Talking to Taylor, now with picture

Taylor**Update: That was amazing! She had a live video chat with her fans at 7 central time for about an hour. It was SO COOL! I logged on Myspace just in time to see that she had posted a bulletin announcing it, and rushed over and logged into the chat. She is so real, and that's what I like about her. It was like chatting with a best friend.

**I uploaded a picture I took with my phone while we were chatting. (:



I get to talk live with Taylor Swift in 9 minutes!!!! AHHH! (:

Bookworm

I am really excited today.

Want to know why?

It's because I went to the library. And got books! I love books. I love to read. I even made an Amazon Wish List this year, which I have never done before. I guess, for the past couple of years, I just haven't made time to read. Over the summer, I read a lot! But my computer was also broken.

I guess what I'm saying is, I don't know how to prioritize.

But I really want to get back into reading! I read an assortment of genres. Horror, Christian, fluff, tragedy... if it sounds interesting to me, I give it a try.

I grew up on The Babysitter's Club. My taste has since matured, but I have been known to read one if I'm at my parent's house and can't sleep ... would never do that.

If you know of any books that might be of interest to me, send them my way. (:

In fact, if we could get enough people interested, it might even be fun to start some sort of blogger bookclub.

Today, I checked out Freakenomics, We Need to Talk About Kevin, and An Abundance of Katherines. I told you I'll read just about anything. That is, I'll give anything a fair shot. If I get 30 pages in and can barely... turn... page, then I'll probably call it quits. And I guess there are some things that I have absolutely no interest in. But for the most part, my style is kind of all over the place.

I guess I'm kind of a geek at heart. And I'm cool with that. (:

Forgot!

**Update: Taylor's award hasn't been presented yet. Fingers crossed!

Is anyone watching the CMAs?! I totally forgot they were on tonight and missed most of them. ):

Did Taylor win?

Who all performed?

I'm so sad I missed the majority of them.

Ah, oh well.

A Wednesday Evening.

Thank you all for your prayers for my aunt! I know they will mean a lot to her.



And I'm here again to ask for one more prayer! My mentoring teacher's mom has had her Pace Maker fail twice this week. It seems that she is doing better now, but please say a prayer for her if you think about it. It's been a rough week for their family.



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Ya know, I used to look forward to weekends. I used to love it when the week sped along and Friday arrived. But lately, I love the week. I love teaching! It's challenging and frustrating and wonderful. My weekend job is retail, and well... I don't love it. I will not be sad when it's time to say goodbye to selling clothes forever!



The worst part is the pressure they put on us to put pressure on the customers to sign up for a credit card. In this economy, nobody needs to go into credit card debt! And it's so very easy to charge $300 worth of clothes when you know you can't afford it. I just don't feel right asking people to sign up for a card when I know the holidays are coming up and it would be easy for someone to max out their card when they can't afford the things they are buying. Sure, people might choose to do it anyway. But I don't want to be a part of it!



If I thought I could go out and find a new job that would allow me to only work weekends, plus be flexible with me so I can go 3 hours to see my family on holidays, I would. But anyone who is hiring right now is doing so just for the holidays, and I need a job until at least May. I guess I'm just going to have to focus on how great the weeks are, and remember that the weekends often fly by.



Because tomorrow I might have to go and fly awayyyy.

Another baby goes to Jesus.

I just found out that my aunt lost her baby. This is the third one she's lost... first one that has lived long enough to hear a heartbeat. She was about 12 weeks along.

Please pray for her and her husband. She has wanted a baby so badly for so long... I remember being so young that I still needed a babysitter so she was watching my sisters and me, and we were laying on her bed talking about baby names and how she couldn't wait to have a child. That was at least 10 years ago, and she still doesn't have one.

I can't imagine... can't fathom what she's going through. It never makes sense why someone must go through such troubles. I know that God has it all under control... I just wish it was clear why.

Late.

**I forgot that I had saved this when I had to restart my computer, and didn't post it. It's about 3 hours old now, but I'll go ahead and post it anyway.

It isn't even 6 PM and it feels like it's past midnight. I guess that's what happens when you spend the first 6 of your waking hours doing a unit! But the good news is, I'm done! And I don't have to worry about writing another unit until January. Yessss!

I am so thankful for all the people I have stopping by my blog. Seriously, it's awesome! I should have added that to my Ten for Tuesday, but since I didn't, I'm saying it now. You all rock!

I'm thinking of holding some kind of contest. A holiday themed contest. But I'm not entirely sure what it would be, or what the prize would be. Hmmm. I might have to think on that for a bit. Any thoughts? Ideas? Bueller?

And if you haven't bought this girl's CD yet, do it! Unless you have no money, like me. In that case, you're forgiven. Because I can't afford it and haven't gotten it yet, either.

Ten Things Tuesday.

Thanks to XBOX Wife for starting this! Click the picture to go over to her site and add your very own ten things.

Today, I am thankful for:
1. Heating! It is awfully chilly outside.
2. Our veterans.
3. Having the whole day to finish up this unit that I've been struggling with.
4. My computer cooperating with me today!
5. The fact that my cooperating teacher's mom's surgery was successful yesterday.
6. The fact that my students think I'm cool!
7. Being able to sleep in this morning... 10 am! Woot!
8. The togetherness that the holidays tend to bring.
9. My new niece/nephew... stay safe in there until April, little one.
10. My new cousin due in May. My aunt has had trouble conceiving her whole life, and has had several miscarriages. We are praying this beany baby makes it.

What are you thankful for?

Vascular, nonvascular... AH.

I am totally and completely stressed. I thought I had this plant unit all outlined and ready to go, but there is so much information for a 7th grader to retain over a 10 day period. I need more time! I need more activities! The problem is, I can't afford the supplies and I can't go beyond 10 days. Teaching to the test... UGH

End of small teacher rant.

Carry on.

Fearless.

I have been a fan of Taylor Swift before she became a household name. I knew all her songs way before they were ever on the radio.

I went to one of her concerts a couple of years back and got chills. It was the first time music had ever impacted me that way. I have never had a song give me chills before!

What I'm saying is, I'm a fan. A big fan!

Her new CD comes out at midnight tonight. She'll be at a Wal-Mart in Tennessee picking up a copy, and I am so very jealous that I won't be there.

She used to be able to wait after concerts to sign autographs, but now she doesn't do it as often because she has to be on the road right after to head off to her next destination. I really regret not staying to wait for an autograph and to meet her when I had the chance. I guess I just thought I could do it next time. Besides, I had my little sisters with me and another band was performing after her, and I didn't want to keep them out all night.

So if you're a Taylor fan, or just a country music fan at all, check out her new CD! I don't think you'll be disappointed.

And if you're secretly her best friend or grandma or fifth cousin once removed and you want to introduce me to her, that'd be okay, too. (:

Not Me! Monday.

Join in the fun! Go to MckMama's blog and see what all the fuss is about! (:

So, this week...

I did not get really sad that I'm so far down on the Not Me list!

I did not get frustrated during a review game with my students. I know review day is always a little crazy, but they were so loud today!

I certainly did not come home today and get straight into my comfortable pajamas. This cold, dreary weather will not push you to do such a thing!

I did not go to a buffet last night and have a nice sampling of every single thing that looked good. It was not the first time I've eaten out in months!

I did not have a homemade MckMuffin (: for lunch today.

I do not wish that I could have cuddled with little MckMuffin instead!

And I do not forget what else I wanted to put in this post because my brain doesn't like to think back that far!

Have a wonderful week, all! I will not be working on a unit plan all night and probably will not make several more posts before the clock strikes midnight!

Favorite Post Secret

Every Sunday (or perhaps Monday, depending on the day I remember!), I'm going to try and post my favorite Post Secret of the week on here. 

If you've never been to the site, I suggest it! It will move you, upset you, make you laugh, and make you cry. And sometimes all in the same week!

So, here is numero uno!

My favorite secret this week is:

Off to work!

Why won't my Twitter account activate? ): I've sent the code to my phone 3 times, and nothing. I guess my phone knows I'll get addicted and it'll be just another distraction!

I am so mad at my dark jeans. They are my favorite and I bought them less than a month ago. And they are already ratty and have "runs" in them! I'm so mad!! Granted, I only spent $20 on them, but I expected them to last longer than this. After all, I don't make much money. I expect clothes to last when I spend that much on them!

From now on, I'm sticking to Arizona or Levi or... something that is actually going to last!

Untitled.

I am really, really frustrated right now. Like, so frustrated that I don't even think I could put it all into words. I just feel like I'm the only one who cares that Olivia's birthday is coming up. Yes, it is Ben's birthday too. It is a celebration of his life. But shouldn't Olivia be remembered, too? Am I the only one who is willing to put aside how much it hurts to think that she is gone for one day to remind her parents that we love and miss her too? That they are not completely alone in missing her? Is that too much to ask?!

Please, say a prayer for me that I can make sense of this in my head. I just... UGH.

100.

WHOO HOO!

100 views since I put up my new counter earlier this week. How awesome is that?

I love that people are stopping by and seeing what I have to say. If you stop by today, or ever, feel free to leave a comment to let me know you were here. (: I love to see who is reading so that I can go and read their blog, and perhaps make a new friend.

And for the 100 view bonus: Benjamin!

Flip, flop.

I've told myself that I should try and blog everyday, even if I don't have anything very interesting to say. Sometimes, if I happen to be on my computer and something pops into my head, I blog about it. I just think it really helps to write, no matter what you write about. It's a bit cathartic to get your thoughts down on paper... uh, on screen?

I used to have a terrible time sleeping. I mean, I would literally lay in bed for hours, tossing and turning, with thoughts zooming around in my head. I would worry and analyze and over-analyze things that I had no control over in that moment in time while laying in my bed, but I would think about them anyway. When morning came, I couldn't drag myself out of bed on time most days because I was just plain exhausted from all the thinking and tossing and turning. It was not good.

And then I remembered reading somewhere that writing down your thoughts can really help this. So I started to do that... I would record on my Myspace blog, on paper, on a Word document. And ya know what? The tossing and turning stopped. I could sleep again! I could get up in the morning! Before that, I couldn't remember the last time I could just lay down and be out in several minutes. I would envy people who could do that! I had no idea what it was like. And even though I don't necessarily get my thoughts out every night now, it really trained my brain that, when my head hit my pillow, it did not mean it was time to run wild. It was time to pray, Praise God, thank Him for all that he did for me that day- and then it was time to sleep.

And sleep I do! There are times now that I don't even remember dalling asleep because it happened so fast. And I can get up at 6 Am and have the energy to teach 7th graders all day. It is wonderful!

Speaking of my 7th graders, have I mentioned lately how cool they are and how much I adore them? I was blesse with such a great group of kids. They rock!