Meet Our New Furry Kid!

Trixie! Oh what a joy she is!

New life, new me!

It's crazy how long it's been since I was on here. I was damn near out of my mind at that time.

So what's been happening? First off, I quit my teaching job. It wasn't good for me. The stress, the long hours, the lack of appreciation, the headaches with behavior and PARENTS, the un-ending pile of papers to corrects and always, always more tasks to be responsible for. Do I miss it? Hell NOOOO! It's been almost a full school year since I've been out and not a day goes by that I don't think about some aspect of it. Earlier on, I asked myself constantly if I did the right thing by quitting. I mean, it's not a thing that someone does around here. Being a part of the public school district is one that is highly desirable and is usually a career, life-long job. It's almost unheard of to QUIT, like I did.

This past year, I've gotten to know myself better and I feel like a happier, better adjusted person. I strive to make the world a better place. To do kind deeds, to be helpful, to listen, to pray, to be a friend. I've read more books, cooked more meals, cleaned more of my house, picked up my sewing skills, learned to knit, painted a few house interiors, and taken a few more trips. It's wonderful, this life that I live now. Lucky for me, I have a wonderful husband who allows me these privileges. He's much happier seeing me happy and not so stressed.

I'm still open to a possible part-time job, but it's definitely go to be one that means I can leave at the end of the day w/o work to take home. Low stress, fun work environment and great people to work with are high priority. Does such a job exist?

Does anyone read this blog besides me? Leave a comment and let me know! Maybe I'll pop in here and post more often!

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Wow. So much has changed since my last post. I had really hoped to journal my thoughts and emotions here while I was "changing". I guess I'm not a girl that will stick with blogging, but will give it a luke-warm go.
Well, the biggest change is that I resigned from my teaching job a few weeks ago. With so much stress and the eternally long hours for 9 months at a time, I figured it just wasn't worth it. Life is too short to feel that miserable. At one time, I felt like teaching was my God-given vocation in life. Many years, I felt good about it and really had fun with it. The last few years I began to dread it and really felt bitter about it. I still love kids (most of them) and love the interaction of teaching, but not under the circumstances of 30+ kids in a room, strict curriculum that must be followed, undependable administration, and hovering parents. I asked God for signs and He gave them. It was my time to go.

So, what do I do now? God holds the answer! I have no idea where my path will go. For now, I am doing my usual summer things of organizing, cleaning, gardening and reading. Summer naps are good too. I've been doing a lot of praying too. God knows that I need Him to show me the way.

Enough for now. Maybe when I come back in another 6 months, I'll be able to say where that path led me.

Sunday, Feb. 26 2012

OK, so it's been since forever that I was last here. I thought I'd like blogging, but I guess I don't really. Who reads this? nobody but me. Maybe I need to ramp it up a bit and show some naked photos or something. That'll sure get folks excited! Or sick.

I have made a major decision in the past few weeks. I have decided to retire from teaching. It has become such a disheartening profession. Such lack of respect, such hard work and very little thanks. I've put my heart and sole into this career and my reward is stabs at my heart from parents and kids. I've had it and don't want to be abused anymore. I've asked God many times in the last few years what He wants me to do with my life, as I felt that teaching was no longer my path in life. I truly feel that God has spoken to me and has told me to leave this catastophic profession. I don't know what I'll do, but I'll search it out. I need to be productive and appreciated in whatever I do. Shit....doesn't everyone want that? I'm no different. I just want to be treated as a human being and not be stabbed in the back.

So, while I'm out of a job this summer, I'm planning on getting back in shape! My weight has ballooned and I'm lazy as shit. I need to get up off this couch and get exercise, cook healthier meals and expect to live a longer, active lifestyle. That's my plan and I'm sticking to it!

Is anyone out there? Are you reading this? Leave a comment and let me know, OK? Big things are about to happen for this girl. Be a witness!

Monday, May 16th

What's on my mind? Mainly, it's getting this school year over with...only 12 more days. 12 more days of hard work. Ah, this too shall pass.

I like to eat. I hate to exercise. What's that get ya? Weight overload, that's what. I'm depressed knowing what I've done to myself. It's time to get real about this and face the music of eating healthier and exercising so I can look better, feel better and be healthy inside and out. I've got to find the motivation somewhere deep inside of me. It's in there. I've dug it out before and I can dig it out again. It's just that this time, it's lost down in me even deeper than before. If I keep talking/writing about it, it will surface, right? Stay tuned, I will beat this thing.

Before I turn 50.

Mother's Day May 8, 2011

It was a beautiful day. I'm a lucky lady with 2 great kids...who have NO relationship with each other. Yeah, I know what you may be thinking...they have squabbles and disagreements, but really love each other. Nope, not in this case. They don't squabble, they don't disagree and they don't love each other. Their lives don't orbit each other's in any way whatsoever. In fact, they work hard to avoid each other. My only wish for Mother's Day was to have my kids sit down and have a conversation. I didn't even need to be present in the room. It didn't happen. Paul didn't even offer them the opportunity to bone up to it. So, I'm disappointed.

Well, on the brighter side, school will be out in less than a month! Now that's something to celebrate. This past year has been a rather good one, despite a few parent issues thrown in there intermittenly just to remind me that I'm not perfect in any way. I wish I weren't so sensitive to these issues and could let them roll off my back. I'll retire before I find this ability.

I baked a wonderfully delicious chocolate cake last night and frosted it this morning to celebrate both Mother's Day and my brother's 59th birthday. It is awesomely decadent and my body is sucking in calories with it just being in the same room. The recipe can be found here: http://www.handletheheat.com/2011/04/double-chocolate-cake-blog-birthday.html

I hope to be back here more often. I'm still thinking about my list of 50 Ways to Leave My 40's, which will start in a few weeks. I look forward to that! No, I don't look forward to being 50, just the path that leads to it with fun things to do.

Sunday, March 27th

I'm trying hard to avoid my afternoon nap today. There are things I want and need to do. If I succumb to that damn nap, nothing will get done. I feel like I slept pretty well last night and even slept in til 8:00 when Q woke me with his crazy coughing.

OK,so what is it I want and need to do? I want to make these luscious chocolate cookies that I saw on America's Test Kitchens. I was cheap and didn't want to pay for the subscriber's fee to get the recipe, so I found it elsewhere on the Internet. If these work out, I'll post pictures.

I'm still thinking of those 50 Ways to Leave My Forties list. I've added a few, but it's on the back of my mind to keep working on it. At one point, I wanted to put on a big 60's party with tie-die shirts, fondue pots, and 60's music blaring in the backyard. Since then, I've matured (or chickened out?) and think I'll celebrate in a quieter way.

OK, I'm off to bake them cookies.