Tuesday 10 Spot

1. It's spring break for me which means:

2. Spring Cleaning ~ at least my version of spring cleaning ~ getting all the cleaning done in the same week!

3. Spending extra time with the little girl ~ she's still spending a few days at day care this week but will spend some time at home and visiting family and the Ear doctor for a hearing and tube check-up.

4. Turning 32. Tomorrow. Not sure how I feel about that yet. (Hey Marie...any chance the boy might make an appearance tomorrow? I'm more than willing to share my day!)

5. Relaxing here and there. Catching up on tv past and looking forward to BB9 tonight and tomorrow night and Lost on Thursday!

6. I painted my toes. Yea! That means that if I wanted to wear flip-flops I could. Not that I want to in 45 degree weather, but I could.

7. I am going for a haircut. Something I don't do as often as I should. I am looking forward to checking out the new location of Michael Christopher Salon. I have been going to them since Sean & I got married. I love what Carla does with my hair...at least someone can get it to do something.

8. Playing with the camera. Still trying to get great shots. Taking hundreds in the process. I have been able to get a few good ones. Like this:

And this:

And this:

And this:
And then there are a ton like this:
pics that would be sooo cute if they weren't so grainy. I am thinking grainy might = not enough light. Advice appreciated!

9. I am moving right along in the quest to catch up on some really good young adult fiction books. The books I have read so far really spark a great deal of thought which isn't always easy to pull out of middle school student minds. It may be time to do some adult reading at this point. I may actually have time to head to the library this week. I'm hopeful anyway!

10. I'm a lurker! I have been catching up on the lives of friends and friends of friends and wondering what the etiquette behind blogging truly entails...

Tuesday 10-Spot ~ Wednesday Edition

1. We had an ice storm last night...made the morning commute interesting and the afternoon commute rather pretty.

2. Brenna is 1 week post-tube surgery and is doing wonderfully. No major drainage and they don't seem to be bothering her in the least. It also seems as if she is picking up more words. I wonder how differently things sound to her now.

3. I am doing well on my reading list to this point. I was able to read both Gathering Blue and The Messenger over the weekend. The great thing about young adult fiction is that it is usually a quick read for me. I feel like I actually accomplish something when I can manage two books in one weekend.

4. Needless to say, between the Birthday Celebration for Liam (I can't believe he is 7 already!) and the Cleveland Auto Show (very helpful in allowing us to do research for our next vehicle), I didn't accomplish much else this weekend. NO Laundry...it's going to haunt me this weekend for sure! A little cleaning. Lots of time just the three of us which was fun.

5. Today was almost another SNOW DAY. Almost.

6. Brenna has learned the art of being a tattletale. Already. Someone at daycare today had gas and the teacher asked "who has gas" in a fun way. Brenna pointed to the little boy and calling him by name, said "osh gas". Oh My!

7. I am so looking forward to the summer when we can have lots of play dates with friends! The school year has been great so far but I do miss the time spent with friends. It just seems that there is always something going on that keeps us all from spending time together.

8. I am on to The City of Ember beginning tonight, after Big Brother of course!

9. Did I tell you that pucker kisses for the first time (complete with the sound effects), from our little munchkin, are wonderful?

10. I would like to learn how to take better photos with the digital camera. It seems they are always too close, bright, not bright enough, and always on the unnatural side. I know that our camera is capable...it's the user that's not doing so well...suggestions are welcome!

Snow Day!!

10. I woke up this morning, flicked on the TV...snow day? No luck, so I settle Brenna back to sleep, (she decided to try to get up at 5:30 ~ I don't think so little girl!), and hopped in the shower. Got ready as usual, slightly rushed, got B up and ready to go. Opened up the garage so I could warm up the car and then, as I was heading to the door...Ring Ring..." This is an announcement from...due to the current and expected accumulations of snow all classes and activities have been CANCELLED for today!" Just wish it would have been a little earlier, then I could have gone back to bed! Although a little girl I know probably would have prevented that one.

9. I decided to keep the little girl home with me today. She probably should have gone to get our money's worth out of day care for the week BUT

8. Ear Tube Surgery tomorrow...don't want to risk any other germs until the tubes are in. She can have a nice long nap and fun play time with mommy so she is well-rested and semi-healthy for tomorrow. I'll post details tomorrow.

7. You guessed it...she has yet another cold, hopefully the tubes will help with the saga of the little girl who catches everything from everyone everywhere we go! She hasn't had the chance to really be 100% healthy before she's on to the next thing. Will the tubes stop the colds? Probably not but at least it will greatly reduce the number of ear infections that could take place.

6. I'm trying, trying to get the laundry caught up, folded and put away so that I can try to stay caught up. I need a new laundry solution as trying to get it all done during the weekends is just not working for me. There is always something else (usually something much more fun) going on and the laundry always gets bumped to the bottom of the list until there just aren't any clean clothes. If the clothes are clean, they usually end up a wrinkled mess in the laundry baskets in the basement. Out of the dryer, into the basket, and there they sit until we need something, then it is back into the dryer with a damp cloth on the dewrinkle setting to hopefully allow the item to become semi-wearable without ironing! This and house cleaning would be at the top of my list when it comes to being able to wriggle my nose and have them both magically completed!

5. It's suppose to be 19 degrees tomorrow...thankful for a hardened front yard where the yellow lab can play without turning into a chocolate lab. Wishing for springtime so we can play outside and go for walks and air out the house.

4. Speaking of airing out the house. I woke up at 1:00 this morning to eau de skunk...it is February, we should not be smelling skunks. Apparently when Sean let Bailey out for the last time she frightened a skunk who managed NOT to spray Bailey (thank you thank you thank you) but did manage to spray near the basement walls...our house is a little airy to say the least and the odors manage to waft generously through the airyness, into the basement, into the vents which BLASTED the stink throughout. YUCK! Nothing better than waking up to eau de skunk in the middle of sleeping making it rather difficult to go back to sleep. Thank you thank you thank you again for not spraying our dog, Mr. Skunk!

3. In the spirit of keeping up with my students I am in the process of re-reading The Giver by Lois Lowry. I'll be heading to the library soon to find the other two books in the trilogy Gathering Blue and The Messenger. I haven't decided what the next books on my list will be. Maybe Hoot and Flush by Carl Hiaasen. These are easy read before bed kind of books that allow me to stay up on the books my students are reading.

2. Still trying to decide what to do with the chicken I cubed and seasoned this morning for a casserole that I am kind of getting tired of, may be time to check out www.foodnetwork.com and see what I can come up with.

1. Here's to my snow day...getting caught up on housework and blogging, and spending time with my Beautiful Girl and her daddy.