Category Archives: Uncategorized

I bought $72 of Halloween candy on sale for $17.  I can’t decide if this is a good thing or not!  My kids at school and my kids at home are loving it though!

Speaking of kids at home…Erica bought these headbands and this is what happened.

AG came downstairs looking like this the other day.  I literally laughed out loud!  Even though it was so cute, it was not a way I would have ever expected my 15 year old to wear her hair.  Turns out I was right.  She was only sleeping in it this way so that it would be wavy/curly in the morning.

I took my dog to the groomers on Monday and they shaved her butt.  Sorry for the dog ass picture, but I seriously can’t get over the fact that she now has a pink ass.  Totally hilarious to me.

In the bags of candy I discovered these.  I LOVE them.  Crunchy/chewy deliciousness!

I am loving the song Take Me to Church by Hozier.

I read an article today about things that people regret on their deathbeds.  Things they wish they had done differently.  Many people said they wished they hadn’t worked so much and missed out on time with family, and others said they wished they’d stayed in touch with old friends.  People regretted not allowing themselves to be happy and not not having the courage to express their feelings.  The number one regret was that people wished they had lived their lives authentically.  Being who they were and not who someone else thought they should be.  It caused me to think about my own life and how I would feel if I knew I was dying tomorrow.  What would my regrets be?  I don’t think I’ve worked too hard, and I don’t really regret not keeping up with old friends.  I do miss some of them, but I don’t think many of them would be accepting of who I am today so I am quite content with the good memories.  I’m almost always happy, and if I truly feel something, most of the time I don’t have a problem sharing that.  But what about that number one regret?  Living authentically.  I am currently living my authentic life so no worries there, but would I wish that I had come out sooner and had more time to be the real me? I don’t think so.  I have no regrets about getting married and having 4 beautiful children.  I couldn’t have picked a better man to be the father of my children and to share 19 years of marriage with.  I don’t regret getting to stay at home with my kids when they were younger and being that soccer mom.  I don’t regret it because I was truly blessed.  I love that we lived overseas for almost 7 years and that my kids got to experience life outside of the states.  It helped me see the world differently.  I don’t regret that.  I don’t regret my years in the Baptist church.  Even though I don’t agree with everything they believe, I think they taught me much about loving others and trusting God.  Of course there are those who don’t do a very good job of loving in the church, but almost every experience I ever had was a positive one.  I don’t regret deciding to come out and while I hate the pain it caused so many people, I knew it was something I had to do.  There are things I wish I hadn’t done along the way, but they aren’t important enough to be considered deathbed regrets.

So if I die tomorrow, I don’t think I would die with any regrets other than regretting that I didn’t have more years on the earth to be with those I love.

It’s Sunday night and I’m dreading work tomorrow. While I can’t say much, I will say that the 4th graders are much harder than the kindergartners I had in almost every way.  Makes for long days and weeks!

November 9.  I remember this day last year.  It was the start of my first weekend as a single person.  I was rejoicing in my new found freedom and the calm that came with it.  I needed it!  Now I am rejoicing in the amazing 9 month long relationship that I have had with Candied Jansen, and I’m so excited to be sharing this life with her!

Speaking of sharing this life…she is counting down the days until we move in together on a chart on her bathroom mirror.  I love that!  I love that she is just as sure about me as I am about her.  She shared some stuff with me on Friday that meant a lot to me.  To open up and give of yourself completely is amazing.  I love her.

Candied Jansen and I are both trying to lose a little weight and be healthier.  She has this fancy scale that measures body fat, muscle mass, and water as well as gives you your weight.  The other day I stepped on that thing completely naked and let her see and write down my numbers.  Telling someone how much I weigh was never something I was comfortable doing.  I just didn’t share that.  She is different.  She loves me.  Before I got on the scale, she loved me and after she saw the numbers, she still loved me.  It was so easy.  Loving her is so easy.

I am so excited for the holidays!  I felt the same way last year!  I was in a buying/shopping/cooking mood!  This usually happens to me every fall.  I want to decorate and cook and clean.  I always wish for my stay at home mom days during the holiday season because I want to just soak in everything.

Tomorrow is a big day for me.  I am registering for the first two classes in my masters program which starts in the spring.  I have always said I had no desire to get my masters, but after having a job come open that I was recommended for and not getting it because they preferred someone with a masters, I decided to just go for it.  It’s all online, which is a little scary to me, but it was really the only way it would work for me.  Hopefully it won’t be too hard to keep up with.

I did a lot of internet surfing today.  This post about the Berlin Wall was so interesting to me.  Here is a link to a story I read about reincarnation that fascinated me!  I also enjoyed browsing this site which is filled with wreaths for all occasions!

And finally, I made this yummy crock pot dish yesterday.  4 chicken breasts, a can of Rotel, a can of whole kernel corn (drained), a can of black beans (drained and rinsed), and a block of cream cheese.  Cook on high until it mixes together and thickens up.  Shred the chicken breasts up after it is done cooking.  Originally the plan was to put it on tortillas like tacos, but we ended up eating it as a dip with some salsa, sour cream, and avocado on the side.  It was good warm and cold.  I will definitely be making it again!

I have nothing to say!  Why is that?

Candied Jansen and I saw the movie The Secret Life of Walter Mitty today.  It was decent, but it took a bit.  It started off so weird and not good that we were just about to give up on it.  Finally, it turned around some and ended fairly well.

We are currently watching a recorded episode of Saturday Night Live.  It is also fairly ridiculous.  Prince is looking all kinds of crazy.

Here’s a picture of my dog smiling.

And to be fair…my fat cat.

So this is it for this post I guess.  I suck!

I had an appointment with the doctor today just to get prescriptions refills.  When I was leaving it was quitting time at the hospital.  I approached the elevators where a hoard of nurses were waiting to board.  When the elevator came, nine nurses and I got on it.  As the doors shut, I felt a funny sense of relief.  Even though the elevator was pretty crowded, I thought it was the perfect group to be on an elevator with!  Nine nurses on their way home from work!  Nine nurses with purses!  If the elevator got stuck or if anyone had a medical emergency while on the elevator, they would totally be taken care of.  I imagined emergency tracheotomies with ball point pens, and then wondered what other goodies those nurses carried in their purses!  I was slightly disappointed when the elevator doors opened on the ground floor and everyone scattered and went on their way.  Sigh!

Random thoughts…

1.  I’ve always said I could eat Mexican food everyday.  So far I’m at four days straight and I’m still not tired of it!  It’s not like I am testing out that theory on purpose, but I’m also not complaining that I’ve had opportunity to eat something that I didn’t have to cook for four days in a row!  Score!

2.  I stood on a scale while completely naked this afternoon and let Candied Jansen write down my measurements.  Her scale calculates body fat, muscle mass, and water as well as your weight.  The amazing part about all of this is that I wasn’t at all embarrassed or worried about what she would think of me.  With her I am completely comfortable and feel nothing but love and acceptance.

3.  I was watching Dancing with the Stars faithfully until a week and a half ago.  I missed that episode and still haven’t watched to catch up.  I missed this past Monday’s episode and don’t care about it a bit.  This is typical for me.  It’s how I tend to watch TV.  I rarely finish what I start when it comes to a show.

4.  I am not a fan of politics.  I can’t stand to hear the arguing back and forth and the way each side blames the other for whatever problems they see.  I seriously can’t stand to read bad things about Republicans or George Bush or Dick Cheney nor do I want to read anything bad about Obama or anyone Democrat.  If you are my friend on Facebook and you constantly talk about one side or the other, I’ve probably blocked your posts.  Just saying…

5.  Ok…I’m too tired to think of a thing five.  That’s all…four things.

It’s November and I’m starting to get in a holiday mood.  The crazy part is that it’s not just Thanksgiving and Christmas that are on my mind.  It’s all the holidays.  I’ve been spending some time on Pinterest lately, and I feel somewhat inspired to create/decorate my house.  And really more specifically OUR house.  The one the Candied Jansen and I plan to share one day in the not so distant future.

I am loving these things currently…

both from here.

I also loved this!

Found here…Genius!

And all the wreaths found on this page!

I’ve also pinned several ideas for Christmas presents for my family.  I can’t share those though on the off chance…and really it is extremely slim…that one of them might read my blog between now and then!

And it’s not just the holidays that have had my attention on Pinterest.  I’ve pinned more pictures of outdoor showers and waterfalls and whole outdoor rooms than I can count.  We will definitely have to move if we plan to spend as much time outside as I’ve wished for in my pins.

And last but certainly not least, the food.  Do you have any idea how many ideas there are for amazing meals?  Healthy meals, completely unhealthy meals, and desserts galore are everywhere on Pinterest!

I need to get off this computer and get busy if I’m going to have time to create any of the things I’ve pinned!

I’m not a big fan of this time change so far. I don’t like getting to work when the sun is up, because I feel like I am late. I don’t like leaving work when the sun is getting ready to go down because I feel like I don’t have time to get much done before bedtime. I know I’ll adjust, but so far, today, I’m not happy about it.

The good news about the time change, though, is that my little clock, you know…the one that I wrote a post about…handled it like a champ. No need to take the battery out and wait until it caught up.  The mechanism for turning the knob seemed to be working just fine.  Whew!

And while I’m not happy with the time change, I think I could do with a do-over!  I am exhausted and that extra hour of sleep sure sounds nice right about now!

Other time related news…

I am having a hard time managing my time at school.  I have three different classes and the library and computer schedules are driving me crazy.  At the beginning of the school year, we sign up for a library time and a computer lab time.  I did that, but remember, I was teaching one class of kindergarteners at the time.  Once I moved to 3 different classes of 4th grade, I needed to add library and computer lab times for each class since I am the reading teacher.  Because other teachers had already chosen times, I had to work around them. What is driving me crazy now is that one class goes to the computer lab on Monday, one goes on Wednesday, and one goes on Thursday.  One class goes to the library on Tuesday, and the other two go on Friday.  Trying to keep up with what I taught to each class and making sure that by Friday, they’ve all had the same lessons even if they were taught on different days is wearing me out!

Now, now there…would you look at the time.  Gotta run!

Yesterday, Candied Jansen sent me a text with a picture of a case of water bottles.  She was showing me how much she loves me by buying those water bottles.  She prefers to use a filter in her fridge and BPA free reusable water bottles.  I get it.  I really do.  But the water doesn’t taste as good to me.  I just don’t like it.  I am an Aquafina or a Kroger water girl.  For some reason, I think they taste the best.  So in order to encourage more water drinking on my part, she bought the water I like best.  She has also kept a steady supply of diet coke in her pantry since that is usually my drink of choice.  All this despite her rarely drinking sodas at all.   All because she loves me.

I, on the other hand, have added a recycling trash can inside my pantry to aid in actually recycling my bottles to make her happy.  I have also stopped using mushrooms or cream of mushroom soup in anything that she will be eating.  She hates mushrooms and doesn’t even want to contemplate the idea that a mushroom could be hiding in her food.  I’ve also toned down the spiciness of some dishes to accommodate her sensitive taste buds.  All because I love her.

Love is like that.  Some of the best advice I ever heard on love was actually from my ex-husband to his college roommate.  He said that when you love someone, you give and give and give.  You give 100%.  Don’t let it be a 50/50 thing because inevitably one of you will mess up or get sick or in some way not be able to give your allotted 50% and the other person is left to pick up the slack.  If both parties are giving 100%, when someone can’t give their full 100, there are no worries about falling short.  The slack is automatically picked up.  The best part is that there is no reason to have to take.  If you are constantly being given to and having your needs met, you get to be a receiver and not a taker.

I love that Candied Jansen is a giver, and I love being able to give back.

I decided that since it is NaBloPoMo I would attempt to blog every day in November.  Well, everyday starting today, November 2nd, because I didn’t actually make the decision until today.  So here goes…

I spent some time today going back through my computer history and bookmarks to delete some stuff.  There was stuff on there that I hadn’t looked at in forever!  Here are a few things that interested me at one time or another…

these pencil sharpeners

a compound interest calculator for back when I was contemplating budgets and savings accounts.

this lgbtq blog

these cheese puffs

And there were so many more!

I also cleaned out my blog reader.  I had been meaning to do that for some time, but instead of taking the time to actually clean it out, I would just delete posts I didn’t care to read.  I had 88 feeds that I “followed”, and now I’m down to 62.  Some of the ones I saved haven’t blogged in a couple of years or have set their blogs to invited readers only, but if they ever start blogging again, I want to be able to pick back up where I left off.

I miss The Jason Show, Our Simple Lives, Be Gay About It, A Road With a View, Holy Crappers, and From the Planet of Janet.  Maybe one day they’ll be back or open to everyone again.