on my heart

yesterday it snowed here in tenneseee. big huge fluffy flakes. for awhile there, it looked like we were in for an entire inch. but alas, it stopped, but not before they closed schools at 12:30. we got approximately 1/32" of snow.

 PHOTO BY AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS

good thing school closed early. not because of the "snow" but because most of the children were gone before a disgruntled fourth grade teacher opened fire on the principal and the assistant principal. seriously?? mad about your contract not being renewed?? you think this is going to help your chances of being retained?? i'm shocked for this school of already at-risk kids who have to come back to school next week without their top administrators, and for the kids in this guy's classroom—my heart breaks.

in today's paper, people were describing him as "off" and a loose cannon of emotions/anger. he had a history of anger/violence, had had a restraining order taken out against him and had serious issues when he got laid off from his last job. do they not do adequate background checks? seems like i had to go through a lot just to be allowed to substitute teach here. 

anyway, it's heartbreaking.

on a lighter note, i'm excited about our weekend plans. the bamagirl has invited us to come visit, and has arranged for us to see a gymnastics meet. apparently the students there are much more in to gymnastics than even basketball. a meet will pack out the arena. not so much for basketball… go figure. but we're game!

boywonder and boywonder's girl (girlwonder?) are going as well, so we're thankful for on-the-road family time.

and it's only 49.99!!

when i saw the original commercial for the snuggie, i thought there is no way that anyone will be that stupid to buy one. like a blanket is so complicated you can't use it and answer a phone? or change the channel using your remote? seriously?

little did i know it's so ridiculous that everyone had to have one.
they're so ugly, it's cool to own one. and be seen in public in one! (sorry, kristina. you do know how to rock a sunggie)
what?
and could they be in any uglier colors?
oh, but wait. there's leopard print! oh that makes it better??
just when i thought it was safe to watch late nite infomercial tv, i was slapped with another product that will give me nightmares for years to come.
and because i don't want to be up alone, i'm sharing:

don't say i didn't warn you.

the good, the bad and the flat-out ugly

it's tuesday. a day when i'm limited to few words. (it's a miracle! you might say)

enjoy snarky sentiments here and then don't forget to go visit supah's site (see below) and visit to see what the rest of us have to say. 

i teach a class on mondays at my house. something about three little weiner dogs that want to be all up on laps and snuggling is so not conducive to focusing. so they stay in my office. with a new flip chip. it's only for 90 minutes, right? what could possibly go wrong. they're weiners! low-riders!! no problem!!

thanks for listening. now you play along, too! don't panic, you can create your own here, and then click on the post-it below and head on over to supahmommy who has it all going on… on a post-it, of course!

super bowl, super game, super ads

i love me some football. but on super bowl sunday, a part of me is super sad that football is over. the final hurrah of the 2010 season.

my brett choked big time, much to the delight of the entire state of wisconsin. yeah, sure, he's a waffler, and may be a jerk, but the guy can play football. i just sometimes question his ability to stop playing the game by himself and not try so hard to win the dang game (case in point: last game of his season {career}). 

i love peyton, but did he steal a page out of favre's playbook last nite? after dancing around what seemed like forever, (even though he had him some scramble room {much like mybrett}) he tosses a pass across the grain right into the waiting hands of tracy porter. choke.

but i thought the saints played a great game. they came out a little shakey in the first quarter, but pretty much owned the second half. they did the people of new orleans proud. and drew brees's son, baylen, is ah-stinkin-dorable.

there were a bunch of really great commercials (although some may argue that they weren't as good as in year's past, which i'm not going to debate). it's hard to pick my favorite, but the ninja dorito dude was pretty awesome, and a friend of mine's brother produced and starred in another dorito's ad where the guy fakes his death so he can hang out and eat dorito's and watch football…in his casket. leslie's brother is the guy who says, "it's a MIRACLE!" all the dorito's ads were pretty good.

a few that stick out to me … the snickers and denny's. i love denny's tease to the great screaming chicken ad…

 and then the super bowl ad itself. maybe screaming chickens are annoying, and i don't know if i could watch this over an over, but in a party setting, this one got my attention:

and the snickers ad was pretty funny too…

 career builder had a few really good ones, but the casual fridays one was pretty funny. "nice pants, terry."

it was a good game. more exciting than i thought it was going to be. hate it for peyton, but i'm lovin it for brees, the saints and the people of new orleans. {i'm just not all about "who dat"} 

now i'm in official football mourning. just like my momma used to experience at the end of the packer season.

sigh.

well, it's still raining in this town. still no sun. still a mess downstairs in the aftermath of move the hubster's office home.

but sunshine in my heart shall prevail!!

i had a great, yet incredibly hard, week at work where i exerted much energy (and tears) and got much accomplished. i still have scads more to do (like this weekend) but i'm going to concentrate on doing a few fun things, too.

i'm going to make some jewelry after a long hiatus. weee!

i'm going to go work out (gah.) and try to do my best to lose the twins and the girls.

i'm going to make boy wonder's favorite dinner because he's in town visiting this weekend (double yay).

i'm going to admit defeat and put away the 50 photographs of my kids that say "happy new year" and just rest in "it's the thought that counts" and call it a day.

i'm going to celebrate the fact that i've not killed the plants in my office (yet).



i'm going to clean off my desk so i can play and do fun things in here.

i might even go out to a movie with the hubs.

that is if i can drag him out of his office…

what are you up to this weekend?

dark and twisty

i knew including the word "joy" in my blog header and the accompanying "striving to maintain the right perspective in all circumstances" would be a stretch on some days… but i was ill-prepared for yesterday.

it's my blog, and i'll cry if i want to, cry if i want to, cry if i want to… you would cry too if it happened to you!

you know, seasonal affective disorder (SAD). aka winter depression or the winter blues… signified by a propensity to feel tired and eat starchy carbs or sweets. 

i am not one prone to stick a name on something and shrug off responsibility, like… i'm all SAD and hormonal. i may be a beeotch so steer clear… but i am SAD and i felt all hormoney and pretty much wanted everyone to back off yesterday. i sobbed. hellooooo, sobbed?? what in the heck do i have in my life that is so miserable that i need to sob forcryingoutloud??

not much, i tell ya.

true, there is a merger going on with our family business and the hubster moved his office home and our den is now a sea of boxes and office supplies and i don't see where any of that stuff is going to fit and we are both working from sun up (ha, as if there really is one) until midnight and i feel like all we talk about is the business and i'm feeling the walls of my empty nest choking me as i gasp for air wondering if this is my life now.

but i have a house that i'm not worried (yet, ha) that is close to foreclosure. i have food in my fridge and pantry and a treasure trove of things in our freezer. my kids are thriving and excelling in college and both are dating people who love Jesus (can i get a hallelujah??). no one in our family is fighting a catastrophic illness. our dogs (albeit kind of annoying at times) are healthy and wag and bark appropriately (although if you're my neighbor, they'd say the latter is excessive). our business, thanks to this merger, will continue rather than face bankrupcy. i don't live in haiti. i have clean water to drink any time i want it.

seriously, the list goes on and on…

so i can only think that the reason for this UMS (ugly mood swing) is SAD. i walked to the mailbox the other morning and saw some peeks of blue sky amongst the clouds and seriously got a little spring in my step! sun? today? areyoukiddingme?? but it was just a tease. we seem to be all about the gray skies and drizzle/rain these days.

oh well. it won't be long until spring is busting out all over. 

and a good, healthy winter really allows for spring to burst forth. 

and rather than wax on about all the great reasons for darkness, i'll just press on, in meredith grey style (all dark and twisty inside) and patiently wait for joy to return. because i'm a child of HIS, i know (as my mom used to say…) this too, shall pass.

plus… it's friday, and i have chocolate!

i like to move it move it

okay.
lie.
but i'm doin it anyway.

now if only i could shake that addiction to chocolate!

along with everyone else in my town, i'm committed to getting back in the gym and working off the twins (aka, my butt). no offense kids, but you gotta go. and the girls (you know, those girls) entirely too much of you and it's time you downsized too. (i know, TMI, but it is what it is)

i started a walking class. i mean, it's not like i didn't know how to walk. i mean seriously, who doesn't? but when i'm walking with people, i feel this urge to be competitive and i want to be first. so i work harder. so that's a good thing, right?

so tomorrow it's pump a little (okay, a lot) of iron, get a little cardio in there and then i'll follow that up with a mile or two the next day. 

and try to limit myself to 10 m&ms. 

oh, chocolate, why oh why?!?