This and That

Hey there, party people.  The blog has been as boring as Andie MacDowell lately, huh?  Shoot.*  Sorry about that.  But I've got some things to share as I near the summer summer summer tiiiiiiiiiiime.

1.  The best thing about teacher workdays is that we can go out for lunch every day.  It's also kind of the worst thing about teacher workdays, because then you start to think that just because you can go out to lunch, you have to go out to lunch.  Oh well.  So what if I've eaten at Pub 29 twice this week? THEY HAVE TOTS!

2.  A cute dog provides a lovely foot elevation ramp.

3.  Totally went to a wine tasting the other night just because it was free.  If I was not being so damned lazy right now, I'd do a whole post on the event, on how it was in a weird blast from the past kind of room called The Rebel Room, a brick-walled, carpeted room adorned with large photographs and paintings of Confederate generals.  And how my good teacher friend decided that we needed to be taking notes on the wines that we drank (see below), and how I was tempted to ask how much it would be to buy a box of one of the wines. And how the people there were really pretentious and how I accidentally broke a glass even though I'd only had like two sips of wine.  I mean, that's pretty much it in a nutshell.  Oh, and there was cheese, too.

4.  MY GOD IT IS HOT OUTSIDE!  And it's going to be this way until November.  Also, apparently we are in a drought.  That sucks.

5.  Everyone here at M Cubed loves Sleepover Tuesdays, the night each week when Cassie comes over to stay.  Last night, I thought I heard her pull up, and said something to Mitch along the lines of "Is Aunt Cassie here?" except that she wasn't here yet.  Mitch ran to the door and whined for about 10 minutes until she actually did show up.  And then I let him outside and he ran around like a rabid racing puppy.  Also, Mitch is cute.

6.  Still cute.

7.  Last night's Sleepover Tuesday was a lazy one, so we ordered pizza instead of cooking.  The best thing about ordering pizza (well, second best thing, I guess, since the actual best thing would be the pizza itself)?  The Domino's pizza tracker set to romance novel theme.

8.  Made these super chocolate chunk cookies this weekend.  Again, if I was being a real go-getter I'd do a whole post about them, and tell you about how they're basically perfect and delicious and packed with chocolate.  And how they make some pretty damn good ice cream sandwiches when paired with peanut butter ice cream.  But I'm being lazy.  Make these if you've got people to please.  You will then succeed at the people pleasing.  Just make sure that you've got people to share them with, lest you accidentally eat an entire batch in one sitting and then feel so sick that you don't ellipt for four days.

9.  I was in a cranky mood today until Ann called me up and said there was a big sale at Gap and that I should join her in a shopping adventure.  And even though I have more clothes than I will ever need, I decided that perhaps buying something new and pretty would make me less cranky.  It pretty much worked when I found this cute shirt for $12.  I could totes wear that to someone's house for dinner or to the club to show off my club moves or to school if I was going to cover it up with a fancy powerful woman jacket.

10.  And, finally, the Humane Society in Savannah is giving away kittens--with shots and vet visits and spayed/neutered and everything!  No fees!  I told Ann during today's shopping trip that her girls need a kitten and she said that if I got them a kitten she'd never forgive me.  Silly Ann!  I wasn't going to get a kitten; I was going to get three kittens.  I wouldn't want the girls to fight over them.  That's much more forgivable, right?  Right?

[source]

Hope your week is full of pizza and cookies and friends and kittens and a dog.  Seriously, why am I even cranky?

*Caitie and I are co-founders of the Andie MacDowell anti-fan club.  Ugh!  So dull and boring and always playing the same wet blanket character!

SPRING BREAK WOO HOO!

When he makes this face, how can I not take him for a walk?

Question: Is it okay to drink a glass of wine while taking the dog for a walk?


Answer: Yes and no.


Okay, so it's SPRING BREAK WOO HOO!*

And it's been a tough week at school, so about 3 minutes after getting home I poured myself a glass of wine. But, you know, nobody wants to be the loser who is too drunk and then passes out at 8:00, so I was all determined to pace myself.

And then I took the dog for a walk, and decided that because it was such a beautiful day, and because spring break has finally come, a glass of wine would be a fine accompaniment to the walk.

Mmmmm hmmmmm.

A glass of wine would be nice, but three glasses of wine would be awesome.  So I milked the rest of my box of wine** into a lime green plastic tumbler and set off for a walk with the dog to the park.  Man oh man it was fun!  We met new people and ran and smelled things and barked at the Halloween balloons that are still hanging in the power lines.  (Well, one of us did.  The other just stumbled about.)

During this walk I fell in love with Savannah all over again.  I admired our cute little neighborhood and talked to the old guys walking toward the Sand Gnats stadium with Solo cups full of what I can only imagine was another tasty beverage.  There were little green lizards scampering about, and the Spanish moss*** hung in the most romantic way.  I couldn't help but to think to myself, "How could I ever live anywhere but here?"****

It might've been the booze.  You know, just enough wine to give me the idea of knocking on the door of my favorite neighborhood house to compliment the owners on their decision to paint the shutters purple, but not quite enough wine to drive me to actually knock.

Anyway, I forget where I was going with this whole post.  Now I'm just sitting around listening to Adele (because Entertainment Weekly keeps telling me to) and smelling the ribs that are in the oven.  And drinking a glass of water because Matt insists that I do so.

Happy weekend to you!  I hope you're also on SPRING BREAK WOO HOO!



*Bee-tee-dub, remember when you were a kid and you were excited about breaks from school?  Now, multiply that excitement by about one bazillion and you have the excitement that a teacher feels about those same breaks from school.


**Roughly twelve ounces.  Eek!


***Which I one time heard someone less affectionately refer to as Savannah snot.


****This is kind of unfair, because Savannah is basically ovulating right now.  It's all pretty and temperate and smells nice.  Before long, it'll rear its ugly humid head and get all bitchy and crime-ridden.  Fear not.

Patience

I saw this wino eating grapes.  I said, "Dude, you have to wait!"

-Mitch Hedberg

Bonus!

You know what I love?

I love it when you make a to-do list, and when you accidentally write something on it twice--say, "wrap presents."  And then, when you're finished with that task, you get to cross off two things!  Horray!  It's like you wrapped presents twice when really you just did it once.*

Less fun is when you break your wine glass in the sink** after maybe accidentally dropping it because maybe--just maybe--you had a few glasses of wine (plus a few more glasses of wine) while chatting away on the phone to old friends and little sisters.

Oh well.  There's a lesson to be learned here: buy more sturdy wine glasses.

*Also, sometimes I will write things on my to-do list that I've already done just so that I can have the satisfaction of crossing them off.  Or sometimes I will put the most ridiculous task on a to-do list, such as "eat a salad for lunch and not fast food" or "take a nap."  It's extra fun to cross those babies off.

**Save the remaining danger glass, just in case a murderer should approach your house, in which case you can grab the glass and tell the murderer, in your scariest voice, "I will cut you."  If they scoff, cut them--until they're dead***, because they are (were?) a murderer and they were trying to kill you dead first.

***Or just run.  This may be smarter.  Don't listen to me.  I can't even keep a wine glass alive.

Gonna Have Some Fun, Show You How It's Done. . .

I was going to title this post "Happy Friday" or "TGIF" or something like that, but last week I did a "Happy Friday" post and Matt said that was a lame name and I was all "Whatev!" and then he just rolled his eyes at me and shook his head shrugged his shoulders in that way that lets me know that he may or may not be second guessing his decision to marry someone who says things like "Whatev!"

Last Friday was a very happy Friday, and this one is, too.  Here's why today is awesome.

1. I went to bed super early last night (11:00) without doing several of the items on my to-do list, and I don't even care.  I mean, if I really want to walk through the house without my feet turning black, I can just wear flip-flops.  And I'd rather be well-rested than clean anyway.
2. I am wearing my favorite black sweater.
3. My hair has been really cooperative today.
4. I read about this awesome owl calendar generator.  I kind of want to make one for everyone I know.
5. Every one of my eleventh graders that took the graduation writing test passed!  Today's class was fun (but not terribly productive, what with all of the whooping and hollering).  Even more fun was the game I played with each of them as I passed back the scores, looking sad and disheartened, telling them that I hated to have to be the one to tell them this, letting out long, sad sighs.  They'd be all, "I failed?" and I'd be all "Well, look at the score."  And then they would, and they'd jump and scream.  It was a good day to be a teacher.
6. Found a recipe for Butterbeer.  Does anyone know where I can find butter extract?
7. As of 10:28 this morning, Iris and Opal have a new sister! (Whose name has yet to be determined)
8. Only two more school days until Thanksgivpalooza.  Thanklicious.  Thankseat-a-thon.  I'm pumped.  Time to do some stretching.  (Let me explain to you how the human body works.) 
9. Matt just brought me a bean burrito from Taco Bell.
10. There's a box of wine in the refrigerator.

A Remedy for Anger

Oh, what to do after an EXTREMELY frustrating and infuriating, hands-shaking-because-you're-so-mad day of work?

1.  Celebrate the fact that there are only five--yes, FIVE--more days of school until students leave.
2.  Channel that anger into vacuuming energy.
3.  Channel that anger into "cleaning the kitchen after the disastrous attempt at making Pioneer Woman's Tequila Lime Chicken" energy.  I don't know if it was the uber cheap tequila or if I'm pregnant with more Mitches (not pregnant, don't worry, universe), but as soon as I whipped the marinade together--and in the process shot rank green shit all over my kitchen--I was gagging.  Weird, huh?  I mean, it's basically a chicken marinated in a margarita.  What's not to love?  One of you should make it with good tequila and let me know how it is.  I'm  not allowed to keep good tequila in the house because I might repeat the night of thirteen limes.  More on that later.
4.  Wait until seven p.m. to drink that first glass of wine. 
5.  Wait until seven fifteen p.m. to drink that second glass of wine.
6.  Sit back, relax, watch Friday Night Lights, and revel in the fact that although I may have a suckfest of a work day here and there, at least I get to come home to these guys.

8.  Wait until seven forty-five p.m. to have that third glass.

How do you alleviate stress?

Oh, Senate.

Well, someone's turning in his grave tonight. . .

. . .because a douche bag was elected. Mr. Scott Brown is about as smarmy as they come, even if we're comparing him to other politicians.

At first I was sad about losing a 60-seat majority, and then I realized that we never really had a 60-seat majority (read: Lieberman, a.k.a., "Douche of the Century"). So, whatever. At least I've got a box of wine in the fridge.

But seriously, this guy makes me want to puke.

Update

My apologies for the lack of posting this week. This is my last week before I must return to school, so I'm trying to enjoy my freedom, soaking up the last moments of August. But, in bullets, here is what we have been up to:

• Sleeping. We have been spending extraordinary amounts of time sleeping, even for us. We're not sick of sleep-deprived or anything--just lazy and big fans of long naps.
• Eating. We had Fresh Market steaks twice in a week.
• Dreaming. Actually, nightmaring. About an hour ago I was having a dream that a scary clown that I had openly mocked robbed a bank I was in, and then I had to escape with Ken Jennings from Jeopardy!.
• Snuggling. Unsurprisingly, Mitch remains the cutest dog on the planet.
• Watching TV. We're currently obsessed with Top Chef, Friday Night Lights, season 3 of Dexter, and True Blood.
• Eating. We're fat.
• Working. Booo. Where's my winning lottery ticket?
• Debating. Can Matt and Mandy be happy with parenthood if we have just one child?
• Decorating. I'm trying to make our office look like something that would not be a part of the set of The Wonder Years.
• Hosting. Matt's good friend came to visit this week. The visit was short, but very fun.
• Drinking. Too much.
• Nursing. Hangovers. PS--the bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich has become my hangover cure!

I may elaborate on some of these in the future. Have a happy Friday and a great weekend!

Ahhh. . .

School's out. I'm relieved, thrilled, exhausted, and in a state of disbelief. Summer break is by far the greatest thing about my job, followed by Christmas break and spring break. It's also nice to be home every day around 3:00. The thought that I have three relatively painless teacher work days and then I don't have to be back there for two months makes me giddy. Absolutely giddy.

Matt's traveling to Virginia for the weekend to reunite with old college and high school friends. Matt says that they just drink beer and talk, but I imagine there's more. I picture them drinking champagne, getting manicures and pedicures, gossiping, watching old episodes of Beverly Hills 90210, and having several dance-offs. I suspect that he's not been completely honest about what goes on during these reunions.

So it's just me and the dogs for the weekend, and I have big plans. I'm about to tap into the box of wine that's been calling my name from the refrigerator, and then I might clean the house. Oh, boxed wine. Oh, drunken house cleaning.

What will I do for the next two months? I have some ideas. Let's see if I stick to them:

• Learn to sew. Make some curtains.
• Make the back yard less of a jungle.
• Eat healthy and lose some weight.
• Shred, elipt, and walk/jog.
• Relax.
• Cook.
• Re-tool my 12th grade class.
• Get caught up with my correspondance.
• Go to the beach every Monday.
• Steal my sister.
• Buy Punch Out for the Wii. Beat Matt at the game.
• Celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary in style.
• Sleep in every day.

It should be good. I've been looking forward to this since last summer.