Saturday, March 30, 2013

The Jacket

When has a piece of clothing ever changed a life?  Well I know for me, my size small, Old Navy denim jacket has done just that. 



In April 2005 I was working for Blockbuster and continuing to go to school to be a teacher.  I had two years of college under my belt and I was feeling pretty good about life as a whole.  At the time I had a crush on a guy I worked with and was waiting for him to ask me out.  The day came when he finally did and I couldn't have been more excited/confused.  Why confused?  Well, he asked me to go to the race, as Nascar race.  Now, I knew what that was, my dad and grandpa had shared a love for the sport since long before I was ever born, but my only dealings with it was Sunday afternoon nap time while my dad sipped beer and ate nachos.  So of course I gave my most enthusiastic "Yes!" and then panicked because I knew nothing about what I had gotten myself into.

It turned out that not only had he invited me, there was a whole group going. So, it wasn't a date.  No big deal, I'm sure I'd still have fun.  I can remember my excitement and telling my bff.  She questioned it extensively by quizzing me on drivers and their sponsors, then later concluding I didn't know anything about the sport and that I obviously shouldn't go to something I had not interest in just for a boy.  I'm so glad I didn't take that advice.

The weekend arrived and the group stopped by my modest duplex to pick me up.  My crush however, was not with them.  As it would turn out his family was also invited and he was going with them.  Awesome.  I felt lame.  I had paid over $80 for a ticket to an event I didn't know much about (oh ya he had me pay for my own ticket) and now I wouldn't even be spending time with the guy that invited me.  Well I was already on this unstoppable train so I just went with it.  Greatest decision ever.  That weekend I ended up getting to know my future husband and his family.  What a win for me.

That night with the group was fabulous.  We went out to eat.  Spent time in a pool.  And laughed until my sides hurt.  I had a great time, and had let go of the old crush and moved on to a new one.

On the looooong car ride to the speedway the next day we were stuck in traffic.  This new crush and I had been going back in forth in friendly banter since the trip had started.  That spring Keith Anderson released a song called "Pickn' Wildflowers".  A seemingly innocent title with mildly suggestive lyrics.  Being the ever flirtatious girl I was back then, I noticed the wildflowers on the side of the road and made a comment about them in reference to the song.  Well my crush picked up what I was saying and ran with it.  To this day that is still our song, we even danced our first married couple dance to it five years later.



But back to the jacket.   That weekend was fun.  I had left the old and moved on to the new.  Bill and I were great at the banter, but neither one of us had exchanged phone numbers or set up a time to see each other again.  I remember feeling sad when they dropped me back home.  I thought it was done.  Little did I know that I had forgotten to get my denim jacket out of the car.  Bill sent me a text message sometime later letter me know that he had been keeping it safe for me that that I should stop by his place to pick it up.  Had I not forgotten that jacket, we may not have ever met up again.  The rest is history.  I went by to pick it up.  We talked and played cards for hours and at the end of the evening we shared our first kiss.  It was magical and sweet and something I'll never forget.


                                             (Bill and I shortly after we started dating, 2005)
Five years later we got married.  A year later we had Billy.  And two years later here we are.  To quote Phil, "Happy, happy, happy!"  The jacket has stayed with us this whole time.  Even though my weight has gone up and down, I've never been able to part with it.  I wore it a few times after our first kiss, but I know I haven't been small enough to wear it in at least six years.  I tried it on a few nights ago.  It fits!  I'll be sporting that baby on our next night out. (I'll post a pic in it when I do.)  Maybe we can relive that first kiss.


                                                           (Our family, October 2012)
That's all folks!

I'm out!
Mrs. T

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Did That Really Just Happen?

This day seriously did a roundhouse to my face.  I'm not sure what I did to deserve it, but my word.  I promise I won't do it again.

I feel like I hit the ground running when I got up this morning.  I took care of a few chores, ran an errand, and then went to work.  I didn't slow down once I was there either.  I actually thought to myself at one point, "Man, you've got it going on today! Taking care of business."  Then it all went to pot after lunch.  Drama, drama.  No matter what you think teaching will be like, or what situations you think you're prepared for.  Let me just clue you in now.  You're not.  You get a foundation from your classes in college to build on, but you have to remember you're dealing with little people, little unpredictable people, and just when you think you've got a handle on this "teaching thing" and that you're "in your groove", they'll throw a curve ball at ya.  I was not even looking for or remotely expecting what was thrown at me today.  But like a champ I rolled with it, after chocolate and a vanilla Dr. P.  no judging.  you weren't there.  it was totally necessary. 

When I went to pick up Billy after school he was sick.  Running fever, puking, the works.  Poor baby.  Poor mommy.  I'm thankful for good friends and for my mommy that came by to help out.  Billy and I would be standing in a store pharmacy isle crying and sporting what remains of his lunch if it weren't for them. 

Now we're settling in to bed.  Billy is bathed, snuggled up by my side and is watching Curious George.  At least it's not trains.  I don't mind watching what he wants, but seeing the same thing 900 times is not my cup of tea.  He's content, fever free and sipping pedialyte.  I have the bed covered with towels, ya know, just in case.

Well enough with the gross talk.  I have a funny.  At school today our pencil sharpener finally kicked the bucket.  I think this is our third this year.  I'm not sure if it's because these sharpeners are not the best quality or if we're just working so hard we're blowing through the pencils and burning up the sharpeners.  Whatever the reason we needed a new one and we needed it pronto.  The office didn't have another electric one, so they sent over a new "old" one.  You know the kind that mount to a wall and you have to crank.  No big deal.  So when it was installed the kids were dumbfounded.  They couldn't believe it was a real sharpener and that it would actually work.  Silly 21st century kids. :)  I had to do a whole lesson on how to hold the pencil, crank the handle and how to empty the shavings.  You would have thought I was showing them the very first wheel ever invented for the very first time.  C'mon man!  I got quite a kick out of it.

I said I was going to talk about "the jacket" today, but I'm not.  It's a post all in itself and doesn't belong next to puke and pencil sharpeners.

I'll leave you with a little pic of Billy spread out on our couch this afternoon.  Love my bubs.  He's cute and sweet even when he doesn't feel good.



I'm out!

Mrs. T 

 

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Gym, Sweet Brown, and Laundry

After work yesterday I headed to the gym.  I was late (fail), not unusual but always annoying, and I couldn't find my hair rubber bands (fail).  You know my bag only has like eight pockets.  You'd think I'd have a few in there somewhere, but no.  So when I walked into the gym I remembered that some very sweet and thoughtful person put a basket of brand new hair rubber bands in the women's dressing room (score!).  So I be-bopped my way in there, twisted/braided up this business and headed into class.  Feeling like a million bucks I snuck in the back of the step class (oh, only 15 minutes late) to realize my girls did me right and saved a step (score!).  I hopped right on and joined in like I'd been there the entire time.  Then I noticed some girls didn't have steps, and there was an overwhelming case of sour puss face infecting most of the class (fail).  WTHeck happened before I got here?!  Was there a knock down, drag out over this last "saved" step?!  Did my girls have to fight for it?!  Where's the negativity coming from?!  Am I now the recipient of step hogging hate?!.....Well I didn't dwell too long.  I rocked it.  Not kidding.  I used to SUUUCK at step class.  I'd fall off, twist my ankle, stand and stare because I was so uncoordinated.  Then, one day, it clicked and it's not so hard anymore.  Trust me, the workout is still hard, I actually had sweat raining off of me when I bent over to retie my shoe.  Normally I would be all, "that's gross", but when I saw the drops I thought, "Ha!  That's cool!  I must be doing it right!"  It felt good, but the class vibe was off.  I hope they let all that funk air out today 'cause "ain't nobody got time fo dat!" LOVE Sweet Brown  



I didn't go to the gym today.  It could be that I was taking a rest day after I busted it out so hard in Barbell Blast last night after step, or it was because I just felt like hanging at home with my bebe.  We watched a little Triple T (Thomas The Train), his fav.  We watched actual trains go by our house, 4 to be exact.  Then we had a friendly visitor stop by that stayed long enough to eat my cooking, she's a brave soul.  Tonight I made spaghetti with angel hair pasta, ground turkey, low sodium/low fat/BIG taste spaghetti sauce, and a low calorie garlic bread.  For the bread I toasted my 100 calorie sandwich thins and spread a little margarine/garlic mixture all over. Yum!  It was pretty good.  Not one for Paula Deen's Books, but it worked for us.  I meant to take a picture, but it was pretty much gone when I thought of that.  whoops!

I guess that sums it up.  Oh, I wore pants on Sunday that I haven't been able to wear since 2008.  I wore another pair of pants yesterday that I can't even recall the last time I wore them and I tried on "the jacket" that I haven't sported since 2006.  I'll tell you all about "the jacket" tomorrow.  It's a cute story and explains why I still have it.


I'm out!
Mrs. T 

Monday, March 25, 2013

Monday Rocks!

Said no.one.ever.

Miraculously I was able to get up on time, get little man dressed and ready, and made it to school with time to spare. I even had time to get a cup of coffee before walking over to my classroom. :) Oh happy day!

My school day was pretty uneventful.  I was tired, kiddos were tired, but we got it done.  I implemented an exit ticket today.  It's a mighty fine way to hold my students accountable for their daily work.  I'm also hoping it helps them manage their time more efficiently.  So far it works great, but it's just day one.  I'll get back to ya on that tomorrow.  Let me know if you'd like further explanation about the exit ticket.

When I got home from work today there was trash EVERYWHERE.  All over my front porch, my yard, both neighbors yards.  It was a mess.  The wind was defiantly working against our trash situation (I was gone on trash day last week so we're working on a two weeks worth.  Oh, and I decided to do MAJOR spring cleaning.  brilliant.).  So the nosey sweet little dogs from next door pillage through two bags and scatter the nastiness. gr-oss.  Let me just say again, in case you weren't aware, we have a 22 month old that is NOT potty trained.  You figure out what I had to pick up.  Mmmm hmmm...make. me. puke. So the 30 minutes I was planning to spend hanging out with Billy and watching Thomas the Train (my all time favorite thing to watch...NOT), were spent cleaning up dirty diaper scraps across a field. Awesome.

After that I dropped off little man at the father-in-law's house and made my way to the gym.  Monday nights they offer several classes.  If I'm out of work early enough I love TNT.  Paula B, the instructor, always kicks my boo-tay.  It's an amazing workout.  After that is Zumba, fun, but I feel like I'm growing out of it.  During Zumba there is a cycle class, which I took, then R.I.P.P.E.D immediately following.  As if cycle wasn't torturous enough on a Monday after a break, I went ahead and stayed for R.I.P.P.E.D too.   Paid off.  Check out my calorie counter.

Oh I added a picture of the schedule and my super sweet gym hair just because I know you all really care. ;)

There's a lot coming up for the T-bird family.  I have a 5K coming up, as well as the IRA Annual Convention, little man's baptism, Easter, Nascar, Painting with a Twist, Field Trip and school track meet.  It's going to be busy, busy!  Love it!

I'm out!
Mrs. T

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Welcome!

Well hello there!

Thanks for stopping by to read my about my many adventures as a wife, mom, and teacher.  Follow me on this wild ride through life!

Let me introduce myself.  My name is Amy and I live in Oklahoma with my husband and our toddler son. 



I'm an elementary school teacher/circus performer during the day and an amateur runner/cyclist/zumba-er/R.I.P.P.E.D-er in the evenings.  I've recently ditched the crap-food and taken control of my health.  I've lost 20 pounds since the start of my journey four months ago.  My goal is another 30.  You'll be able to follow my progress here.

The picture on the left is the week I delivered.  I was 192 lbs.  The picture on the right is from my trip to LasVegas with my husband a month ago.  I was 159 lbs then.  I'm only 5' 4'' so you can see every pound all over this bod.  Yowza!  It's a work in progress and I'm proud of what I've accomplished so far.
I know you'll enjoy all my randomness.  If you're a teacher I hope you'll find helpful information from the book reviews I'll post and from the stories I'll share about my first six years as an educator.

Here is a picture from my classroom.  I have six large windows.  AWESOME for natural light...not awesome if you have to hide from an intruder (not that we have had to, or will have to, just need to be prepared).  So over Spring Break our GMT staff hooked a girl up.  Now we won't be looking out the window and randomly commenting on the weather, students going to the library or dogs loose on campus.  I'll be able to teach with a few less interruptions! Whoop!

If you've been a mom of a toddler I know you'll laugh with me when I tell you about the crazy things my son does.  He's only two months away from that second birthday.  It's about to get really interesting!



I post a lot of random pictures on istagram.  You can follow me there if you wish! @talbertamy

There are several bloggers that I've been stalking reading for the last year or so.  Check them out!

Mama Laughlin is a tell is like it is Texas girl that has ran her way back to skinny after two kids.  She talks about all kinds of stuff and I always enjoy reading what she puts out there.  I think she's fabulous!

Skinny Meg is also from Texas and just so happens to be bff with Mama Laughlin.  I follow them both on instagram and keek.  They are so funny when they are together!  Skinny Meg has lost over 100 pounds and is all around amazing!  She loves all things pink and chevron, and it has totally rubbed off on me.


Happy reading and happy Sunday night!  I'm off to get ready to go back to work.  Womp, womp...11 days off was soooo niiiiice!

I'm out!
Mrs. T