paced. All of us enjoyed it immensely! It was a wonderful evening of family bonding.
Well, that’s all of my random thoughts…for now anyhow.
AuburnChick's Adventures 