Limerick Contest

Check out Weebles annual Limerick Contest HERE. This is a contest that is right up my alley! I'm over half Irish, have always longed to visit Ireland, love writing silly poems, and always look for opportunity to thank others who have helped provide friendship/support to me! So here goes...

A limerick for my Hobbit Pal
by: Alana Feb. 2010

In this world of IF I've been dumped,
Despite my husband having humped.
Gals like Mrs. Gamgee pull me through,
We still hope one day it will be true...
That our stomachs will be baby bumped.

Click the link on the left sidebar to VOTE FOR ME! :)

Sock It To Me, Baby!

Yay! I was able to participate in the Sock-it-To-Me sock exchange this month. I received socks from the wonderful Mrs. Spock. I LOVE the argyle pattern...and I love that the socks are knee-high length. I actually did laundry mid-week last week (normally unheard of at my house!) so that I could wear the socks to BOTH my Tuesday OB appointment AND to my Thursday yearly evaluation/observation by my school principal.

For the record, I think the IF support/blog love/cool-socks worked! I was pleased with my OB appointment, and my principal wrote on my observation form that my "classroom was a joy to visit." YAY! Thank you, Mrs. Spock! :)

Check out my stylin' argyle...







What fun! Check out other Sock It To Me participants, as hosted by the wonderful Kym
at I'm a Smart One.

Edit: I sent socks to Jen. You can check them out at her post HERE.

Seriously?

3 am-ish. Finally drifted off to sleep. Only to be awakened by the dog nudging the door knob in a not-so-subtle LET ME OUT TO POTTY NOW signal. Ack.

Quick Shout Out I forgot---to my awesome Mom who sent a wonderful package to Emma filled with books, Phonics workbooks, clothes and Valentines for Em. (We received the package prior to V-day, I'm just behind posting about it.) Thanks, MOM! The package rocked. Em loved her goodies and is especially fond of the denim jumper.

Dog is back. My pillow beckons... Can't believe it's 3 a.m. and I still haven't had fitful rest.

Late Night Update

Sick:
Aack....Sinusitis was my diagnosis at the doctor today. I went to Urgent Care after my OB appointment, because I've had a non-stop runny nose alllllll day today. It's after freakin' one a.m. I am TIRED. My body is tired. My brain is tired. My stuffy, sore, Rudolph-red nose is tired...but the Flonase and antibiotic combo from the doc have me wired. So, I thought I would try to blog it out...

OB: I'm pleased with the way my appointment with my OB went today. She shared some personal information (ie: even though she has 4 kids, she had 3 miscarriages; and she believes "God has a sense of humor" because her youngest children are twins who were conceived while Doc was on birth control pills.) I love her for her honesty. She is an advocate for the Fertility Monitor (even recommending the particular brand my friend loaned me--yay!) Basically, we are at our last bout of "waiting" before semen analysis for DH and/or further testing for DH and I. Doc wants us to use the Fertility Monitor consistently for 5 months making sure to "get busy" during my times of peak fertility. If we still aren't PG, then we'll proceed from there. I have a follow up appointment set for August 3rd....of course with the hopes that I'll be PG before then and will be able to cancel the appointment.

TV:
--I enjoyed the amazing opening ceremony for the Olympics, and have caught as much of the coverage as I could the past few nights. SO saddened by the death of a young Georgian luge athlete. Mesmerized by couples figure skating. Enjoyed the speed skating (Go Apolo Anton Ono!)
--DH and I have been avid LOST fans since the first season. We're into the last season and are loving it...slightly frustrated by the "Where the heck is this going?" element, but intrigued and returning each week just the same. I hope the ending has closure and doesn't leave me disgruntled like the long ago finale of "Twin Peaks" did.
--I have had the blasted-ever-lovin' "Yum yum Bumblebee Tuna" commercial stuck in my head all day. ACCCCKK. Make it stop!

Books: I'm nearly done with the "Nightworld" series by L.J. Smith. When I finish completely, I'll post a few quotes I've noted remarkable similarities between from Smith's works and Meyer's "Twilight" series.

I also recently read "Doomed Queen Anne," which apparently is part of a "Young Royals" series I'll have to look into one of these days. I quite enjoyed the book, a teen version of Anne Boelyn's story.

February Shout Outs: Sending February birthday love to.... My older sis (Feb 10th,) my adorable nephews who turned 3 this month (Feb 15th,) and my cool FIL (Feb 23rd.)

Sleep: I'm gonna try to sleep again....I have my "pre-conference" with my principal tomorrow before my observation on Thursday...at this rate I won't be able to string together multiple coherent sentences. Nighty-oh.

Oops!

Aaack! See what happens when I try to multi-task? It backfires....

My HUGE apologies to the sweet Wistful Girl who lives in Georgia and is hosting a Southeast Georgia blog love get together. And another apology to Anxious Mummy who was trying to figure out how I expected her to host an event in Georgia when she lives an ocean away Down Under. SORRY ladies! I cut/pasted the wrong name from my blogroll.

SEE----I really do need a mini vacation. DH even said this weekend, "Are all teachers brains this fried during FCAT" season? YES!

My OB appt is this weekend...and I'm wearing my new SITM socks today. :)

Random Ruminations

Drat! It's only February and I've already broken my blog-resolution to post at least one time a week! Here's the latest...

School/Work: My students took the 8th grade Writing F.CAT test last week. Continuing with the crappy last-minute notice teachers have been given at my school this year, we were not given the rosters for the students scheduled to test with us until the day before the test. ACK! Fortunately all of the students who tested in my room were present the day before the test, so I was able to inform them where to go during test day. However, there were many students who were nearly late for testing in other classrooms, as they didn't know where to report until the morning of the test. (Don't get me started about how teachers are not assigned "homerooms," apparently that would be too logical...) Fortunately, the testing itself went well. I had purchased granola bars and bottled water to ensure all of the students who tested in my room had "breakfast" prior to testing. This seemed to help them focus, so I will definitely do something similar for the other F.CAT testing next month. It is my 7th year teaching, and only the 2nd time I've ever been able to "proctor" F.CAT for students whom I teach. (Usually I get stuck proctoring a room full of kiddos I don't know. I HATE it when that happens!) I truly believe knowing the students and having rapport with them made a difference in the testing experience for my students and I!

Blog Love: Two cool things: First, I received my SITM socks in the mail last week. WAY cool, I looooove argyle! I will be wearing them to my OB appointment this Tuesday. Pictures and more sock details will be posted next week.

Second: I might be able to meet a few fellow bloggers in person! The wonderful Anxious Mummy is sponsoring a Southeast Georgia blogging event, but was kind enough to invite me since Jacksonville is relatively close. Yay! :)

DH's Job: It's sounding like his job is secure for now. The "higher ups" at the company have assured workers that their center is NOT going to be bought out in April. Thus, DH is hanging in there. Meanwhile, he is plugging away at his 3rd novel, as he continues to try to get published. His ultimate goal is to one day make a living at writing, and quit his current day job altogether. Woot-woot! How wonderful would that be?? I'm so proud of his perseverance. :)

TTC: SOOOO glad I started using the fertility monitor my friend loaned me! Turns out I DID ovulate. (Whew!) However...it wasn't until day 21- 22 of my cycle. Thus, I will definitely continue monitoring...the expense of the "pee sticks" are worth the "knowing" at this point. (And of course I need more than one month of accurate data to determine the regularity (or lack thereof) of my cycle.) I will definitely discuss things with my OB at this week's appt. Also, THANK YOU to those who recommended the Fertility Friend website. I had been using "mymonthlycycles dot com" which is NOT nearly as user friendly!

Busy Week: This week I have my OB appointment on Tuesday. Thursday is my yearly formal evaluation conducted by my school principal. Then Friday--- DH, and EM and I are headed to 3 days at Disney World. (Ode to tax return $$ and great deals for Florida residents!) I'm looking forward to it, as we haven't been to any Disney parks other than Magic Kingdom for many years. We still haven't determined which 3 of the 4 parks we'll be visiting, but my brain is ready for a getaway!

SORRY blog buds....I've been negligent about commenting the past week, as I've been busy getting the paperwork for my yearly evaluation ready... I have Monday off, so am hoping to catch up. :)

I leave you with some Emmaisms:

2/3/10 On Toxic Gas:
"Know something funny that happened at school today? I had a whole bunch of really stinky farts. And know what else? Everyone thought it was Todd! He has stinky farts all the time. So they thought it was him and not me!"
(Cracks me up! And I love that at 5 she's already learned the female etiquette----the stinky ones are ALWAYS a guy's fault! Lol.)

2/4/10 On What DVD Mommy Would Like To Watch:
"I know what your favorite movie is! That one with the werewolf!" (A.K.A. Twilight New Moon)
(a. First of all, that movie is not even available on DVD yet! b. Second of all, I'm big time Team Edward, NOT Team Jacob.) :)

2/9/10 On Royalty:
Em: "I know how ladies become queen."
Me: "You do? How?"
Em: They are princesses and then when the queen gets old or dead, the princess is the queen."
Me: "Oh. How do girls become princesses?"
Em: They need to have a crown, some candy, a purse, and high heels."
(If only I had a crown...I could be a princess!) ;)

Perfect Moment Monday---Date Night

To those who alleged that the Melting Pot would fondue all my worries away....you were SO right!

My "Perfect Moment" from the last week was enjoying a date night with DH. We haven't had a date night/overnight away from Emma since last spring when we went out for our birthdays. But last Saturday, Em spent the night with her friend, which gave DH and I time to....

Enjoy our first ever visit to the Melting Pot!

Course One: Cheese fondue with veggies, apples, and bread for dipping. Yum!

Course Two: Salad. The sweet & tangy house dressing was divine!

Course Three: Oil/wine/garlic base to dip our meat dishes: chicken, prime rib, shrimp, and brats. SO good!

Course Four: Worth the cost of dinner all on it's own...seriously, it was THAT good. We chose the milk chocolate with peanut butter dipping sauce. We dipped strawberries, bananas, brownie bits, marshmallows, cheesecake bits, and poundcake bites. HOLY DELICIOUS YUMMINESS!

I also enjoyed a mango margarita. Yum! Definite two thumbs up.

However, though the food and beverages were divine, they weren't the best part of date night.
The best part was partaking in a slow, leisurely meal with DH. No interruptions to cut up food, no menu coloring, diversions, or "I Spy" while we waited for our food to be served. I forgot what it's like to have a nice meal sans Emma. The meal took just over 2 hours...we had enjoyable ADULT conversation the entire time.

Date nights are gentle reminders as to why I chose DH as my partner for the long-haul of life... His patience is something I witness each day. His wit and humor still crack me up after nearly 15 years together.

Yes date night...definitely perfect moment worthy.

To see other blogger's Perfect Moments, check out Lori's blog at: Weebles Wobblog.