First World Problems.

This morning, I got up early to pick my husband up from the body shop and take him to work so he can have some work done on the truck.  I know, I'm an awesome wife.  So I'm driving down the road and I see this Jaguar infront of me, in the next lane over.  The license plate said "SWAGUAR".  I immediately roll my eyes and say "douche bag".  We come up to a stop light and I catch sight of him.  Initially I am taken aback because out of the corner of my eye, I swear he was wearing those 1980s, super cheesy, slightly oversized sunglasses.  For some reason, my initial reaction was "He's a swarthy weekend hipster!" followed by "Can you be ironic if you're driving a luxury car?"  I was starting to wonder if I'd made too much of a snap judgement when I labeled him a douche, and was contemplating the type of person who clearly worked in an office environment during the week but had a hipster streak.  Would this type of person be someone I wanted to know?  What kind of hipster buys a Jag?  Is the Jag a relic of his old, "keeping up with the Jones life," and now he's embraced the hipster ways but thinks it's impractical to buy a new ride?

I pondered these thoughts about the swarthy hipster for the duration of the light and during the drive up to the next light.  We were stopped again and I looked over again to evaluate this new found oddity.  When I did, I realized that my peripheral vision sucks and this guy isn't wearing hipster classes.  He was wearing some fancy-pants designer sunglasses!  I immediately called him a douche again, and was rolling my eyes at his fancy pants glasses and fancy pants dress shirt and his stupid fancy pants car with the most douchey license plate EVER when I saw that someone had keyed the back of his car, behind the driver's side passenger door.  I thought "HA!  It's probably some girl who you did WRONG, jerkface!" and generally mocking him until he got on the interstate and I kept straight.

Then I had a terrible realization.  I was essentially mocking him because he was in a luxury car.  And Guess What.  I was in a luxury car, too.  Yup, we drive a BMW.  It's still new to me, we've only had it for 3 weeks.  But..... ours is a 2006, we bought it used with 76k miles on it and we paid less than we would've for a new SUV.  So for a second I was all on my high horse because of that.  Well, ours is used and we paid almost nothing for it, but hey guess what, no one else knows that.  For all they know, we bought it in 2006 and have money to blow on things like that.  OR, like me, they aren't car savvy enough to identify a car by it's year and just know that it's a 'Bimmer'.  Maybe they think *I'm* a snobby, good for nothing socialite that gets whatever she wants.  

However, then it all came clear to me.  I didn't think he was a douche because he drove a Jag.  I thought he was a douche because his license plate said SWAGUAR.  Just typing that out makes me throw up a little in my mouth.  (Or maybe it's morning sickness?  Who knows.) 

Anyway, after I had this whole internal debate, that took place over the course of about 2 miles, I realized that this internal struggle was so #firstworld (to be cool like the Twitter folks) that I had to blog about it - so here you go.  I clearly need to work on snap judgements, so I'm going to work on that.  What about you folks out there?  Do you make snap judgements?  What sets you off?  Would you've made a snap judgement on such a stupid license plate?

Have a great day!

Oh, Baby!

So I started this blog to have a place to blabber on about weight loss and my sweet pooch.  I decided to also add random insights/funny sayings/experiences from subbing (and hopefully soon, teaching).

Well, now, I have an entirely new thing to blog about!  And oddly enough, my new topic is going to basically over-ride the whole "losing weight" thing, because I'm going to be GAINING for a while!  And it's the one time in my life gaining will be encouraged!  I am going to have a baby!

I finally made it public knowledge today on Facebook.  I've been plotting that for a while now.  I knew I didn't want to announce it too quickly, so I decided to wait until I started my second trimester.  After my first doctor's appointment I slowly started to tell my 'inner circle' of friends, but kept pretty quiet about it overall.  However, after consulting a calendar, I realized that April Fool's Day was only two weeks before I was going to make my public announcement anyway, so I decided to go for it.  It made my giggle to think that everyone would think I was joking when I wasn't!

I initially made the announcement with this picture:

I immediately got several congratulations, and then the fun started.... posts to the tune of what I'd been expecting: C'mon people, it's April Fool's Day, or Is this for real? and various other "I'm not sure what to think but congrats?" posts.  After a while, I finally said "No joke, I'm for realsies pregnant!".  Then I put it on my status and still got a few questions about the validity of my announcement, but for the most part, I'm getting tons of love and congratulations.  I'm so excited that the news is finally out there!!

So I've put together a list of questions I know you're just dying to know the answers to, complete with all the answers.  I am quite sure that I will be updating this blog much more frequently now that I have something exciting to talk about!  (Side note: some of these questions I made up on my own.  Some I stole from this blog, which I've fallen in love with.  She beautifully details her pregnancy and I am pretty sure I'll be stealing a lot more from her.  Plus, we own the same dress from Target.  Not sure how that's relavent, but it seems like a good sign.)

Were you trying to get pregnant? Pretty much.  We didn't have an agenda or timetable to get pregnant.  We wanted a baby, but were in no huge rush.  We do know where babies come from, and realized that by taking no preventative measures, a baby was a possibility, so we were prepared (and excited) for the consequences. We just took it month to month.  It took us about 3 months of sorta-kinda-maybe-a little trying before we got preggo.

How did you find out? I was supposed to start the P on a Saturday.  It also happened to be the Saturday of one of my best friend's baby shower (remember the diaper cake?)  Well, that whole day I was waiting and waiting.  Nothing happened.  The next day, same deal.  I kept waiting and waiting.  I started to get suspicious.  So, we drove home from South Hill and stopped at the Rite Aid by our house.  I grabbed a test, we rushed home, took the test, and stood over it for two minutes while we waited for the two lines to pop up.  And low and behold... they did.  There was lots of smiling and jumping up and down and hugs and kisses and a few tears.  It was magnificent.

Gotta love the mirror images when you take pics with a Mac...

Did you have a suspicion? I kinda did.  The week before I took the test, I'd been overwhelmingly exhausted.  I chalked most of it up to it having been my first week as a substitute teacher, but I was constantly tired.  I came home from school every day and slept for several hours.  It had only been about 6 weeks since my student teaching had ended, and I was surprised that I could have gotten so lazy after not having worked for that short period of time.  I also could not stand to eat greasy food.  It made me gag and once I had to spit out a hush puppy.  A HUSH PUPPY!!  Which is basically the best food item ever.  It made me sad to have to do that.

Have you been sick? I've been incredibly nauseated, but I haven't really been sick.  I had your stereotypical, turn green and run to the bathroom morning sickness precisely once.  However, there was one day I had a migraine and couldn't take my medicine and I've never been so sick in my life.  It was miserable.  That, so far, has been the worst day.

Have you had an ultrasound? Yes!  We had one at week 7.  It was amazing and I almost cried.  They didn't give me a picture to take home though. :(  Lame.

How far along are you? I am 11 weeks today!

Have you gained weight? Nope!  Not yet!  I had lost 10, but I gained two back, so I've down a total of 8 lbs.  I suppose I'm starting to gain weight now, but we'll see.  My Nanaw lost 20 pounds when she was pregnant with my mom, so maybe it's in my genes to lose weight during the pregnancy.  I have plenty to spare anyway.....

Do you miss any foods/beverages? Tuna. Wine. Sushi.

Are you craving anything? I don't know if it's a craving, but I've been wanting grilled cheese sandwiches a lot lately.  I haven't really had an overwhelming, if I don't get this NOW I will kill you feeling, but when I'm asked what I want and I think about it, the answer has been "A grilled cheese."

Are you starting to show? No.  I keep feeling like I might be, but I was so chubby to begin with, I think it'll take a while to show.  

Do you have a gender prediction? I think it's a boy!  J-dubs and I have both had dreams that it's a boy so I'm kinda on the boy wagon.  Although, we're just praying for healthy.... which sounds cliche, but I've a condition called Neurofibromatosis 1, which in addition to creating tumors it can cause some complications during pregnancy and it's genetic, so when I say that, it's not cliche, it's down right honesty.  

What are you looking forward to? I can't wait until I'm showing!  I'm also eager to find out what the gender is and feel the baby start kicking.

So there ya go, peeps.  My first of many, many, many postings about being pregnant!  I am so excited to be entering this new chapter!!

ABC.... Easy as One, Two, Three!

I remember when the internet really started to pick up and be accessible to more and more people (at least in my small home town).  Once my friends and I all got our super cool and original-sounding Yahoo! or Hotmail accounts set up, we passed around gobs and gobs and gobs of surveys.  At one point, I thought it was the best way to "get to know" my boyfriend at the time and I peppered him with a variety of surveys so I could learn all about his inner thoughts and feeling.

So, I was home sick today and I was catching up on all my favorite blogs.  I moseyed on over to Life With the Hawleys, where my fantastic friend Darby writes about, well, everything!  Especially her two adorable pups.  I saw this here ABC's of Me and I was instantly transported back to endless hours answering inane questions and I got super excited.  What else am I going to do while I'm curled up on the couch, staying hydrated?  So here ya go, blog world, the ABC's of ME!

A. Age: 29

B. Bed size: King

C. Chore that you despise: Putting away clothes.  I love to fold them, but putting them away is the pits!

D. Dogs: Penny, 2 1/2 years old

E. Essential start to your day: Diet Coke

F. Favorite color: Green!  Any shade!  I love it!

G. Gold or silver: Silver

H. Height: 5' 5"

I. Instruments you play: French Horn, Piano

J. Job title: Substitute Teacher.... I'm in the midst of applying for teaching jobs so I can have my very own classroom!

K. Kids: On the way!  I'm knocked up, yo.

L. Live: Hampton, VA

M. Mother's name: Julia

N. Nicknames: Erino, Queen of Grace, Erin-Doodle

O. Overnight hospital stays: So far nothing!

P. Pet peeves: People who don't know when to use the correct "you're" or "your" and when they use 'text speak' for emails/fb statuses/anything, really.

Q. Quote from a movie: "You're killing me, Smalls!!!!"

R. Right or left-handed: Righty

S. Siblings: One younger sister, Leslie

T. Time you wake up: As late as I can possible sleep on any given day.

U. Underwear: Required.  At all times.  

V. Vegetable you despise: I love veggies.  However I really only like kale with some vinegar drizzled on top.

W. What makes you run late: My inability to get motivated in the morning.

X. X-rays you've had: Dental, and then CT and MRI, if they count.

Y. Yummy food: Cheese.  Potatoes.  Ice Cream.

Z. Zoo animal: I do like the big cats.  And elephants.

So there ya go.  The ABC's of me!  If you decide to do one, lemme know!  I love to learn about people! 

Win, Lose... Call it a Draw.

I decided I wanted to be fun, healthy, and creative for dinner tonight.  I had a hankering for crab cakes so that was a shoe-in for the center piece of the meal.  I had some strawberries on hand and on a whim bought some baby spinach to make a strawberry spinach salad.  And today at Target, I walked past some french bread in their bakery section that just seemed to bring it all together.  In my mind, I was a brillant chef, ready to prepare a wonderful dinner for my husband and myself to enjoy together.

Well.  The french bread was amazing.

Also amazing?  The strawberry spinach salad.  It was light and flavorful and my husband was amazed that I worked strawberries into a salad.  The dressing was superb.  I will upload a picture tomorrow when I can find the cable that connects my phone to the computer!

So two wins, dinner must be on a roll, yes?

No.

The crab cakes did not turn out.  Mainly because I thought I was so sure of my culinary abilities that I didn't follow a recipe, deciding that I could just 'wing' it and it would still be amazing.  I also used the wrong type of crab meat because I couldn't find canned lump crab meat at the grocery store and thought "eh, good enough" with the random crab meat that I bought.  Also, I think I used too many bread crumbs.  It was disappointing and we both just ate it as quickly as we could and focused on the salad and the bread.  And, thanks to the power of Facebook, I now have two new recipes from friends to follow the next time I attempt to make crab cakes!

Mmmm.... the bread.  I cannot stress enough how amazing the bread was.

So, like I said.  The salad, a win.  The crab cakes, a loss.  So dinner was a draw, but it still nice to sit down with my sweetie at the end of the day.

From The Mouths of Babes

I thought going two weeks without blogging was a long time.  Now I've gone over a month.  I blame my outrageous schedule, and there are a few other reasons that shall be outlined in a future blog.  But I have missed writing my thoughts down for the interwebs.  I have thought about some blog topics and ways to update my blog, but I've been remiss in adding them.  However, my dear friend begged me to update, so I'm updating.  Thanks for the kick in the rear, L!

My amazing friend Fazawesome once suggested that in addition to thoughts about  my dog and weight loss, I should include cute things my students say.  During my student teaching placement, I collected a few of my favorite gems and I am FINALLY getting around to posting them.  Enjoy!

During my 4th grade Student Teaching placement:
I loved my 4th graders.  They were wonderful.  However, my girls were so fidgety and several of them were members of a local cheerleading team.  They would not stop doing cheers in the lunch line, which inevitably caused me to get ugly looks from the cafeteria ladies.  One day, the food line was exceptionally backed up and one of my little darlings was clapping, turning around to talk to people, and just all around out of control.  I asked her to please stand still, adding "you must have the wiggle worms today."  Without missing a beat, she looked at me, crossed her arms, and very tersely informed me "I do not have the wiggle worms, I have ADHD".  Oh.  I see.

During my 2nd grade Student Teaching placement:
I was pretty in love with my second graders too.  One girl particularly stole my heart.  On my very first day, my Cooperating Teacher had written on the door "Go introduce yourself to the student teacher".  This little girl was the only student who came up to me.  She shook my hand, said "My name is T-, but no one can ever spell it correctly."  I had a lovely little conversation with her.  One day, I had gotten up early and on a whim, straightened my hair and put on a little make up.  I sat with the students that day at lunch, and this little girl stared at me intensely, and finally demanded why I put make up on.  I replied that I just had extra time and felt like a little make up and she told me "You don't need make-up, you're perfect the way you are."  It wasn't the funniest thing I heard from the second graders, but it made me feel so good and just brightened my whole day.  What a smart little girl.

I also had an amazing autistic boy in my 2nd grade class.  He had 3 or 4 older sisters, so he picked up things from them and would repeat them, not knowing what they meant.  He made me smile almost daily.  One day I was teaching a unit about the states of matter.  In 2nd grade, they learn about solids, liquid, and gases.  We did an activity to talk about characteristics of gases, and it involved them writing down what they knew about gases.  He wrote one sentence describing what a gas was.  Then he concluded with "Water is not a gas.  Water is for sharks."  This made me laugh hysterically for days on end, to the point that I asked him if I could keep it for my portfolio.  Fortunately, he obliged, so I have this nugget to keep with me forever and ever.

Once I get my own classroom, I expect that I will keep a notepad around, just to record the things they say.  It's amazing what comes out of the mouths of babes.  It adds a fun layer into the crazy daily life of a teacher.

Missing In Blogging Action

I've gone 14 days without blogging.  I've really wanted to and had a few good blog topic ideas, but I just haven't had time.  I started substitute teaching so that I can continue working in a classroom environment while I was searching for a full time teaching position.  That's taken a lot of my time and energy away from fun things like blogging and watching TV.  So, I hope that this post will serve as a post to both catch up and update, all at once.

What's Been Happening the Last 14 Days:

• I started typing a very passionate blog about my feelings toward the Komen Foundation and all of the bad press they were getting a few weeks ago, but I started substitute teaching and the post was left largely unfinished.  However, it was quaintly titled "I Thought We Were Saving The Ta-tas?".  Now that the media firestorm and public outcry basically strong-armed Kommen into renewing support to Planned Parenthood, no one has really heard anything about it since and it does not seem like it's worth getting up in arms about again.
• My diaper cake was also a large success at the baby shower.  My husband even remarked that it "looked professional."  I had so much fun making it, I want to make more!  Friends, start having babies.  Or maybe I should start a little side business.  Hrm.....

What's Going on Right Now

• Valentine's Day was yesterday.  My husband and I didn't really celebrate the holiday that much at all - I did make him picture frame that has our wedding vows and a picture of us from our wedding, but we decided to just veg out and will celebrate "Birthentine's Day" next week on my birthday.  While it bummed me for about a second seeing all of the pictures of flowers on facebook with captions that said "My boyfriend/husband/lover is the BEST.EVER", I realized a second later that my allergies are so bad I couldn't even smell them so it would've been a waste of $50.  My husband did attempt to get me some flowers, but there were no parking spaces at the local grocery store and he thought it would take too long to get the flowers and wanted to come home and see me.  Which I think is a super sweet sentiment.
• Nationwide, we're experiencing an exceptionally mild winter, which has led to an early onset of allergy season.  Which means I'm miserable and can't breathe and basically hate my life right now.

That's about all I can think about right now.  But I have several ideas for posts coming up, so I promise to be more frequent on here!

The First Time I.......

Welcome to the second episode of "the first time I...."!  Today, I made a diaper cake for the first time, so I wanted to share it on my blog because I'm super duper excited!

I've wanted to make a diaper cake for a long time, but I've never been brave enough/taken the time & energy to make one.  However, one of my oldest and dearest friends is having a baby this Spring.  Hurray! We have been friends since 6th grade.  We lived together on two separate occasions.  I was a bridesmaid in her wedding, she was a bridesmaid in my wedding.  She is wonderfully special to me, by golly, so she was worth the effort it took to experiment with this project!

First, I gathered my supplies:

Then, I sat down and rolled up all 84 diapers.  To hold them in place, I used these clear plastic hair bands.  To roll them up, start at the bottom, small end and roll it up to the top, and then wrap it with the hair band.

                                                   
Finally, I had a nice, big, stack of rolled up diapers!

Next, I took a big rubber band and put it around a bottle of lotion.  This served as my base.  Then I just kept adding diapers until I had three layers around the lotion.  Then start level two.

For the first layer, I used a small bottle so it could also serve as a vase for the top.  To make it stable, I used a sticky dot to attach the bottle to the lotion pump.

Then comes the ribbon.  Hurray ribbon!  Now, you may say "why isn't this blue or pink or sea foam green"?  Well, the mamma-to-be went to VCU (go Rams!) and bleeds black & yellow.  Her theme for the nursery is black, gray, and yellow and her stroller set and car seat that she got are simply adorable!  So I am continuing the theme!  I put the ribbon around the cake layers, and then topped the cake with flowers!

Now, time for decorations!  I used the sticky dots to attach craft sticks to the mini-bottles.  Then I scattered them around the layers.  I also rolled up some mittens and socks to look semi-flower like and tucked them into the cake layers.

     

   

And - drum roll please - here is my finished project!!  The ribbons aren't perfect right now, and it's a little lopsided, but I have to transport it to the baby shower next weekend, which is 3 hours away, so I am going to take all the supplies with me and touch it up and make everything perfect then.  I am just so tickled and proud, I wanted to share it with you today!

Overall, this project was really easy!  It took me exactly 2 1/2 hours to do this.  I started at 11:40 and finished at 2:10.  The longest part was rolling up the diapers, that took me 35 minutes.  I had a lot of fun and would happily do it again!