From my eyes…

In the spirit of Joey Lawrence, “Whoa!”

The snow tonight was IN- FREAKIN-SANE! Driving home from the game  - which by the way the boys lost. They played their hearts out, but just couldn’t get a lead. It was a great way to finish the season, yes finish. Sigh of relief. Doing the done-with-the-cheer-season jig at the moment - was crazy. The snow was just swirling and blowing and coming down like mad. People were pulling over in areas because it was so intense. I felt like I was in a snow globe that a todler had gotten hold of. It really was a new one for me regarding the snow. I’ve never seen it blow like that before.

It was also creepy, because even though it was blowing so much if was quiet. If you’ve been in snowy places, you probably know what I’m talking about. The snow seems to literally be a blanket. It muffles the sounds of nautre. Plus, animals and bugs have taken cover. It makes everything seem creepy still. This particular night all that could be heard was the whoosh of the wind.

I love living in IL. On a regular basis the weather gives me great beginnings to scary stories. Muhahaha!

I love coaching. It’ definitely something I’ve always wanted to do and for the past few school years I’ve been able to coach junior high girls volleyball. This year was my first year as a cheer coach! I laughed about that for a good while. Those who know me well also snickered. I’d always wanted to be in cheer though, so this was my time! I accepted the cheer coaching position. Later in the year, a volleyball coaching position opened up in my new district. I accepted that position as well. I knew I’d be burning my candle at both ends as they say, but that it was only going to be a matter of weeks that the two sports overlapped. Then the basketball teams had to go an improve. Sigh. That extended my cheer season for many more weeks. I sucked it up, knowing that no matter what February 14th would be more than a day to celebrate my relationship with Mike, but also the day I regained my afterschool freedom. No more coaching!

The problem this year is that while I want the basketball boys to experience great victories and possibly a state championship, I want to be done with cheer!! Done with hustling from practice to practice, done from balancing my time between gyms. So what do I root for? Honestly, I’m rooting for the boys. I really am. But I’m not going to be too disappointed if they play well tomorrow and still walk away defeated. Because if they win, it’s another Saturday of work. That’s the last thing I want. I feel my pouty lip coming out just thinking about having to ride in a school bus three hours each way to get down state on Saturday. And I feel guilty that part of me wants my own students to lose. I suck.

I’ve been told a million times in my adult life that I look just like my mom. I didn’t get that as much when I was a kid. I always thought I must be an exact blend, because if I was standing by my dad, people said I looked like him. If I was standing by my mom, people said I looked like her. I never thought I looked like either of them!

Then one day, when I was a young teenager, I was going through some pictures. I found a picture of my grandpa working on his car and me standing in the background. I was confused because it was black and white and none of the other picture I was in were black and white and I certainly didn’t remember the picture being taken. My mom chuckled when I took it out to ask her. She agreed that my grandfather, her dad, hadn’t changed one bit in all those years. Ever drove the same style of car, but she told me then that it was her in the picture. I figured I must look like her.

But when my face is thin and my nose is pointy, I think I look like my dad. Plus my dark hair make me look more like my dad. 
And I have loooong legs like my dad. My mom had long legs, too, but since she’s shorter I think it’s harder to recognize that.
Let’s not even get into whether or not my brother and I are similar! We’ve been asked if we are twins before. BA! I really don’t think we look alike one bit. We don’t even have the same face shape! But a lot of people insist we are clearly closely related.

So to put the issue at rest, I thought I’d put it to a vote. I used pics of my parents from when they were in my age…range, or at least closer than they are now. And I tried to find recent pics of me in a similar pose. What’s your vote?

Today we are headed out to a visitation for a co-workers husband who was killed tragically at work on Tuesday.
It is not something any of us wants to attend. Yet we must. And it truly is the only thing I’ve come across in my life that doesn’t get easier with practice. My prayers are with Cheri’s family today.

I received many thoughtful gifts and gestures of love for my 29th birthday. My students were great and loving all day, a close friend sent me a copy of one of her favorite books which will help me meet my goal of reading 24 books this year, Mike gave me a wall hanging for our bedroom that I’ve wanted and I received numerous emails, cards, and phone messages sending love my way
My parents gift this year was fabulous! They sent me a digital photo frame that will match my decor perfectly. They also sent a flash drive loaded with over 100 pictures from my baby album. It was a blast to sit and watch. I’ve looked at the pics several times since I received them. I will probably reload the flash drive with more current pics to set out in the family room, but I’ve really enjoyed my baby album pics and have them loaded on the comptuer now, too.
While going through them I realized that while we grow and mature throughout life, there are certain things that are just “you” from birth.

For example….

I’ve been known to smile now and again ;)  It seems that’s been a trend for roughly 29 years.

I’ve always loved to read. And been terribly excited about school! Thanks to Mrs. Schneider who made Kindergarten SO. MUCH. FUN! Yay for the letter people! Ms. O was my very favorite. She stood for obstinate. Hehe.
  

I’ve always been excited by music! Yes, that’s a Smurf guitar! Sweet!!

I’ve always liked to have fun and be silly.

I’ve always liked to play ball.

I’ve always prefered my hair short. Though, this mushroom cut is really freaky. Can you tell I’m super proud of my Annie belt?

I’ve always liked to eat….. a lot.

And I’ve always been a beauty queen! 
Oh wait, I’m not, but I was once in a homecoming ceremony when I was 3, maybe I was 4. I’m scowling because that dumb Ryan kid next to me was sooooo immature and had to put the pillow in his face and wasn’t doing it the way they said to do it. So, maybe I should list - I’ve always been a perfectionist! I was pretty darn proud of myself this particular day. Can ya tell? HA!
  

Do you think you’re the same today as you were when you were 5? Do you have the same loves and hates and passions?

A few more shots that I just wanted to share. These pics were never my favorites growing up, but I really like them now.

Grandpa Jack and me.
 

Daddy and me.

Mom and me. Isn’t she so pretty in this picture?  She hasn’t changed too much in 29 years.
 

Today marks the first day, of the last year of my 20s. I’m not concerned about it. Feels a bit weird that I’m nearly 30. I think one of the most interesting things about getting older is that though that years pass in the same way they always have - no matter how much it feels like someone’s turned on the warp speed - I feel like each year I gain I get closer to my parents. Maybe that’s just the growing up part. But I don’t feel like they get older. I used to think that 50 was old. Not so much anymore. I’m having a hard time explaining what I mean. Mmm. I guess I just feel like my parents become more and more regular people in my life as I get older. They’ve moved on from being mom and dad and now I see them as actual people who’ve done what I’m doing. Yet in the same breath, they are still my mom and dad. Does everyone go through this or am I just that bizarre? Don’t answer that.

Anyway, to celebrate. Mike took me to see The Blue Man Group. It was a fabulous show! We ditched our afterschool obligations that day (after finding subs), met up at home and headed out to dinner. After dinner we headed to my favorite city - Chicago! We had some time to wander around in the lobby. It was full of great art with little Blue Men added in. There were also tubes all over the place and they all did different things (I don’t want to ruin it for those who haven’t been in case they end up going!). The show itself was SO amazing. Interactive, but not to the point of being made to feel umcomfortable. And FUNNY. So funny. The talent was amazing. Mike got to be a participant. He had to throw candy into a Blue Man’s mouth. He was all impressed with his south-paw self, because he had to toss it with his right hand to avoid hitting a woman in the head. We left there happy and it was a perfect way to spend my 29th birthday.

Next year is the big 20-10. I’m not yet sure what I’m going to do. Any ideas?

Weight Watchers is working fantastically for me! This has been a great week for weight loss. I’ve cut 5 pounds in one short week. I wasn’t hungry once….well, except the one day that I forgot enough food, but that was my own fault. I’m not working out right now. Not anything more than my co-ed volleyball on Friday nights, but I don’t count that. I’m going to get back to my morning workouts come February 14th (when I’m done coaching and get part of my life back!).
This week has done so much for my mental health. I’ve decided that this is it for me. I’ve changed my perspective from dieting to simply living. This is how I eat. The weight will come off or not. And I’m just going to live. I shared this new outlook with Mike. He says he knew I was having fun with this and could see that as soon as I started this WW life I was happier. I feel really good. If you want to know more about Weight Watchers and what its been like for me, check out a new blog I started at www.weightwatcherslife.blog.com  

I’ve stuggled with weight. I’ve tried different lifestyle changes. I’ve worked out and not worked out. And finally, I’ve found something that I am really excited about! Weight Watchers. I’m actually not sure why I never tried this before. It is really easy to get excited about. I’m so busy right now and what I’ve been doing hasn’t been working so I’m trying this. I’m counting points and I’m tracking my foods online. I’m going to try some recipes and do this with 100% effort. I know several different people, including one co-worker who lost over 100 pounds living her life in this way, who’ve been successful. I will be one of them, too.

A friend is doing the Blog365 challenge. I think she’s nuts At the same time, I think it would be really awesome to look back on a year and see that I wrote everyday. I’m going to join her. I don’t have to be profound in my posts, I don’t have to even write them on the exact day, because you date your post for whenever you want. I didn’t know that until recently (How do you think I made it through NaBloPoMo?!). And I’ve got the Italian phrase of the day if I haven’t got anything else to share. So, I’m joining. I’m going to try my hardest to blog in real time, but during those patches of life that get bogged down with other things….. either way if I can get 365 posts in by the end of the year, I’ll be happy.  Please be sure to scroll blog for missed posts every now and then.

Last year while job searching, I signed up for the Illinois Board of Education to email me job notifications that matched what I was looking for. About this time of year is when schools start realizing when they are going to need teachers so the notices start going out. I can’t even tell you how delightful it is to be able to delete the emails I get with the job notice links. Such relief and overwhelming feelings of joy knowing that finally I’ve found a teaching home. If you have a job you love. If you’re doing what you know you were meant to do, I’m sure you can relate. If you’re not in that lucky pool of people, why not? What’s stopping you?