Happy Leap Day!

Finally Friday...hooray! This week seemed like it lasted forever! That's probably because I had to work all day, every day (pathetic I know). I don't remember the last time we had a week without a two-hour delay, half day, or holiday; but we made it! Now I can sit here, blog, relax, and enjoy my mint hot chocolate. Yum!

This week I had my final observation for my last evaluation of the year. Even though it seems like I've been observed a million times in my college and teaching careers and my principal pops into my room all of the time, I still get really nervous when I know its coming. I thought my kids were great, I guess I'll find out when I see my evaluation.

In other news, last night we went to the school board meeting for Jacob to get his approval for the Spain trip next summer. The superintendent told him that his item on the agenda would probably come up about 8:30. Well 8:30 came and went and finally, FINALLY at 10:15 it was his turn. And then the board decided they didn't need to approve the trip since it wasn't during the school year, and it was being led by a private travel service. We hadn't needed to come in the first place! Frustrating to say the least after the long wait, but at least they didn't say they couldn't go! So, yes, we are Spain-bound in June 2009! I don't get to go for free, but Jacob does, and I get to go for a really, really good discount. We are really excited, but it seems such a long way away!

Tonight we went to look at another house. It seems like we've seen a million! We got a call through a friend today saying they heard about an incredible deal for a house near Mt. Auburn of all places. Well, we went to see it and discovered why the price was so low. The place was junky! We honestly couldn't find one really good thing about it except for the price. It was a foreclosure and the people who had lived there had really done a botched up job building it and then tore it up before they left. We definitely don't need a fixer-upper! So it's back to the drawing board again. We just have to keep telling ourselves that someday the house for us will come along.

Have a great weekend!

Weekend Wrap-Up

What's been going on here? Not too much. Here's the rundown:

Friday, school was closed. It's a bummer that we will have to make it up in May, but I guess on the bright side we got a three day weekend out of it! We used the day to run errands, spent some time with my parents, and took our taxes in to be done.

Saturday afternoon Jacob helped out at a baseball clinic one of the churches in town put on for little kids. I guess that is my signal that I will soon become a baseball widow again. Then Saturday night we went to a thrilling (not really-it was a blow out) basketball game at Waldron. My Dad was a ref during the JV game, which is always interesting to watch. It still seems pretty weird to see my Dad run up and down the court like that, but he loves it!

On Sunday we managed to have lunch with Jacob's parents, and then it was back to work today. We are supposed to get some weird rain/ice/snow weather tonight and tomorrow. So I guess I'll see how that affects my Tuesday plans then. Hasta luego...

Time to Vent

So this really not a big deal in the whole scheme of things, but I have to vent.

I'm driving home from school today, taking the safe State Road 9 route instead of the quicker country route I always take because it is snowing and I'm trying to be careful. I get behind a salt truck, he pulls over and lets me and the car behind me pass him. Nice. So I come upon another car as I am almost back to S-ville, I'm driving a good 10 mph under the speed limit (thank you Mr. Phares and driver's ed) and then...POP! The car in front of me runs over a rock, flings it back in my direction and cracks the windshield on my new car! Sure the crack is only about the size of dime and I shouldn't be getting too upset about it, but it was such a sour ending to an otherwise good day! Thanks, I feel better now!

Anyway, it is still snowing as I sit here. We were going to play volleyball tonight (we do every Thursday) but we decided to stay home, veg, and avoid driving. We are supposed to have kids for a half day tomorrow and staff development in the afternoon, so I am hoping the weather doesn't get any worse because if we have to have a delay there would be no reason for the kids to come at 10 and leave at 11, they would probably cancel the whole day and we'd have to make it up.

Blogger-rama

Welcome my new blog buddies Melissa and Chris! I look forward to checking your blogs often and catching up with you! It's so nice to be in touch after all these years. I feels like we're right back at old SW!

Tuesday already!

Today as been a pretty ho-hum day. Nothing too exciting to report. Jacob has a parent meeting a school tonight so I'll be on my own for dinner. He is trying to stir up enough interest to take a trip to Spain in the summer of 2009. Hopefully people will really respond and take the opportunity. If he gets enough people to go I can go for free too!

Since I don't have much news to share. I thought I'd share a few hilarious things the kiddo's said at school today. Since we don't have any of our own kids yet, I have to live vicariously through the kids at school! Enjoy!

Keep in mind that since yesterday was President's Day we learned a lot about Presidents today (especially Washington and Lincoln).

We were examining a penny and discussing the fact that a President's head was on it.
Me: "Does any one know which President is on the penny?"
Kiddo: "Uh ya, Abraham Lincolington."

We were looking at a map of the U.S. and finding the places Lincoln (or sometimes Lincolington) had lived Illinois, Kentucky, etc.
Kiddo: "Hey! I found Indiana! It's a tiny little planet!

Back to School?

We had a great relaxing day off of school today. Thanks to all of you well-wishers! And yes, we do have to go back to school Tuesday. Somehow, knowing you got an extra day off makes it a little easier to go back to work tomorrow!

However, I'm writing about going back to school for an entirely different reason. It has come to the time for both of us to go back to school and work on our master's degrees. Tonight we went to an info session in Indianapolis for Ball State's graduate programs and are strongly considering going this route. The only thing is that the entire program in online, and being the old fashioned gal I am (sometimes it feels like college was 40 years ago instead of 4!) I have never taken an online class-all of my classes were on campus face-to-face with a real professor. Crazy I know! So I am looking to you fellow bloggers for advice. Have you taken online classes? What did you think of them? I like the idea of not having to drive to a campus in the evenings after school, but I would love to hear what wisdom you have for us. So thanks in advance for your help!

Oh yeah, congrats to my Butler Bulldogs: the #8 men's basketball team in the nation! Go Dawgs!

Whirlwind Weekend

So...I apologize for not posting the last few days. We have been so busy, that is just now that I actually am getting to sit down and recap.

Friday:
Friday night Bill and Jenny had asked us out to eat, so they came over, picked us up, and we headed to Indy to Fujiyama. It's one of those Japanese steakhouses where they cook your food in front of you, flip the shrimp in the air, and light everything on fire. A very entertaining experience to say the least! It was great to get to visit with them and have a night out on the town!

Saturday:
We traveled to Franklin to attend my childhood friend Melissa's wedding. She looked beautiful, and was one of the most beaming brides I've ever seen. Congrat's Melissa and Mike! If you want to see some pictures, head over to Missy's blog. She was snapping away pictures like crazy.
We had a date with my parents last night. They took us to Oldenburg. My dad loves, I mean loves, their fried chicken (we even had it at our wedding reception!). It was really crowded, we waited a long time, but it was worth it!

Today:
Church, lunch, and finally time to rest! I have a few hours with nothing to do. Maybe I'll get some work done for school Tuesday. Or maybe not!

Valentine's Day Fun

After teaching older kids the last few years I had forgotten how exciting Valentines Day is for a six or seven year old. I knew it would be fun, but after today I would rank it up there with Christmas! It was fun and exhausting at the same time. At one point today I even regretted teaching them how to tell time. I had so many "When are we opening valentines?", I set a time. We would not open until 2:00. Great answer, right? Wrong! Those smarties kept their eyes on the clock until 2 on the dot! They sure let me know when it was time! I guess at least they've learned something! It was so much fun watching them tear those little pieces of paper apart and then going to tell the person that had given it to them how much they liked it. But, boy have valentines changed since I was a kid! There are still the little paper cards, but some had temporary tattoos, pencils, and even holograms, but I still love the homemade hearts the best! We had so much candy floating around our classroom today, I'm curious to see who is coming down from their sugar buzz tomorrow!



On the homefront, tonight my mother-in-law called and invited us over for dinner if we didn't have any other plans. Of course we didn't! So we headed out to their house, had a big family lasagna dinner (plus pineapple upside-down cake by Leah), and got to visit with them for a while. It was a great surprise and plus no clean-up!

Delay, Hooray!

Last night at about 9 we got great news! A two hour delay today! I can't even begin to express how great two hour delays are, especially when you know about it the night before and can sleep in! The weather has cleared up here, and it looks as if the rest of the week will be pretty quiet. But we all know how accurate the meteorologists have been lately. So who knows!

Not much else going on here. My first graders are pumped for Valentine's Day tomorrow. I need to get myself ready too! I'm envisioning valentines flying everywhere. I'll let you know how it turns out. Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

A Weather Roller Coaster of a Day

The verdict is in. It wasn't meant to be. The multiple inches of snow that were headed our way yesterday didn't do what the forecasters thought it would again. I would say we had a light dusting when we didn't get our calls for a delay and headed to school bright and early. But as the day continued our luck changed. We were pelted with freezing rain that iced over everything, and so at 12:45 our administration decided that we had better get the kiddos home early. After getting everyone one on the bus, in the car, or on sidewalk, I got to come home a few hours early! Woo hoo!

In other news...I had an appointment to get my hair trimmed this afternoon (don't you just love the massaging hair wash!), Jacob made some delicious chicken quesadillas for dinner, and now I am settled in to watch American Idol. Here's hoping that no Sanjaya's made it this year! See ya in Hollywood!

To Snow or Not to Snow?

First off, thanks pals for all of your comments of support. I promise I'll try to keep up on the posts. Oh, and I've referred to myself as KP because that is how you blogger friends know me. It always catches me off guard when I'm around you guys and you call me that. Ah, the good old days! Jacob added the APT part (he thought it had a nice ring to it) and we can't seem to get out of the apartment and find a house we really like.

Secondly, the meteorologists are predicting a few (3-6) inches of snow, sleet, and ice tonight. Around here, anything is a big deal. I say predicting because a couple weeks ago they did the same thing and we got zilch. Around the Shively house we hoping for just enough for a two hour delay. We'd really like our President's Day off on Monday. So we'll see. I'll either wake up to a winter wonderland or nothing. I'll keep you posted.

Wintry Weekend

We've had a nice relaxing weekend around here.

Yesterday we did all the normal Saturday morning chores and then headed to downtown Indianapolis. Monday was Jacob's birthday and his family wanted to take him out to dinner to celebrate. What and nice treat for both of us! He chose the Spaghetti Factory (one of my favorites, you've gotta love the spumoni!) so we did some shopping at the mall before they arrived. I picked out a few new really cute tops, too bad they're short sleeved, and I can't wear them until the weather warms up. But I also got a new jacket I'm excited to wear! We had a great dinner, enjoyed the company (and the spumoni), and came home.

This morning we woke up to below zero wind chills. It was that kind of wind that cuts right through you. We went to church and out to lunch, and I got to stay in a relax the rest of the afternoon! I'll sure need the extra energy come tomorrow morning!

H-e-l-l-o Bloggers!

I'm here!!! After enjoying everyone's blog thoroughly (and a bit of peer pressure from Missy), I have decided to make the leap into the blogging world. Yes, my blog is still very much a work in progress (and may look completely different tomorrow), but I hope you enjoy this little glimpse into the exciting life of Kristen.