Snowed in and Enjoying it!

The inevitable happened: it snowed and it snowed and it snowed and it snowed. We got probably close to 10 inches of snow last night and today. Well, we did not get to go to Green Bay like I wanted to. So, I didn't get to see the relatives I wanted to. I am hoping that I can convince my mom to go to GB later this week, even if we go just to take my Grandma to lunch. I sure do love my Grandma and I would be very, very sad if I did not get to see her this trip.

Friday, I got to see a few of my friends from high school. We all met at Sam's Pizza (where I worked while in high school) and had dinner and chatted. Their parents (and mine) also came and one husband was there and also three kids. It is still weird to me that people my age have children. It is as if I am in a time warp sometimes. Anyway, it was good to catch up with everybody again. You can see two of the kids in my pictures. Ty is the star of the party as always. It was fun to hear him ask for "pennies" over and over so he could ride the various rides.

I was also able to catch up with another friend from high school later that night. I met his family at their house and then we went to the movie National Treasure: Book of Secrets. (For a full review, please see my movie review blog-which I haven't actually created but one day I should.) It was good to catch up with DC Man as well. He drove me from Wausau the hour up to Rhinelander after the late movie, which totally was a true reflection of friendship. It was good to get a chance to talk with him. We also went to Walmart here in Rhinelander for some last minute shopping. Adventurous.

Yesterday and today were pretty much spent in front of the TV because the snow kept falling and falling and falling and falling some more. My mom and I watched We Are Marshall together last night. Today, I skipped church because there was no way I was leaving this house in a dress and dress shoes and then braving the roads that had not been plowed. I guess I am a pansy just like Moo likes to refer to me as on her blog.

Mom and I also did some cut out cookies today. It was funny because I was finishing the first disc of 24 when she finally decided to start frosting and decorating the cookies. I had like 12 minutes left in the last episode of the disk when she tried to give me a guilt trip to help. "I guess I will decorate the cookies, don't worry I can do them ALL by MYSELF." I was glad to help and it was funny to me that she felt like she needed to guilt me into helping. It was like being young again. I even did some of my special decorating where I put four different colored sugars on them so they looked like toxic waste. So much fun, and very tasty too, I might add!

Speaking of being young, I also put a picture of the family's nativity on here. I love that scene and I always do something special to it. (notice the sheep on the top of the barn) I have always felt bad for the sheep that could not ever see baby Jesus. He always had his head in the grass. Seriously, I don't think he would be looking for food when he knew the Lord had just come. I know I wouldn't have wanted to be staring at the ground if I had been there. So, each year I put him on the top of the barn so he can also worship the baby Jesus. It is kinda a tradition now. I also always put a fire-truck into the Christmas Village each year, but this year the village is up, which is kinda strange, I am not going to lie.

There will also be a video of the little skaters that are one of my favorite Christmas time decorations. I hope you enjoy all these little pieces of Koehne Christmas Decor and Traditions.

Happy Christmas Eve Eve to one and all!

Oldness.

I feel very old today.  My back went all wacky just before boarding my first flight home.  Tragic.  So, if any of you are still looking for a Christmas present to give me, you could get me a bag of ice, a tub of icy hot, or a hot pad.  I think I am getting old.  It is weird, I actually do something to my back about two times per year.  One is usually sometime in December.  Maybe it is a release of stress that does it.  My body finally goes:  "Oh good I have some time to hurt now."  Weird.

 

My first day home was a good one.  I pretty much didn't do anything but be on the internet or be in front of the TV.  Seems like my life always, actually.  I also went with my mom to Walmart, which wasn't as much of an adventure as I thought it might be this close to Christmas.  We also stopped at the Claridge and played a game of trivia.  I sure have missed my favorite bar.

 

Today, I have iced my back and watched TV.  I also took a very hot shower.  I do not know which works better, the cold or the hot.  The back hurts the same either way.  Oh well.

 

Tonight, a few of my friends from high school are getting together with our parents (and kids, only a few have kids) to have pizza.  Should be a good time.  I haven't seen one of my friends in about three or four years.  Crazy.  I hate when I lose touch with cool people.  Sam's Pizza in one of my favorite things in Wausau and I will enjoy partaking of it this evening.  I will be sure to take pictures of the event. 

 

It is supposed to snow a lot tonight and tomorrow, so my trip to Green Bay is in limbo.  I hate lame weather when I need to be traveling.  I will be very sad if I don't get to see all my relatives. 

 

Well, TTFN.

P.S.  For those of you wondering why I have a picture of DK shaving his legs, he did that because our students raised over 100 dollars for Sub for Santa.  Another teacher also had to go platinum blond because the kids raised over 200 dollars.  I think the kids really liked all of these things.  I personally liked watching the shaving of the legs even though it was kinda gross!  I can always count on DK for gross stuff.    He is the Biology teacher after all! :)

Live(kinda) from Wisconsin!

I am wilting right now. I am tired. I only slept for about six hours last night and then traveled across this great country after being at school for half a day of babysitting. (It really felt like that today)

So, I dyed my hair. Actually, I did not dye it, a friend did. She was very excited to dye it as well. She truly was like a kid in a candy store. I actually think it looks pretty good. I think that brunettes have more fun, honestly. At least in the last 24 hours I have had lots of fun. I had to dye my hair because my students raised over 220 dollars for Sub for Santa. I like to do things for charity. Most of the students really liked my hair. Some thought it wasn't dark enough. I think it is plenty dark. They also enjoyed me walking around in the dress. Too bad I forgot to take a picture in it before playing basketball.

The students actually beat us today in the faculty-student basketball game. That did not make me happy. I was not a good sport and had to eject myself from the game. Sad, sad story. Today at school was overall a good experience. My Leadership(3rd Hour, kinda like an advisory class) were very cute today. We always do a school wide service project and write to former students who are currently serving in the military. My students wrote more letters than last year. I was impressed by how well they decorated them. Good job! Besides two incidents where I wanted to strangle students today, things went pretty well. I even got on my airplane easily thanks to a ride from a special someone at work (you know who you are and thank you again!). It was a great ride to the airport talking with this friend from work. I like to get to know people better.

Okay, the last section of today's post will be about what I would change about flying.

1. There would be no "First Class"; all seats would be bigger. There also would be more leg room. There would not be an elite group of people who would get better seats. All seats would be the same price. This way people would not be poked in the side by bony elbows the whole time as somebody typed on their laptop. (My flight from SLC to Minneapolis was experienced this way.)

2. The plane would then be boarded from back to front. It is totally stupid to have the people who sit in the front of the plane board first. I feel like it is as if, in society, the rich people would get to do everything first and it would be rubbed in the rest of our faces. It would also be like having to go past all the Lexus, Cadillacs and Hummers before seeing the rusty 1977 Gremlin at the used car lot, which would be the only car you can afford. "Ha ha. You can't afford any of these nice comfortable cars! We just wanted to walk you through here so you could pine over them!"

3. If you store things in the overhead compartments, you would have to deplane last. I hate the whole pile up after the fasten seat belt sign goes off. It is stupid for people who actually bring something that can fit under the seat in front of them to have to wait for all the people who carried on everything they own.

4. There would be meals in all flights over two hours. I find it very silly that even before serving drinks today they came through selling candy. It was like being at the movie theater, where you know the candy is not worth the 8 dollars they charge! Seriously.

5. Each seat would come with noise cancelling head phones. My new head phones are spectacular and it made for fun flying today. I watched Happy Gilmore and an episode of The Office and all I could hear were the sounds from the shows. Spectacular.

Well, I think five will have to suffice for tonight. My bed is looking pretty spectacular right about now. I am very excited for ten days with family and friends. Woo Hoo!

Two

Well, here I am again. It is much too late to be up on a school night, but I am still up and writing. I figure it is close enough to break that I really don't have to be one hundred percent, right? Bad excuse, I know.

Today went very fast. It makes me worry that I will not get everything done that needs to be done tomorrow. Luckily, we have our staff party tomorrow at The Pizza Factory and it usually gets done early. Splendid. Gotta pack of course, pay bills, send back my contacts that aren't right, finish up some shopping, and of course check-in online for my flight: busy day ahead.

Funny thing about my flight is that I actually have a ticket but just not an assigned seat. I don't know how that works but I figure if worse comes to worse, I fly later and get a free ticket out of the deal. I guess we will see what that adventure brings.

My favorite student quote of the day was from AK in 8th hour. While holding up his notes, he looks to me as if very confused and says: "What is this, is it the test?" I shook my head as one of his classmates helped him by saying: "AK, that is not the test that is your notes." To which AK responded, "Oh, yeah!" Seems appropriate that he got a 19 out of 35, don’t you think?

The kids are so ready for break. My PE classes all seemed to be on one today. Two kids from my boys’ class even got in a fight: nothing like a game of slap to bring on the Holiday Spirit.

I must go shower and hit the sheets now. I will be tired tomorrow. Oh well. I also got some fabulous shoes to wear on Wednesday with the dress I have to wear. MB picked out some good ones. Of course, she also made me promise to throw out my old out of style ones. That will be a hard thing. I will have to get used to wearing my new shoes, I guess. Change is so hard sometimes!

Alrighty, until tomorrow;
Cheers,
A

2 Days 15 Hours and 8 Min

Three days of work. I can make it, right?

The kids raised over one hundred dollars for Sub for Santa and one of
the things they wanted to earn was me wearing a dress. Silly kids.
So, on Wednesday, I will be wearing one of the bridesmaid's dresses I
wore a few years ago (Morgan, I knew there was a reason I kept it!).
It should be interesting. I also am playing in basketball games
against the students that day and the games will be a good excuse to
not wear the dress too long! You all know how much I love dresses!
What happened to the girl who was supposed to be sugar and spice and
everything nice? (BTW there are some gingerbread man cookies that I
bought last week that have that saying on the bag, it makes me laugh
every time I reach into the bag to indulge.

Yesterday was a busy day full of yelling wraths about my mac not
allowing me to download video to my mp3 player and shopping. I
really need to quit buying myself Christmas presents. Oh well. My
friend Moo was in town and as I have said we are dang good with the
shopping. We even managed to squeeze quite a bit of shopping in even
when we had lots of things going on. It was our church Christmas
party last night. Good, free food and good company. Also, hilarious
talents. After the party we went to a pie party that a fellow
teacher and his wife put on. It was good times. I like having like
12 different pies to pick from. I had coconut cream and a bit of
turtle pie. Mmmm!

Then we stayed up far to late trying out my new 40 dollar surround
sound speakers. I just couldn't pass them up. Now, I truly will
never leave my apartment. TV is so good with good sound! I am sure
the neighbors are thrilled too! :)

Well, I really should already be in bed. I had great plans of going
into work early to get my test ready for tomorrow's Health class. Oh
well.

Have a great night.
2 days 15 hours and 8 min until I get on that plane home! :) Who's
counting, again?