Week 14 AKA How far along are you?

That's right 14 weeks and no visible signs of baby Tilley.

I decided to blog today because no matter what book you read or which doctor you speak to, I'm officially in the second trimester....no ifs, ands or buts.

Speaking of butts, I'm happy to say mine isn't growing any bigger YET. Woohooo. That is not to say that I won't be sporting the maternity jeans to Thanksgiving dinner tonight. I'll be more than pleased to have all that room in my pants for the fully belly I'll be rocking later.

Pregnancy Highlights

1. We announced to the world at 11 weeks. I just couldn't take it anymore. Of course we had all positive reactions! Everyone is super excited for the first grandchild on both sides!

2. I made it through the first trimester with ZERO morning sickness. Sometimes at night I would feel super icky but I was usually in bed by 8 anyway. Now ladies and gentlemen, I can stay up until the late hour of 9:30....the exhaustion hasn't quite passed yet.

3. Heard the heartbeat at 12 weeks. This was super exciting as I still wasn't convinced there was really something in there! Now I've been lent a home doppler so I can hear it anytime I want. I'm trying to limit myself to Thursdays only as that's when my week changes.

4. Broke out in a NASTY rash all over my legs. I've never itched so bad in all my life. Thankfully, 1 doctor's visit, some steroid cream and a claritin later, it was all cleared up.

So there you have it. First trimester highlights.

5. My jeans are officially getting too tight to wear. I bought a few maternity things but I'm not ready to go there just yet. I see a baby bump in my near future.

$$$

Pregnancy Test #1 - $8.33

Pregnancy Test #2 - $8.33

Prenatal Vitamins - $20.00

1st Doctor visit - $25.00

Knowing I'll get to see my baby for the first time in less than week - Priceless

Going good! Little sickness and lots of exhaustion.

8 Weeks and counting

Today I'm 8 weeks preggo and terrified of all that could go wrong.

I've had no morning sickness up to this point. Occasionally I just feel yucky...for lack of a better term. I'm tired all the time! Mostly though, I'm enjoying my little secret!

Oh Baby It Was a Busy Day!

Friday, September 17 2010 was a big day around the Tilley house. It started as any other day. I got up for work, took a pregnancy test, got dressed then pretended to leave the house then put together a surprise party instead. Okay.....so not they typical day.

Rewind

Got up - I had to get up at my usual 5:45 and pretend to get ready for work. Today was the day of the big surprise party I've been planning for Steven for MONTHS. I took the day off but he had no idea.

Took a pregnancy test - well duh...there might be drinking at said surprise party and I needed to make sure things were on the up and up.

edit got up for work, took a pregnancy test, shook violently for 15 minutes when I read a positive test, debated whether or not to tell my husband immediately, couldn't wait and told him, shook violently again, got dressed then pretended to leave the house then put together a surprise party instead.

Got dressed - as I got dressed this morning I kept thinking it was a waste of time to worry about it. As soon as Steven left I changed back into yoga pants and a T-shirt. Then it was off to BI-LO for some canned drinks and cherry tomatoes. At this point I was still adjusting to the pregnancy news. I had already called my best friend and surprisingly brought her to tears. FUN! I found myself wanting to stop everyone in the store just to let them know. Crazy, I know.

On with the day - Not telling on this day was crazy hard! There were so many people in and out of the house to help with the party. Chris came by super early to drop off all the food him and Michael had been secretly stashing at their house. My dad came over to take care of some much needed yard work before the party. He ended up staying the whole day. He actually picked up my prenatal vitamins off the counter and took one without question. He's always been a vitamin junkie so he didn't think twice about taking one. However, I became a nervous wreck as soon as he picked them up. I started rambling about healthy hair and fingernails....smooth.

Rhonda and Steve were in and out throughout the day and of course Michael. (Who already knows about the positive test at this point.)

The party prep schedule when something like this

6:00 - BI-LO for some last minute things

6:00-11:00 Clean the house (Lila style) and cook a ton of pasta salad

11:00-12:30 Lunch with dad and a trip to Sam's to return the moldy bag of cheese so I could finish the pasta salad.

12:30-3:30 - Continue cleaning, cooking and setting up the back yard. Replace the passenger

side window of my car that was shattered as my dad was weed eating the yard.

Rhonda and Steve the drop off the cake.

3:30- Hay delivery - hay must be arranged and covered in the back yard.

4:00 Panic when Steven gets off work 2 hours early - have faith in my sister's ability to stall

him.

4:30 Food arrives via Rhonda and Steve

5:00 Panic because guests will arrive in 1.5 hours and frantically finish up the back yard

7:15 Steven arrives and is super surprise - SUCCESS!

7:15-2:00 Party the night away....with no alcohol of course....because I've got my little secret that I've yet to tell anyone but Steven and my best girl friends.

Summer love never lasts

Summer is coming to an end. Today is my last day before returning to work. It's a sad day around the Tilley house. Although, between pneumonia, no car and pcos, I'm ready to get back to some normalcy.

So, how will I be spending the last days of my summer?

1. Finish my list. I still need to organize the laundry room and kitchen. I never made it to the garage or finished the shrubs.

2. Do one last clean sweep of the house.

3. I might make something like this or even tackle something like this.

Goodbye Summer OH '10.

Dear Linen Closet

Dear Linen Closet,

I owe you an apology. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I let your shelves fill up with clutter and junk. I'm sorry I didn't take time to go through you sooner. Your shelves were dusty and weighed down with towels, crafts, luggage, household junk and paint that I've been toting around since high school.

Linen closet, I never considered myself a hoarder....except where you were concerned. But today, I promise you a new life! I life full of only my nicest towels. A world clear of purchases my husband made because maybe.... someday.... they would make a good gift. I promise you will only have one shelf of craft/decorating materials and one shelf of bed sheets. But do you want the best news Linen Closet? Our family games and puzzles will be moved to your bottom level! That's right, that old, dried up, hand me down paint is no more. I hope you can forgive me for my hoarding ways.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth

How's that list?

Glad you asked. It's coming along alright. I've cleaned a couple of rooms. Mostly I've spent the week on the lake at mom's and a few hours in the classroom. There's always so much to do at back to school time. YIKES!

I'll get right on it....tonight!

Crunch Time

Summer is dwindling down and my to do list is a mile long. I've had too many vacations and too many illnesses to keep up! Before school starts, I would like to do one final sweep through the house. And by sweep I mean, organize, sanitize, PURGE and my favorite....decorate!

1. Master Bedroom

2. Master Bathroom

3. Hallway/Linen closet

4. Guest bedroom

5. Toy room.....JUST KIDDING....I keep that door closed.

6. Bathrooms

7. Den

8. Sitting room/Office

9. Kitchen

10. Laundry room

11. Garage.....Dear God!

12 Finish cutting the shrubs

Yikes that's a lot.

Now for some calculating. Today is August 1 and I start back August 19.

19 days

- 4 days for the grant

15 days

-2 Sundays

13 days

- August 17 (Steven has that day off and I never get anything done when he's home!)

12 days

12 days.....easy right?

We'll see. Maybe I'll start today....even though it's a Sunday Funday!

POS PCOS

....The lab called and said my doctor wanted to meet with me for a consultation. They suspect I have PCOS. My world stopped.

I left my grant immediately. I went home and spent the afternoon in bed. I only spoke to my husband and my two best friends......briefly.

This was it. My bad thing.

I've surpassed people's expectations my whole life. I graduated from high school and college. I'm in my fourth year of a career that I love and about to start my third year of marriage to a man that I love. I have little debt, a house, two cats and a dog. It doesn't sound like much but I'm proud to say I've gone above and beyond what anyone expected.

And now here I am. Not working properly. Perhaps unable to have children. andthatsucks....I was looking forward to having the first grandchild on both sides of the family. Now how do I answer the question that all newlyweds face in their first years of marriage. "When are you going to have kids?" Broken....that's me.

So sure, I surpassed expectations......at least all expectations that don't involve having children. (Except the one where I have a baby before I finished high school!)

So hello meds, hello pity, hello all things I never wanted to do. Here I am.

Fashion Challenge OH 10

I'm obsessed with a new show on VH1 called You're Cut Off. Normally I wouldn't be so into a show except I went to high school with a girl on the show. I feel so famous and in with the in crowd! The girls on the show are pulled from their glamourous lives and taught to live on a budget. They are given challenges each week. This past week they had to go to a "thrift" store and shop for outfits with a budget of $100.00.

Michael and I got bored this week and came up with our own challenge. We decided to go into Goodwill and spend $20.00 on an outfit. Well, we didn't come out with any outfits BUT I did score some pretty cute stuff for only $20.00! I might have to hit up Goodwill a little more often!

First up , 3 cute tops. A yellow, floral t-shirt of sorts, a black short sleeve turtle neck (sure to please the husband) and a knit goldish top. ($9.00)

Next, a floor length, purple, paisley dress. ($4.00)

Finally, a sheer patterned shirt thing....for lack of a better......vocabulary? ($3.00)

Maybe I could learn a thing or two from those girls!

Carpalooza

is over.

Steven and I are the proud owners of a 2007 Honda Accord! After 4 weeks of searching we've found "the one."

(I relize the picture isn't great but the camera was about to die. I'm lucky I got this one!)

Goodbye Dodge Neon.

Now, if we can just figure out how to get it out of the driveway!

Honey Dew

Today's Dew List:

1. Clean House

2. Buy a car

Simple right? : )

I'll (book) Club You In The Head.

because you're going to need it after you read through this scattered post.

Last night we had our monthly book club meeting at Katherine's house. I had the most fun that I've had at book club yet! We started book club close to 6 months ago and I've been suprised at how it took root. This month we read Saving CeeCee Honeycutt.

I was running late for book club for two reasons.

1. Steven and I find ourselves in the middle of hell, aka car shopping.

2. We stopped at Amelie's to pick up a cupcake for Karin's birthday. The bad news was that Karin didn't even show up for book club. The good news is that Steven and I got to keep the delicious little $5.00 cupcake for ourselves. It's sitting in the refrigerator now looking all chocolate and delicious.

Back up to number one please. Hell. You know it's bad when you would rather say hell than car shopping. Steven's car has kicked the bucket. We've been car shopping for 3 weeks now and we think we've found the one! Hopefully we'll have it Monday. I thought it was incredibly sweet though when Katie said that our car shopping had been a learning experience for her and David. She said because of us, they could see how long the process should really take. She also said she had been praying for us to make the right choice. It never occurred to me to pray about our car. Good thinking Katie. This is why we're best friend. So you can pray for me!

Hopefully, I'll be back on Monday with pictures and a new car!

Vacation - All I ever wanted

For some reason during the summer I feel entitled too multiple vacations.....maybe because we never really took vacations growing up and I'm trying to make up for it. Surewhynot.

This summer I dove right in to vacation number 1: North Myrtle Beach

After waiting in the hall for 1.5 hours we were finally put in a room that didn't smell like oil paint! But the room was upgraded to ocean front so it was totally worth it!

The first night there we decided to take a walk on the beach since it was too late to swim. The beach was crawling with aquatic life. This boy had just caught a shark and Michael and I were brave enough to touch it. We say manta-rays swimming at our feet and fish caught it tide pools. I tried to save one to make up for the bird I smashed with my bumper on the way to the beach. No such luck, that fish was long gone. A moment of silence for the bird, if you will.

Our last night there we decided to walk down Ocean Drive and take a stroll through the sketchy "amusement park."

And my favorite picture from the whole vaca.....this one, taken on Cherry Grove Pier. Nhia asked a stranger to take our picture under the sign. As soon as we realized what the sign said, we scooped Katy up and smiled for the camera!

I declare vacation number one a success!

Onward to vacation number dos!

Steven and I decided to go to the mountains and take Ivy to visit some waterfalls. (Technically this was a day trip but we'll call it a vacation. It makes me seem more interesting that way.)

Ivy loves mountains, waterfalls and being off of her leash. All of which we were able to do when we took her hiking. We started out at the fish hatchery at Pisgah National Forest. There are some really nice trails back there. There is one spot in particular that Ivy loves and so do we. It's pretty far off the trail and there's a nice swimming hole there. We take her off her leash and she goes NUTS!

Seriously, it's HI-larious. First she tries to drink all the water in the creek, the she squats to pee ever other step.

Pressing forward.

Vacation Number 3

A long 4th of July weekend in Maggie Valley.

We went for a family vacation at Susan's cabin in Maggie Valley. Dad, Susan, Sarah, Thad, Steven and I all enjoyed a weekend that included rafting the Nantahala, shopping in Cherokee and fire works in Maggie Valley. Oh yeah, and we got to witness and true Cherokee Indian singing Achy Breaky Heart....Billy Ray would have been proud.

Yes, those are screen snapshots....but at $20.00 a pop what do you expect.

Anyway, this summer has already brought 3 exciting vacations. Are you ready to be jealous? I've got two more left. Another week at North Myrtle and an anniversary in Charleston. The best part is the Charleston will be free thanks to an earlier mix up at the Charleston Harbor Resort.

Letter to Al

Dear Al Gore,

I'm all about saving the world. I've switched to reusable grocery bags, we recycle (as much as Kannapolis allows) and we've switched to the energy star CFL light bulbs. But I'm here to say "WHAT WAS I THINKING!"

Last night, Steven was playing with our dog Ivy, when I heard a loud pop. Steven threw Ivy's rope bone right into the overhead light bulb, a CFL no less. As I took in the scene I almost had a heart attack. As you must know, CFLs are full of a toxic powder which contains mercury and there are extensive guidelines for cleaning up broke CFLs. But the best part Al, is that there are different guidelines for different surfaces. There are guidelines for carpet, clothing and hard surfaces, all of which were contaminated in my house. You see Al, the light bulb burst over my rug, hardwood floor, couch and let's not forget the basket of socks that I had yet to put away. But don't worry, 1.5 hours, two ziploc bags, 3 microfiber cloths, a roll of tape and 3 vacuum bags later, I am proud to announce that we have a toxic mercury powder free and dog hair free couch, rug and hardwood floor. I hope. Now if you'll excuse me Al, I have to go buy all new socks for my husband and I. You see, according the the energy star website, all clothing that comes in direct contact with the CFLs, must be sealed and thrown away.

I'll leave you with one question to ponder... Do you think the energy savings yielded makes up for the roll of tape, 3 vacuum bags, 4 microfiber cloths and 2 ziploc bags?

Sincerely,

A Greener Elizabeth

Day 1

Today is the first day of summer and it feels like the first day of summer break too. Of course, that doesn't include the part of summer break I spent at North Myrtle Beach with some friends. While at the beach we spotted this. Scary huh.

Back to summer. Today feels like it's the first day of summer because today will be the first day when I just sit around the house. I suppose I'll work on some projects around the house since I don't have a car because Steven took it to work.

Here's to you summer!

MMMMMM Watcha saaaay?

2 days.

That's it, two days left of the 2009-2010 school year. I can't believe it. I seriously have such a good class and I'm going to miss them unlike last year's class. At the end of last year I was praying hard to make it through. This year I find myself pleasantly completing my paperwork and the final days activities.

And because there's no rhyme or reason to this blog...moving on to a list of things on my mind. (In no particular order)

1. Grad school or not to grad school.

2. Baby or not to baby.

3. Next week I'll be at the beach.

4. Pelicans covered in oil in the gulf. So sad.

5. Write a children's book over the summer about a picture that came to life.

6. Go to bed.

Bare walls

Shhhh. Don't tell anyone but....I'm past 15 posts and I promised to share this lovely little site with others once I reached 15. I'm not ready yet. We'll keep it our little secret for now.

Okay, back to bare walls. I have a plan. On the right side of the fireplace there is a skinny built in shelf. It's kinda set back and small. You don't even really notice it but it throws off the entire fireplace. So I think I'll install floating shelves on the other side of the fireplace. It will look something like this

or this

Now, keep in mind I did this mock up in paint brush. I really need to get Steven to teach me how to use his fancy programs. Even the color is a mock up....Personally, I think I did pretty darn good.

I'm not sure which I like better but I better decide asap because I'm headed to Ikea today!!

Small Town Livin'

When Steven and I first realized we wanted to marry each other, the great debate started. Would we live in Gastonia, Raleigh or Kannapolis?

I wanted to live in Raleigh because that's where my friends were and where I had planned to move after college had I not met Steven.

I wanted to live in Gastonia as a compromise.....we would be close to Kannapolis but still close to my family and friends. Okay, okay, it wasn't really a compromise but I never said I was good at compromise.

Steven wanted to live in Kannapolis. It's where he grew up and where his family and friend live. Steven tends to win when we have big decisions to make and he's not real great at compromise either.

So here we are home sweet Kannapolis....I resented the idea of living here at first. I didn't have any friends or family in the area AND IT IS A SMALL TOWN. Literally, everywhere we would go, Steven knew someone.

I graduated college and got a job in the tiny town (population 42,501) at a tiny school (about 300 students) teaching tiny children (ages 6,7,8.)

Little did I know how much I would love living in a tiny town.

Steven suggested What - A - Burger for dinner the other night (a tiny chain restaurant) and as I was walking to my car it struck me just how much I love my life in this tiny town. I love going to Intimidator's games, the tiny professional baseball team. I love knowing that no matter where I go I'll see familiar faces just like Steven always did. I love that my in laws live 5 minutes away and work is 3 minutes away. I love that some of the best friends I've made are my coworkers and I love taking our dog on walks through our tiny neighborhood!

My favorite thing about this tiny town though is that it's where we had our BIG wedding. Everywhere we go there are memories of our wedding. It may be the tiny train depot where we had our huge rehearsal dinner, or the tiny methodist church where we had our big wedding ceremony or even the old bank building where we had our reception.

I'm glad that this tiny town holds such big memories already!

The Life Cycle of a Frog

Actual dialog from a second grade classroom...

Mrs. Tilley : The mother frog lays the eggs. When the eggs hatch out comes a tadpole. When the tadpole grows back and front legs, it's called a froglet. Finally, it's tail is absorbed into it's body and it is an adult frog. Then the adult frog lays eggs again, that's why it's called a life cycle.

Abby: Do boy frogs and girl frogs lay eggs?

Mrs. Tilley : No just the girl frogs. They're like people, only the girls have babies.

Abby: Then what's the boy frog for?

(Yes, we did go there.)

Mrs. Tilley: He fertilizes the egg.

Abby: Oh. What's that mean?

(oh crap, we're really going to go there)

Mrs. Tilley : Well it's like chickens. Chickens lay eggs all the time. Sometimes the eggs are fertilized by the boy and then the eggs hatch and there are baby chicks. Sometimes the eggs are not fertilized and we eat them for breakfast.

Abby: Giggles (in a knowing way.)

Some days I love my job....and some days I pray to God that I can answer the next question out of my kids mouths without getting fired!

Enough

For Lent this year I gave up shopping. I wanted to give up something that would truly be a sacrifice to me. Boy was it ever! I had no idea how much I shopped and how much I spent. Now, I would like to say that I'm reformed and budgeting every penny that comes in ......but I'm not. When Lent ended I went shopping!! I dropped a ton of money....any money I had saved by not shopping during Lent is gone.

Then

came

the

guilt

and it was a beautiful thing. I've never felt guilt over shopping quite like this.

Then I had

Enough.

Enough: Discovering Joy through Simplicity and Generosity

This is a book study that Steven's church is doing and for the first time in a long time I feel pulled to go to church. Already I've grown so much spiritually by reading this book.

Every time I go clothes shopping at Kohl's I drop a good $100.00. It doesn't matter if I'm looking for something specific or not. Tonight I went to Kohl's to buy a few things for spring. I figured I'd spend about $100.00. As I went in I felt a little ting of guilt because I didn't really need anything but I had planned to go shopping at some point this week. I said a little prayer about not going out of control. I had a cart full of stuff...probably a couple hundred dollars worth. I went to the dressing room and tried several pieces on and they were cute but you know what! I only bought one thing! ONE!!!! and it felt good.

God is good and helps us to have self control even when we think it's impossible.

Lord, help me to be grateful for what I have, to remember that I don't need most of what I want and that joy is found in simplicity and generosity. Amen.

Bed rails and all

Spring Break = Spring Cleaning

Plus some projects I've been putting off for awhile.

Remember the before pictures of our bedroom?

Well after a little...okay a lot of cleaning, hanging curtains, rearranging and assembling furniture

T

I finally opened the shams and duvet cover that Steven and I got for our wedding and found a use for my orange pillows. I'm not sure that I'm crazy about the two together, I want a taller lamp for the corner and I would like to incorporate a little more orange throughout the room.. Other than that, I'm done!

What's on the agenda for tomorrow you ask. Well....

The guest bedroom. It's become a holding zone. YIKES! The plan is to do it in creams, golds and black...to match the furniture and those floral pillows you see in the giant pile!

Tomorrow could be a long, long day!

So Sad Sunday

So sad because the weekend is almost over. I did accomplish quite a bit however.

Friday night Steven and I went and saw Hot Tub Time Machine. Aaron said it was great....me not so much. It was supposed to be an 80s movie spoof but it was full of vomit and sex. Guess it was an 80s movie spoof. It had some funny parts but overall, it wasn't for me.

Saturday I cleaned out the bathroom cabinets and my closet and off to Katie's I went. Katie and girls enjoyed trying on my old stuff and a lot of it looked super cute on Katie! I gave A her Junie B. Jones books for her birthday present. The girl was too cute. She carried the books around in a bag on her shoulder the ENTIRE time I was there.

After visiting Katie, it was off to see my mom. She was busy gardening but not too busy to show me her survival seeds "For When All Hell Breaks Loose." Seriously, that's what it said on the manual. So the good news is, when the economy collapses, we can all go to my mother's and eat because she'll have an acre worth of self pollinating veggies!

On to Saturday night.... Ryan turned 30! We went to his party that Katherine was throwing for him at their house. We got lost in their monster sized neighborhood but finally made it. I have to say, I was not looking forward to going but ended up having a great time! AND the fun news is we decided that for Nhia's bday in April, we are going to Second Chance Prom. I can't wait!

So here it is Sunday and I'm so sad to see it go....but it won't be going too soon. I'm off to Mia's birthday brunch!

Let the Games Begin

I'm a list person. Every weekend I make a list to complete. Normally I complete the lists....with the exception of March Madness.

This weekends list includes:

Deep clean bathrooms

Hang curtains in bedroom

Deep clean bedroom (minus the carpet)

Visit Katie to drop off Avery's bday present.

Buy two birthday presents

Oh yes, and plan next week's lessons.

I'll update Sunday to let you know how I'm progressing.

About that list...

It hasn't happened.







But






Lot's of other good stuff is happening!

I painted! Steven, Sarah, Thad, Michael and Chris came over this weekend and we knocked it out. I'm in love with my new orange den!

Before

After

The front room....Sorry, I don't have any before pictures of this one.

And Chris taught me how to install new lighting.

TA-DA!!

I'm becoming rather handy if I do say so myself!

So, my March list isn't coming along too well but my to do list is.

Now for some wall art and window treatments.

Oh yes, and my bed rails should be here very very soon! (So they say.)

March Madness

Last night we had our very first book club meeting. Our numbers quickly went from 7 to 4. A stomach bug, unexpected guests and hidden street signs kept the others away. That's not to mention the flat tire that threatened to keep our fourth away! Everything turned out fun though. Plus, I made the delicious taco soup from the book The Next Thing on My List. It was YUMMY!

The book is about a girl who tries to fulfill another girls life list. One of the discussion questions asked if you had a life list. I do not. But... on the author's website there was a really good idea. It said to make a list of one thing new to do each day. I tweaked it. I made a list of ten things to complete by the end of March. This should be fun!

My March Madness list includes;

1. Try a new hairstyle.
2. Bake a fancy cake.
3. Make treats for a retirement home.
4. Take a class.
5. Refinish a piece of furniture.
6. Sew something
7. Eat at a new restaurant.
8. Plant an herb garden.
9. Read a classic novel.
10. Blog daily

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to research some hairstyles!

Catching Up.

The goal is to give out the web address to my blog at post 15...uh oh, I better get moving.

Catch up:

Work - Last week was a tough one. One student, we'll call him C, tried my patience! The highlights include...3 trips to the office, one suspension, quoting inappropriate songs and discussing inappropriate body parts. C held two dressing packets up to his chest and yelled ti**ies in the middle of the school cafeteria as well as telling me to "walk with a limp like an old school pimp." Isn't he precious? Oh and...I made my first report to DSS...something every teacher never wants to do.

Pets - Ivy has been strictly forbidden to be on the furniture. Friday she decided to pee on the couch! GROSS. Thankfully, Steven found it fast and it hadn't even soaked through her blanket yet. (Secretly I'm glad this happened because now Steven is on board with the no dog on the furniture rule.)

Monday was an eye opening day for me as I realized I'm "that person." Yes, I did split a happy meal with my dog!

House - still no bed rails. UGH! If only you could feel my frustration!!! I called the furniture store and they informed me that they would be shipped on March 3rd...almost 6 weeks after I've ordered them. Note to self...never got to that "great" store again.

Meanwhile, painting plans are set. Sarah, Thad, Michael, Chris, Steven and I are all planning to tackle painting the great room on March 12. I can't wait. I've gone back to my original pick, orange.

Books - Finished reading The Next Thing on My List - overall it was a cute book. I absolutely hated the ending though. I'm looking forward to my first book club meeting on Friday. I plan on making the taco soup from the book.

Little House on the Prairie - I started to read it to refresh my memory for a pioneer unit I'm planning. I forgot how much I love this book. I'm seriously thinking about rereading the series. It will be a nice break from romance and vampires. Not that I don't love the Twilight and Sookie Stackhouse Novels.

There you have it....my uninteresting, poorly documented week.

Heartbreaking

It's been a hard couple of weeks.

Yesterday a student (we'll call her L) came in and asked me if her mom could clean my house. She said that her mom needed money to buy her new shoes. I wasn't sure if I was understanding her correctly so I told her to ask her mom to write a note. Her mother does not speak English.

Today her mother showed up after school to ask me in person. I had to have a translator come in so that we could talk. The mother then proceeded to ask if I could clean her house. I think she was uncomfortable and embarrassed. Eventually she began to cry. I think the mother was humiliated. I was embarrassed as well.

I guess my embarrassment comes because I kind of knew that's what she might be there for. NO. That's all it would have taken to avoid the situation. One little word with one big meaning. NO. I couldn't bare to say it to L when she asked. Instead I told her to have her mother write a note. It's much easier to say NO to adults. I didn't think the mother would WALK to the school to ask me because maybe it sounded hopeful. Yes, that's it. I didn't know what L was telling me. But I did.

So because I couldn't say no I embarrassed a mother, a daughter, a translator and myself.

As a gesture/apology, I went to Wal-Mart and bought some shoes and a gift card. I knocked on their door at 5:00 and was invited inside. I handed them the gift card and gave L her shoes. Very few words were spoken and I don't know if the gift was an insult.....God, please not an insult.

All I can say for myself is STUPID, STUPID, STUPID...and NO.

Yep, it snowed..tons. Late Friday afternoon the snow started coming down and it didn't stop until late Saturday night. The past two days Steven and I have been stuck inside. We've cleaned, watched TV and snacked. It was kind of nice though after a stressful week.

Ivy loved the snow, so much so that it was almost impossible to get her inside!

Now back to the house. Last weekend I ordered our bed rails. I think I mentioned this before. I can't wait for them to come in so that I can put our bedroom together. Currently it looks like this.

College chic...wouldn't you say?

Yes, that's our bed frame leaning against the wall and yes that ancient little girls bed is what we've spent the first year and a half of our marriage sleeping on.

Jealous?

Don't be. I was given this bedroom set (with mattresses) from my best friend Katie. Katie was given the bedroom set (with mattresses) from her ancient aunt who passed away so long ago that I have no clue how many years it's been. Yes, we are sleeping on a pile of dust mites and bed bugs. Okay, so not really bed bugs, but you get the idea. Did I mention we're getting a new mattress set too? Our sinuses will be thanking us.

Anyway, I can't wait.

There's no day like a snow day...or weekend.

Yep, it snowed..tons. Late Friday afternoon the snow started coming down and it didn't stop until late Saturday night. The past two days Steven and I have been stuck inside. We've cleaned, watched TV and snacked. It was kind of nice though after a stressful week.

Ivy loved the snow, so much so that it was almost impossible to get her inside!

Now back to the house. Last weekend I ordered our bed rails. I think I mentioned this before. I can't wait for them to come in so that I can put our bedroom together. Currently it looks like this.

Yes, that's our bed frame leaning against the wall and yes that ancient little girls bed is what we've spent the first year and a half of our marriage sleeping on.

Jealous?

Don't be. I was given this bedroom set (with mattresses) from my best friend Katie. Katie was given the bedroom set (with mattresses) from her ancient aunt who passed away so long ago that I have no clue how many years it's been. Yes, we are sleeping on a pile of dust mites and bed bugs. Okay, so not really bed bugs, but you get the idea. Did I mention we're getting a new mattress set too? Our sinuses will be thanking us.

Anyway, I can't wait.

ABOUT TIME

All I've wanted since Steven and I bought our house almost two years ago was new furniture. Finally! We got the new furniture about 3 weeks ago! There was a local furniture store going out of business. We took the money we had been saving for new bedroom furniture and bought a sleeper sofa, a new living room set AND a bedroom set.

After we got everything home and unloaded we realized that the bedroom set had no bed rails. After weeks of searching, I found somewhere that had them today. They've been ordered and should be here in 2-3 weeks! I can't wait to have my orange and blue bedroom complete.

Katie and Chris came over today to help me arrange the living room furniture. I'm still deciding how I like it. I suppose I could charge the camera battery to take pictures...not that anyone's looking! We moved the TV...Steven is less than thrilled about having to crawl under the house to reposition the cable line. Poor Stevo.

Now...what color to paint the room....