Snow...again!

This winter is turning into a very white one! We received our second big snow storm of the season, after weather forecasters predicted we would only get a dusting! We currently have about 7 inches in our backyard. Why can't these storms ever happen during the week so I can have a relaxing day at home instead of in school?

Instead, my mom, sister-in-law, Nana and myself were up in Philly for a baby shower. My Dad had called more then once relaying storm information and trying to convince us we should leave early. We ended up leaving about a half hour early from the shower, and even with the extra time to get home, the hour and a half trip turned into a three and a half hour one! I have decided that our state owns snowplows that don't have sharp enough blades to actually plow the snow. At one point, we passed THREE DelDOT trucks that were just SITTING in the southbound lane. Nice.

I am hoping for at least a delay from school tomorrow, but who knows.

Meanwhile, here is the menu for the week:
Monday : Southern Syle Fried Chicken (Still WW friendly!)
Tuesday : Chicken Stroganoff
Wednesday : Chicken Cordon Bleu
Thursday : Chicken Casserole
Friday : PIZZA!

Yes, all that chicken again, blame this on my husband. At least the variety of chicken is good!

Professor Sharp

So last night I opened an e-mail from my professor of the class I am currently taking (Master's #2...I just can't stop apparently). The e-mail had my grade and a request to speak to her about teaching a class at the university!

The class is a grad level course in the education program, and is all online. This is amazing since I hate standing up in front of people! What a great opportunity! I am so excited. Details still have to be worked out, but it's pretty exciting!

Wish me luck!

I Love Sundays!

Sundays are always so relaxing for me, and I love it! We had a really nice weekend and got to spend some time with friends that are difficult to see at times due to their hectic police schedule. We ate dinner at a local seafood restaurant, and then watched The Hangover (LOVE that movie).

This morning I couldn't sleep for some reason, so I got up early and was able to knock out a lot of classwork that is scheduled for this week. (Type A personality...over achiever, that's me!). We ran to the grocery store to buy food for the week. I have to tell you, I love planning for the week in advance. It saves us time and money. Cooking this week :

Monday - Beef roast with potatoes, carrots and onions in the crockpot
Tuesday - Crispy chicken with broccoli
Wednesday - Steaks on the grill with vegetables
Thursday - Chicken casserole
Friday - Pizza!

We have also started packing this weekend. We need to get our house ready to put on the market, so we have started packing up some closets and other odds ends so the spaces in our house look bigger. Even though it doesn't look like we have much in our house, I have been shocked at how quickly boxes get filled! We have filled at least 6 rubbermaid containers so far, and about 3 boxes. We have rented a storage space to put everything in until our house is built, so I am trying not to use too many boxes, and more plastic in the event of water of rodents (ewww!) I HATE packing, but this time it isn't so bad because I know that I will be UNPACKING in a brand spankin' new house! So exciting!

Extra Obligations

In our school, there is a new team that I am a part of. This team receives 'trouble' cases from teachers who are having a hard time nailing down why a student may be failing or off task most of the time and just need a second opinion. I was kind of roped into this assignment, but have enjoyed it so far. I meet with teachers on my own time, review data on my own time, and do this free!

Now, I was assigned a new case with a teacher who can be fairly...difficult. She feels that the system isn't working fast enough to 'identify' kids and really just wants a way to get them labeled Special Ed or ADHD, which drives me crazy.

The other day I went to observe a student after his curriculum test came back pretty normal, which rules out an academic problem. Well, when I observed the student, he was off task twice in thirty minutes. That is pretty darn good! Of course, when I discussed this with her, she wasn't the least bit pleased since I am pretty sure she wanted him put on medicine.

What exactly would she like me to do? I would like to suggest that she needs to change her teaching style and not be so uptight, but I don't think that would be the best. Tomorrow I am observing the students again to see if maybe he was just having a 'good' day as she suggested.

Perhaps he is a third grade boy who doesn't want to sit in his seat for 45 minutes and write! GEEZ. He is still a KID.

At least it's Friday, and PIZZA night!

Well, That Didn't Really Turn Out

So the weekend didn't exactly turned out as planned. We started off Friday by running some errands, and then heading over to Baltimore. We ate a nice dinner at the Inner Harbor, and then went to the reception the unit had planned for us. We got to hang out with friends we haven't seen in awhile and take advantage of the open bar!

The next morning, we got up bright and early so we could begin our amazing reintegration classes (note the sarcasm here). It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it was and I did get to spend the day with my husband, so I can't really complain. Afterwards, we headed back down to the Inner Harbor for Happy Hour! It was so nice to sit out on a deck with everyone and just relax for a change. Then we headed to dinner, and then back to the room for a quick nap before we went out for the night.

Then, my poor husband became very sick. We took a nap, and he woke up with chills to the point where he was shaking the bed, and an awful upset stomach. Poor thing. Needless to say, we never made it out, and we were up all night since he was miserable.

I am sad that we didn't get to make it out to hang out with friends since we hardly ever go out and do that often, but it wasn't Michael's fault. Ahh, well, maybe next time.

Weekend Getaway

This weekend, Michael and I are headed to Baltimore for his 60 day reintegration. (Yes, I know he has been home for 4 months. Apparently the Army can't count!) The best part? It's all free! The hotel is near the Inner Harbor, which is an area I love. It is so pretty there. We do have to do some workshops, but then we get to hang out with everyone that night. It is a much needed break!

I will miss the 'kids' though :(

BIG THINGS!

Today, we signed papers to become lot owners! This lot is in an amazing developing neighborhood, and is close to work and our families. We plan on buying the lot, then selling our house, and then building. The builder we went with dropped some money off of their original quote, and added some other things we wanted at no extra cost. We are so excited!

The house we own now isn't in my name because we bought it before we were married, and it would have been too difficult to change my name and get the loan without being married. So today was the first day I signed papers on something this HUGE! I can't wait to start building our dream house. First we have to sell our house, which may take some time, but say a prayer that it doesn't!

Meanwhile, we had an hour delay in school today due to some snow we got last night. It was an unexpected surprise! I had no idea it was even supposed to snow. We also only have one more full day at school this week, a half day on Thursday and then we are off to Baltimore for a weekend getaway with the rest of Michael's brigade. The best part? It's FREE!

Life is good!

I Can Cook!

So week one of planning and cooking meals turned out very well minus one burnt situation in the crockpot! I guess I started it too early, and when I got home from work the chicken was a little burnt! No worries, I just fixed more chicken. See I can improvise.

Not only did I think the meals were pretty good, but Michael did too! That is itself is amazing since he is a pretty picky eater. So, on Friday, I planned the meals for the next week and we went shopping at the base. Between planning our meals, and shopping there, we are able to save a lot of money. No more mid week trips to decide what we want, or eating out!

So, for this week :
Monday - East Chicken Casserole (contains some veggies, chicken, soup, cheese and sour cream)
Tuesday - We were going to have Sloppy Joes, but we made those last night, so I think we are going to grill steaks this night
Wednesday - No Peek Chicken in the crockpot (This seems like a chicken pot pie)
Thursday - Chicken and Spinach Lasagna
Friday - Date Night (We are headed out of town for Michael's reintegration for his unit)
Saturday - Dinner with the Brigade...or whoever we decides to go with ;)

Notice all of the chicken dishes? Two reasons for that : One, Michael LOVES chicken. Two, I started WW again last week, and chicken is better then beef! I was able to find all of these recipes that are weight watchers friendly and sound good, even for Michael. We will see!

Is it Friday?

Today, I accidentally called a student an idiot. Yes, that's right. In my defense, another student had fallen, pretty hard, and this 'idiot' was cracking up, laughing LOUDLY, and pointing to the girl. I then turned to the boy and said, "Why don't you stop laughing like an idiot, and see if she's ok!"

Then, like any good teacher, I went to the Principal's office to confess! She said, "Sometimes you have to call them like you see it!"

Maybe I won't lose my job after all. Ahhh, tomorrow is Friday!

How Much?

Since Michael has come home, we have been actively looking into building our dream house. We have thrown around different options about whether to search for an already built house, or just build one ourselves. After thinking about all of the things we want in our house, we decided it was much easier for us to just design the house ourselves.

Finding and designing a plan was a challenge in itself, but once we did that and had it just the way we wanted, we took it to three builders to price it out. It is an exciting time but scary! Everything is so expensive. Now is the best time to build, so I can't imagine what the price will be when the market returns, which is why we are trying to do it now.

On a normal teachers salary, I don't know how anyone can afford to build. Without Michael's deployment, there is no way we could afford it. We are pretty good at saving money normally, but without the extra money from his time overseas we wouldn't have a very good down payment, and our mortgage would be outrageous! I guess there is a silver lining to the time apart!

We have received prices back from all three builders :
1. This builder has a lot that is reduced and a good price, but the house is more expensive
2. This builder has a lot that is outrageous (but a good neighborhood) but a $20,000 less house!
3. No lot, but the house is $20,000 less then the first.

We have ruled out #3 as finding a lot in a neighborhood is almost impossible. The first two are in the running. Both are reputable buildings, but the one lot is almost DOUBLE the first. Now we are in a bidding competition! We met with builder #1 today, and informed them the same house plan was quoted much lower, so we will see. I think we both have our hearts set on the first one, so keep your fingers crossed!

If all goes as planned, we will buy the lot by the end of the month, and put our house up for sale! What an exciting time, but also very nerve racking!

Goodbye Vacation :(

Another vacation comes to a close. I am always sad because I love sleeping in and just relaxing on the couch all day, but I have to admit I do miss the kids. Since we had snow days the last two days before break, I didn't get to give the kids their Christmas presents, so I am very excited to be able to do that this week!

As part of my New Years resolution, I have decided I really want to attempt to be a better cook. I tried back in November to plan dinner for the week. Not only does this benefit my OCD self, but cuts down on the time we spend asking each other what we want, and trips to the store thus saving money!

I have planned my menu for the week which includes : hamburger stroganoff, crispy chicken, filets, Italian chicken and pizza! The easy part was planning, wish me luck with the cooking!

Welcome January!

Ah, another month and a New Year. The difference between last year and this year? Waking up and starting the new year with my husband! Wonderful!

We had a party to go to today for a friend of ours who is deploying to Afghanistan next week. I wish just once, we could have a year without saying goodbye to a friend. His family is so sweet, and I know that my husband looks up to him. He has a two year old son who is adorable! It just breaks my heart. I know he is fully capable, but I always worry. Until they all come home right?

Only two more days left on my Christmas break so I plan on enjoying every minute!