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Tuesday, November 3, 2009

I shouldn't have...


I was going through today's mail and opened the PBK catalog while I was waiting for dinner to finish in the oven. As soon as I turned the front cover, I took one longingly glance at the first page (similar to the one above) and lost it. But I couldn't tear my eyes away. I knew I needed to close it and walk away. But I couldn't. I looked at the details on each stocking. At the names monogramed on top. I thought of the cute kids that would have a stocking hanging in their home by the end of the month.

And I couldn't stop crying.

I thought I would be able to pick out adorable stockings this year. I hoped I would be getting super excited and over-the-top creative for my baby's first christmas.

But another Christmas will go by with no baby in our arms.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Farmer's Market Finds

Made the mistake of heading to the Farmer's Market HUNGRY! Oh my gosh, I walked out of there with some yummy stuff: organic chocolate milk, Lorraine quiche, Mediterranean tortellini pasta salad, bacon & broccoli salad, strawberry & cream cheese croissants, 1/2 loaf of golden pecan bread, NY onion bagels, foccacia bread, and butternut squash ravioli. Seriously, yum.

Now you see I didn't really get anything 'healthy'! haha! All those fruits and veggies in that place and I got none of them!

But everytime I leave there, regardless of what's in my bag, I still feel 'healthier' and it makes me want to be better about only cooking and eating fresh & organic.

*sigh... one day!

I don't think I'm ready to give up my 'convenient frozen meals' yet!

How about you? Are you a fresh, organic eater? What kind of stuff do you buy at the Farmer's Market? (since apparently I need to branch out from the bread/pastry area!)

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Pumpkin Picking + sick + SYTYCD tour

A couple of weeks ago it was raining alot. Then it got nice and fall-ish. Now it's raining again. Oh well. I enjoyed the sun while it lasted! Dog walking, park, outdoor dining, etc...

As much as I heart fall, I didn't get out my 'fall home decor' this year. I have been so busy that it seems this month has just flown by! Anybody else feel that way? I did run some errands a week or so ago and was intrigued by this pumpkin selection at Whole Foods. I couldn't get over the different shapes, sizes, colors, textures, and just overall 'look' of the display. I can't say I've ever seen gourds that big! I had a tough time picking out pumpkins. I ended up with a cool sage green one and a neat peachy-orange and sage green one. They look really cool in the house. I also picked out some of those smaller ones there in the baskets to take to school with me. We had been doing the whole 'pumpkin theme' so it was great to pass out the pumpkins and gourds and talk about the differences and similarities. I had this one that was SO bumpy. It almost looked like it had big warts on it! It was actually pretty gross. The boys in my class thought it was great! The girls (and myself) didn't really want to touch it! haha!
I also got some sunflowers. I love fresh flowers. They make me happy. :) They have lasted a LONG time! They are still sitting in a vase on my tv console as I type. Actually, upon second glance, they are looking a bit rough, but still-- it's been almost 2 weeks so that's a long time I think! I may need to run over there and get some more! Oh, and they had some seriously cool japanese lantern sprigs. I have some fake ones from pier one but these real ones were super cool. I didn't buy them though. They were expensive!

So after my errand running and some shopping and some reading of my book club book I geared myself up for my class field trip to the farm and pumpkin patch and tried to make a list of things I wanted to accomplish during my 3 day fall break. Well the rain continued and my field trip was
rescheduled, but I did have a pretty impressive list made and I got lots of it done during the break! yay!

Of course, on the first day of my break I woke up with a sore throat. Of course. Every teacher knows you only seem to get sick (or you especially get sick) during your vacation time! AGH! By Tuesday I took myself to the doctor. A Z-pack later, I was feeling better. Still bad sinus headaches, though. yuck.

But no cold would stop me from battling the Atlanta traffic to make it up to the So You Think You Can D.ance Tour Show! My sister, mom, and other friends are addicted to the show. I watch it every summer and was so excited that Jeannine won and that the top 10 were going to be on tour and were coming to Atlanta! And perfect timing (minus the cold) since I was out for break! The show was really fun. It was so neat to watch the performances right there in front of you. The set, the lights, the music, the costumes! Whoa! So cool! We had a fun group and we enjoyed it all! Great night!

So now I'm back to work and it's been busy as usual. We took our rescheduled Farm field trip yesterday (it was COLD!) and we have honor's day, our school fall festival, and, to top it all off, it's Red Ribbon Week! Whew!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Rain, Rain Go Away

The rain in Atlanta continues. I'm SO over it. It's hard enough to leave the cozy bed when the alarm goes off at 5:30. It's hard enough to leave the house, drive 30 minutes to work, to only walk in the front door of the school as the sun is rising. But to add torrential downpours, thunder, and lightning to my morning. So. not. cool.

However, the rain made something happen today that made me smile. As I was driving through my neighborhood this evening heading home, I stopped at a stop sign as a little girl and her daddy approached on foot. What made me smile was the little girl with blonde ringlets was wearing a dress-up cinderella dress and bright green frog rain boots. Holding her daddy's hand they walked across the street and she jumped in a huge puddle and laughed and smiled as she looked up at her daddy who just stop to watch her.

Lesson Learned: while the rain totally sucks for me, to a child, it leads to a new adventure...and a lot of fun.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Feeling Positive

I must say, though I was very disappointed and I cried in the Dr. Office when they told me my cyst was still there and we would have to do IVF, I'm somehow not freaking out about it anymore. (or at least for right now). It's been a relief to kind of 'let go' of my manic late night google fests and sleepless nights worrying what, why, how, etc...

I've been going out more, hanging out with friends, reconnecting with friends, cooking dinners, spending more quality time with Zach. I'm finding myself actually looking forward to these next 3 months. It such a nice change. What a blessing!

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Movie Sunday

'Top Gun' is on. One of my fav movies. I think this is the one where my young, innocent self fell in total love with Tom Cruise. Maverick was cocky, confident, and sexy. I loved him again in 'Cocktail' and 'Far and Away'. Ahhhh...

Then he got older and I got older and he got weird and I got smart. haha! No, I don't regret my first celebrity crush! I still claim it! :)

What I Love About Fall

~ pumpkin spice lattes
~ fresh fall leaves in shades of yellow, red, green, gold, brown
~ fall decor
~ clothing! I love layering tops and adding coats and sweaters and scarves
~ boots & other cute closed toe shoes
~ smell of fires burning
~ home cooked chili
~ awesome weather
~ cool recess afternoons with my kindergartners
~ brisk evening walks with Zach & Sadie
~ pumpkin patches and corn mazes

Ahhh.... fall just brings such excitement to me! I seem more positive and hopeful. I feel much calmer and I seem to slow down a bit and enjoy life a little more! Yay! October is here!