So it's been a while since I posted. Here's brief update on my life over the past month:
1. New Year's was ok...not especially fun, not especially exciting, but at least spent with fun people.
2. School started back and I am again working with the Testing Team. I believe that this is in preparation for one of our staff leaving. :( Hopefully, I will still enjoy this new aspect of my job (quasi-admin) next year without this person.
3. I have had two doctor's appointments for surgery consultations. It is possible that I will have jaw surgery in June as part of my orthodontic treatment. The bad news is that it will hurt like heck and leave me looking and feeling as though I've been in a major car wreck. The good news is that my jaw will be straight, it will be like a mini-face lift and since I won't be able to eat, I may lose some weight.
4. My grandmother (Dad's mom from MFBC) went into the hospital after having a major stroke with significant paralysis on her left side on January 16. She is still in the hospital and may never go home again, although she should be moving to an in-patient PT facilty tomorrow. At the ripe old age of 91, even minor things are major. Please, your prayers for our family are welcome and desired. We have accepted the eventual outcome, as she has lived a long, healthy and blessed life, but life will be hard for all of us without her.
5. Brad turned 30. In celebration, we went to Shakespeare Tavern (with a driver, no less...no need to get a DUI on his b'day) to see The Merry Wives of Windsor. Pretty funny and still an amazingly accuarate depiction of men and women even all these years later.
6. Our house was painted. As soon as I get it cleaned again, I'll post pictures.
That's about it for now. Cocktail club (replacing wine club) is underway. I wish I could have stayed longer for January's but the one this month should be fun. I'll take pictures and post them with the new house pics as soon as I have them. Everyone stay warm!
À bientôt!
ABB
04 February 2007
01 January 2007
Note to self:
When in an uncomfortable situation, either say something to fix it or just get up and leave. Do NOT wait around in silence for the situation to end then leave without letting those involved know that what happened was not pleasant. Stick up for yourself a little and maybe these things won't happen again...for a third time. :(
When in an uncomfortable situation, either say something to fix it or just get up and leave. Do NOT wait around in silence for the situation to end then leave without letting those involved know that what happened was not pleasant. Stick up for yourself a little and maybe these things won't happen again...for a third time. :(
The Year in Review
I stole this from Kristin and Allison. Feel free to copy, paste, edit and post your own answers to your site.
1. What did you do in 2006 that you'd never done before? Lots of things, but nothing major.
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't think that I made any last year.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? My cousin and his wife had their baby in March.
4. Did anyone close to you die? Thank God, No.
5. Did you visit anywhere exciting? I went to Destin, London and Paris.
6. What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006? More streaches of calm and more control over my own actions and my own life.
7. What date from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? No particular date...there were good days and bad days, but no absolutely remarkable days.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Making it through another year with the love of my husband and son still intact.
9. What was your biggest mistake? Not making enough time for me and my family, spending too much time devoted to my various job duties.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Not really. I had colds a few times, or sinus infections, but nothing too bad.
11. What was the best thing you bought? Um...my new glasses?
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My students, my fellow teachers, my family, my friends.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? The same as above. We all do things that have the abilty to amaze or appall others. It takes concious effort to choose to do amazing things instead of appaling ones.
14. Where did most of your money go? My son.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? My student trip to London and Paris.
16. What song will always remind you of 2006? I don't really do this anymore...why don't you suggest one and tell me why.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Overall, happier probably.
ii. thinner or fatter? About the same.
iii. richer or poorer? Richer, I think.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Working out, spending time with my family.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Stressing about all that had to be done.
20. How did you spend Christmas? Early morning at my house, morning at my grandmother's, afternoon and evening at my in-laws.
21. Did you fall in love in 2006? I fall a little more in love every day with my husband and son. I could never make it through without them.
22. What was your favorite TV program? Scrubs, Studio 60, Brothers & Sisters, Passport to Europe, Not Your Average Travel Guide.
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Hate is a very strong and damaging emotion. While there are people that I dislike, I don't think that there is anyone that I actually hate.
24. What was the best book you read? Gosh, I read so many. My favorite new series, I guessm would be Artemis Fowl, But I really did read a ton of books.
25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Discovering that I could own an iPod, even though it's a Mac product, and love it.
26. What did you want and get? Lots of things.
27. What did you want and not get? Again, lots of things.
28. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 29 and got on an airplane to London with my friend Kristin, my former student Lauren and her boyfriend Matt, and 25 of my students.
29. What’s one thing that would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Figuring out how to friends again with some people that I no longer feel friendly with.
30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006? Comfortable and classy.
31. What kept you sane? My husband.
32. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Um, I don't really do this either.
33. What political issue stirred you the most? The situation in the Middle East.
34. Who did you miss? A lot of people.
35. Who was the best new person you met? I would have to say my new co-worker Heidi.
36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006? Do what you believe to be right even if it's not what is easy. These choices define who we really are.
37. What are your New Years Resolutions for 2006? Again, I don't really do this. But, just for forms sake, I'll say that I could stand to eat better and to make time for my family, even if it means a little less time with my friends.
1. What did you do in 2006 that you'd never done before? Lots of things, but nothing major.
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't think that I made any last year.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? My cousin and his wife had their baby in March.
4. Did anyone close to you die? Thank God, No.
5. Did you visit anywhere exciting? I went to Destin, London and Paris.
6. What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006? More streaches of calm and more control over my own actions and my own life.
7. What date from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? No particular date...there were good days and bad days, but no absolutely remarkable days.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Making it through another year with the love of my husband and son still intact.
9. What was your biggest mistake? Not making enough time for me and my family, spending too much time devoted to my various job duties.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Not really. I had colds a few times, or sinus infections, but nothing too bad.
11. What was the best thing you bought? Um...my new glasses?
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My students, my fellow teachers, my family, my friends.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? The same as above. We all do things that have the abilty to amaze or appall others. It takes concious effort to choose to do amazing things instead of appaling ones.
14. Where did most of your money go? My son.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? My student trip to London and Paris.
16. What song will always remind you of 2006? I don't really do this anymore...why don't you suggest one and tell me why.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Overall, happier probably.
ii. thinner or fatter? About the same.
iii. richer or poorer? Richer, I think.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Working out, spending time with my family.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Stressing about all that had to be done.
20. How did you spend Christmas? Early morning at my house, morning at my grandmother's, afternoon and evening at my in-laws.
21. Did you fall in love in 2006? I fall a little more in love every day with my husband and son. I could never make it through without them.
22. What was your favorite TV program? Scrubs, Studio 60, Brothers & Sisters, Passport to Europe, Not Your Average Travel Guide.
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Hate is a very strong and damaging emotion. While there are people that I dislike, I don't think that there is anyone that I actually hate.
24. What was the best book you read? Gosh, I read so many. My favorite new series, I guessm would be Artemis Fowl, But I really did read a ton of books.
25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Discovering that I could own an iPod, even though it's a Mac product, and love it.
26. What did you want and get? Lots of things.
27. What did you want and not get? Again, lots of things.
28. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 29 and got on an airplane to London with my friend Kristin, my former student Lauren and her boyfriend Matt, and 25 of my students.
29. What’s one thing that would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Figuring out how to friends again with some people that I no longer feel friendly with.
30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006? Comfortable and classy.
31. What kept you sane? My husband.
32. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Um, I don't really do this either.
33. What political issue stirred you the most? The situation in the Middle East.
34. Who did you miss? A lot of people.
35. Who was the best new person you met? I would have to say my new co-worker Heidi.
36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006? Do what you believe to be right even if it's not what is easy. These choices define who we really are.
37. What are your New Years Resolutions for 2006? Again, I don't really do this. But, just for forms sake, I'll say that I could stand to eat better and to make time for my family, even if it means a little less time with my friends.
29 December 2006
Christmas Cheer
I hope that everyone had a wonderful and relaxing Christmas. Mine was half and half.
One half of my day was wonderful, filled with the joy of the season, where I was able to see members of my family who were delighted to see Brad, Ryan and me, people who were excited to both give and receive our gifts, a half-day of calm and love. During that half-day, I was able to remember exactly why I have always loved Christmas so much. I love being able to see my family, whom I see all too infrequently, and being able to share my life with them.
The other half of the day is not for the weak or the unknown, so I won't share so much.
Anyway, I got lots of good gifts. Brad ordered me a custom-made, handmade jewelry chest, made by the Amish. It will make a good family heirloom, to pass on to my daughter-in-law or granddaughter one day. It's beautiful and has room for far more jewelry than I own, so I told Brad that he now needs to buy me more jewelry. :) My dad gave a MasterCard gift card, with which I was able to buy two new pairs of shoes that I've been wanting for a long time. My mom gave me the wonderful gift of almost nothing, just two pizza stones. I've never used a pizza stone, but they're supposed to be pretty good. My in-laws gave me a wireless set (keyboard, mouse and router) so that I can use my laptop to connect to the Internet from home as well as places like Panera, PJs, the Starbucks at Brookwood (where I able to "borrow" free Wifi from Taco Mac), etc. They also gave a gift card to Macy's so I get to go shopping this afternoon. My sister-in-law gave me a video iPod, which is much bigger than I could ever need, but is très chouette!
For Ryan, Brad and I went a little crazy. We didn't realize that we had bought quite so much until we found that he had forgotten to open two presents and couldn't even remember what they were! From Santa, he received a Cranium fort that can be built into all different kinds of shapes (a car, a boat, a cabana, a rocket, etc.), a sleeping bag, a vSmile (a gaming system for the TV), a coloring set from the Backyardigans, some trains from Thomas the Tank Engine and two of the cars from Cars. From us, he received a bunch of clothes, a box of Legos Duplos, a sippy cup from Disney, three games for his vSmile, and a read-along book/CD, just to name a few. He also received about 5 big cars/trucks, some of them RC, some not. We're starting to run out of room for all of them, so we gave a few of the older ones from past Christmas/birthday presents to Good Will yesterday. Also, he was given an electric race car set by Hot Wheels called Sizzlers. The cars get "juiced up", then they zip around a race track at what seems like 100 mph. They take a long time to juice up and then lose their charge pretty quickly, but when they're going, they're pretty darn awesome. Lastly, he got a HUGE Thomas the Tank Engine Legos Duplos set, with which he is playing now.
En dépit du half-day of misery, our Christmas was overall pretty good. We finished reading Ryan's advent storybook (in which Benjamin Bear discovers the meaning of Christmas one story at a time beginning on 1 December) on Christmas Eve, went to bed, then woke up again around 6:15. After lighting the fire and all of our candles, we woke up Ryan for presents. After presents, we read the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke, then showered and got dressed. We loaded up the car and drove to Marietta to spend the morning with my side of the family, which includes both of my parents, my brother, my grandmother, my uncle, his new wife, her three daughters (who I didn't know would be there and so was unprepared to give them gifts :( ), my cousin, his wife, their baby, and two family friends who might as well be family as they come to almost all family functions. After breakfast and presents there, we loaded the car up again to drive back to Duluth for about 2 hours of rest. Then, we loaded the car again to drive to Snellville to spend the evening with Brad's side of the family, which includes both of his parents, his grandmother, his sister and her new boyfriend from Cleveland whom none of us had ever met before. After dinner and presents there, we finally loaded up the car one last time to head home for bed.
Man, I feel exhausted again just recounting it. Alors, c'est tout. J'ai fini. Maintenant, je dois me laver and m'habiller avant le déjeuner. Les vacances sont bons, mais je ne dois pas devenir trop parasseuse. :) Ryan doit toujours s'habiller aussi. Suis-je terrible? Non, ce sont les vacances. Nous pouvons nous détendre un peu.
Perhaps I'll post more later about my job from last week...data entry. I'm compiling a list of things that make being a HS teacher better than having an office job. :)
À bientôt!
ABB
One half of my day was wonderful, filled with the joy of the season, where I was able to see members of my family who were delighted to see Brad, Ryan and me, people who were excited to both give and receive our gifts, a half-day of calm and love. During that half-day, I was able to remember exactly why I have always loved Christmas so much. I love being able to see my family, whom I see all too infrequently, and being able to share my life with them.
The other half of the day is not for the weak or the unknown, so I won't share so much.
Anyway, I got lots of good gifts. Brad ordered me a custom-made, handmade jewelry chest, made by the Amish. It will make a good family heirloom, to pass on to my daughter-in-law or granddaughter one day. It's beautiful and has room for far more jewelry than I own, so I told Brad that he now needs to buy me more jewelry. :) My dad gave a MasterCard gift card, with which I was able to buy two new pairs of shoes that I've been wanting for a long time. My mom gave me the wonderful gift of almost nothing, just two pizza stones. I've never used a pizza stone, but they're supposed to be pretty good. My in-laws gave me a wireless set (keyboard, mouse and router) so that I can use my laptop to connect to the Internet from home as well as places like Panera, PJs, the Starbucks at Brookwood (where I able to "borrow" free Wifi from Taco Mac), etc. They also gave a gift card to Macy's so I get to go shopping this afternoon. My sister-in-law gave me a video iPod, which is much bigger than I could ever need, but is très chouette!
For Ryan, Brad and I went a little crazy. We didn't realize that we had bought quite so much until we found that he had forgotten to open two presents and couldn't even remember what they were! From Santa, he received a Cranium fort that can be built into all different kinds of shapes (a car, a boat, a cabana, a rocket, etc.), a sleeping bag, a vSmile (a gaming system for the TV), a coloring set from the Backyardigans, some trains from Thomas the Tank Engine and two of the cars from Cars. From us, he received a bunch of clothes, a box of Legos Duplos, a sippy cup from Disney, three games for his vSmile, and a read-along book/CD, just to name a few. He also received about 5 big cars/trucks, some of them RC, some not. We're starting to run out of room for all of them, so we gave a few of the older ones from past Christmas/birthday presents to Good Will yesterday. Also, he was given an electric race car set by Hot Wheels called Sizzlers. The cars get "juiced up", then they zip around a race track at what seems like 100 mph. They take a long time to juice up and then lose their charge pretty quickly, but when they're going, they're pretty darn awesome. Lastly, he got a HUGE Thomas the Tank Engine Legos Duplos set, with which he is playing now.
En dépit du half-day of misery, our Christmas was overall pretty good. We finished reading Ryan's advent storybook (in which Benjamin Bear discovers the meaning of Christmas one story at a time beginning on 1 December) on Christmas Eve, went to bed, then woke up again around 6:15. After lighting the fire and all of our candles, we woke up Ryan for presents. After presents, we read the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke, then showered and got dressed. We loaded up the car and drove to Marietta to spend the morning with my side of the family, which includes both of my parents, my brother, my grandmother, my uncle, his new wife, her three daughters (who I didn't know would be there and so was unprepared to give them gifts :( ), my cousin, his wife, their baby, and two family friends who might as well be family as they come to almost all family functions. After breakfast and presents there, we loaded the car up again to drive back to Duluth for about 2 hours of rest. Then, we loaded the car again to drive to Snellville to spend the evening with Brad's side of the family, which includes both of his parents, his grandmother, his sister and her new boyfriend from Cleveland whom none of us had ever met before. After dinner and presents there, we finally loaded up the car one last time to head home for bed.
Man, I feel exhausted again just recounting it. Alors, c'est tout. J'ai fini. Maintenant, je dois me laver and m'habiller avant le déjeuner. Les vacances sont bons, mais je ne dois pas devenir trop parasseuse. :) Ryan doit toujours s'habiller aussi. Suis-je terrible? Non, ce sont les vacances. Nous pouvons nous détendre un peu.
Perhaps I'll post more later about my job from last week...data entry. I'm compiling a list of things that make being a HS teacher better than having an office job. :)
À bientôt!
ABB
18 December 2006
Enough said...
"If I like you, I call you."
Well, I guess that about explains how people feel about me...nice to have it cleared up.
For all of my friends, I like you even though I never call. I'm awful at all of that keeping in touch stuff, so no one should take it personally. After all, I talk to the person whom I consider to be my best friend about every 6 months or so, even though we both try to talk more frequently.
Well, I guess that about explains how people feel about me...nice to have it cleared up.
For all of my friends, I like you even though I never call. I'm awful at all of that keeping in touch stuff, so no one should take it personally. After all, I talk to the person whom I consider to be my best friend about every 6 months or so, even though we both try to talk more frequently.
26 November 2006
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