Somebody's watching.....

I have this little button at the bottom of my blog called a sitemeter. If I click on it and sign in, I can see the traffic on this blog. Today I had the privilege (??) of having a person from Kohls.com visit my site and read yesterday's post. Hmmmm.....I guess things aren't so private here! Maybe I'll get a free coupon in the mail or something...

Deadlines of plenty.

Nathan graduated from 5th grade today. It was a bittersweet moment. My baby is no longer a baby anymore. Gone are those nightly cuddles. Sadness. But every once in a while he is still my baby and I cherish those little hugs or kisses that come flying my way when I least expect them.

I have been living under big deadlines lately. Last weekend was actually a duel deadline- one for my personal life and one for my professional life. The professional life was fulfilled on Friday with the culmination of high school graduation at Wings Stadium. We have always had our graduation at our football field and since our bleachers were condemned, we had to find a new venue. Since I run the auditorium and pretend to be good at logistics, I was all the sudden put in charge of a tremendous amount of the ceremony and all the behind the scenes work. To add to the stress, my principal spent the majority of the beginning of last week in the hospital so I became the "go to" person for all the questions. It was stressful to say the least. But the ceremony went as planned and it was well run.

My personal life deadline was the completion of the fifth grade moving on video that I had signed up for in November. It involved pulling together pictures, music, video footage, and a plan for a 40 minute show. My friend Britt came to the rescue with her video production expertise in April because I knew that I had gotten in way over my head. She worked countless hours on this project and although I didn't "make" the show, I was involved in the actual planning of how it should look and unfold. Most of you know that I don't do well with handing over "my projects" to other people. But I knew that Britt could handle it. She had hoped to be done the week before last but "life" got in the way and we quickly both realized that this project had to get done on GRADUATION day. The afternoon that we transfered over the footage from my machine to hers, we went through the following "weather events" in one hour--1 severe thunderstorm warning, 2 different tornado warnings and hail that was a 3/4 inch in diameter. So the entire Britt family of 5 plus two neighborhood friends and me were huddled in the basement with our laptops trying to transfer data and hoping the power wouldn't go out. I think it was one of my top ten most stressed out moments. Looking back on it....well, it is quite funny! After a little more editing, we were ready for the final product and the big show today! The fifth graders absolutely loved it. They sang to the songs, danced in their seats and laughed at their classmate's great video clips. Yay! Stress over. And there were no negative comments about anything. I came home and literally passed out on the couch for 2 hours.

And finally, my deadline for tomorrow is to submit my grades. Shhhh....don't tell anyone.....I got that done today when no one was looking!

Happy summer everyone! Time to go pick out a new cross stitch project!

Kohl's Dressing Rooms

Many of you know from a previous post that I like to shop at Kohl's. I don't usually buy things for myself but rather for my children. But I will proudly admit that I do believe that Kohl's has a great selection of bras. And today during school, my underwire started poking me in the armpit and by 3 o'clock I knew that I had to go "replacement" shopping. To make things even better, I had a 30% off coupon that was going to expire tomorrow so it was now or never!

Madison decided to accompany me on this trip since she wanted to find a new bathing suit for Spring Hill next week! So we stopped at Speedway and spent a whopping $56 on 3/4 of a tank of gas and then proceeded on to find some OTHER great deals.

Since Madison is growing so quickly and camp begins on Sunday, I decided that it would be wise to try on the bathing suit before buying it tonight. Maddie and Nate are very spoiled in the "trying on" department because I usually just bring multiple sizes home and then return what doesn't fit. At the moment we decided that the trying on thing needed to happen, I was shopping for bras. Or should I say that Madison was trying to shop with me and deciding that she could speed the process along if she shouted my size nice and loudly every time she found a bra that would suffice. It was not an experience or memory that I wish to think about anymore. Thank you.

We made it to the dressing room and she and I took the handicapped one since that would give us both ample space for trying things on. She is very private (just like me!) and so we changed back to back. After the first try on was complete, we both realized at about the same time that there was a MAN in the stall next to us. She knew right away that this was not right and managed to whisper her concern to me. I, on the other hand was not really worried about the man thing but was more concerned about those very wide slatted doors that I happened to be in front of. I figured that if I can see out, then they can see in! Let's just say that we were dressed and out very quickly. People with our last name can move quickly in a stranger danger weird sort of situation.

We were quite successful in our shopping experience even if everyone in the store now new my bra size. And with a 3o% additional amount off the total, we saved a lot of money! I just hope no one that I knew was around that bra section tonight.

Happy 9th Madison!

Nine years ago today at 9:53 a.m., Madison came squawking into this world! She was a big baby due to my gestational diabetes. She weighed a whopping 10 lbs/5 ounces. Because of my condition, it was standard protocol to have the baby spend the first 24 hours in the NICU (Neonatal intensive care unit). My doctor forgot to tell me this little tidbit of information ahead of time, so I remember the stress that I endured as she was wheeled away for "observation". The first time, later that day, that Stu and I visited the unit together was absolutely amazing. I couldn't get over how many nurses were tending to these babies....these babies that were very tiny and had a myriad of problems. Madison, on the other hand, had no problems. I remember a nurse commenting to me that "it is always "fun" to have a baby that weighs more than the other 3 babies combined" that shared her suite! In fact, they had to order diapers from the regular wing because she couldn't fit into the preemies!

That first year of life could be considered a "decline" of sorts. I remember taking her to every pediatric appointment and listening to the doctor comment that she was "falling" on the height and weight charts. What did they expect? She started at the 150th percentile. By her first birthday, she was in the 50th percentile for weight and the 10th percentile for height. If you look at her parents, you can see the genetic resemblence from these stats!

So where is she now? Nine years later, I am happy to report that Madison is now 50 inches tall and still in the 50th percentile for weight. Somehow a few days ago, she rigged up a measuring tape so that she could find out how tall she was! She then proclaimed to me that "if gas prices are too high and we can't go to Disney World it's ok Mom. According to Cedar Point's website, I can ride a lot of the rides now so we should go there instead."

I am so thankful to have a girl that can adapt to the economy so quickly! Happy Birthday Madison Kay!

Why I blog.

WARNING: SERIOUS AND ALMOST THOUGHTFUL POST BELOW:


Many posts that I have written are strictly for entertainment. I like to make people laugh. I don't really even mind if people are laughing at me. I just find it extremely rewarding to make people smile. It is something that I can do without spending money and I seem to be pretty good at the making people laugh thing, because I feel that most of my days are filled with a fair amount of it!

As I write my 46th post, I realize that I don't just blog to entertain. I simply like to keep a blog. I like to write. I am not extremely eloquent and I don't have much to say in general, but I find that blogging is a good way to end the night and also rethink and mentally process through the day. Many times I find that blogging will leave a smile on my face and after many long, hard, STRESS filled days; this is a very good thing. I pretend to have an extremely cosmopolitan audience of 10,000 that revisits my site faithfully but truth be told, it's still only about 5 steady readers and I think only 3 of those actually know how to leave a comment! Comments really do help motivate me....so I encourage you to be bold and come out of the bloggy closet. It really is very safe in here.

Tomorrow is graduation day. I am willing myself to be tough. No visible tears. But I have been torn to pieces on the inside for days because I don't want to say goodbye to this group. They are so unique and fabulous and thoughtful and just cool. And now they have to grow up and many of them will move away. And choir will fade from their memories. And although it is selfish, that means that I fade too. I know that graduating and moving on is natural and I know it is right.....but it is really hard to deal with the grief of losing 13 kids that you have grown to love all at the same time. Maybe this is why some people choose not to ever teach high school. Anyway, please say a prayer for Cortnie, Toni, Nayt, Dillon, Kaitlyn, Nick, Felicia, Pam, Tara, Shameka, Jerimiah, Michelle, and Britt. Their future is now far away from the safe and predictable walls within our little high school. It is a really big step for most of them and a lot of them have already told me that they are really scared and very overwhelmed. And truth be told, I am really scared and very overwhelmed for some of them because they have a rough road ahead of them.

But tomorrow will be ok. And I will get through the cermony. And so will they. We will all be fine. And I will make jokes and laugh with them because that is what I do best. And laughing is more socially acceptable than crying....

39 Years...and possibly holding. Forever.

It is with a bit of fear that I write this post. It is not everyday that one hits the the cool age of 39. For real. So here is a list (surprise, surprise!) of highlights from last year just to remember me by if I don't make it to 40.

July: The month that it became "official" that I would be the auditorium manager for the High School. My training for the entire job lasted 1 hour. It included giving me multiple forms that I was supposed to know how to fill out and a big bunch of keys. AND Harry Potter Book 7 was delivered to our front porch on July 21st. My man decided that we should take a picture of the historic occasion. Reading order: Husband, Nathan, Heidi, and then Madison. We were all finished with it by the end of August. What a great book. OH! Stu and I spent two weeks in England....awesome vacation but we are still paying for it I think!

August: I decided that this was the year to "outfit" the choir with new concert dress. When it was all said and done, we spent close to 6,000 dollars. But they look great! Sorry, my pictures are at school.

September: School started (I made that cake over there on the right the night before the big day!) and I realized within the first week that my varsity choir had the makings to be really good if they bought into my philosophy of vocal pedagogy. They did....and I will miss them so much.

October: I don't remember anything about this month except that Halloween was warm. In Michigan. Go figure.

November: We went to Great Wolf Lodge for Thanksgiving. It was relaxing and extremely fun. There were many "moms" in bathing suits so I got over my shyness quite quickly. The kids were so happy and Stan and I had much time to just chill by the pool. I won't include a picture of me at the pool....it would be too much to handle. Please just trust me on this one.

December: I was only home for 5 evenings in three weeks because of all the auditorium bookings. I was beginning to feel really resentful of this job. Christmas was held at our house and Uncle Jon and Uncle Bill and my parents were there. Nate got the Guitar Hero. BFF.

January: A lot of snow....3 snow days which is a huge amount for our district. It never got extremely cold but it sure liked to snow!

February: The shortest month of the year! My sister Sally turned 40! That is when I started thinking about turning 39. It was a lot of thinking.....

March: Stu, (this is what I called my husband when we first met and I really thought it was his name) decided that he would landscape our back yard in the spring. Since we didn't agree on ideas of the "perfect" yard, we just decided to split the yard up right down the middle. Here is his half (in progress):

And here is mine: (Those are last fall's leaves if you can't quite see them).

We won't talk about this anymore.

April: This is the month that I decided to accept the position as the new director of the Kalamazoo Community Chorale. I am looking forward to working with this great bunch of ladies in he fall.

May: Hold on! The busiest month of my life. Every weekend was booked with rentals and every weekday was booked with concerts/awards ceremonies. It was a month that I don't want to repeat for a long time-- at least 12 more months that is!

June: I am four days in. I am totally exhausted from the trip to Cedar Point yesterday and remembering fondly all the roller coasters I rode. I don't know their names (because it didn't seem important at the time) but each one was very unique. It was fun to the max! Oh, and for the record, I don't ride anything that looks remotely like a swinging pirate ship or any ride that spins around in circles. The younger generation handled those rides! Anyway, it was a great way to spend the day.

We had a fabulous birthday dinner of take out Chinese and store bought German Chocolate cake. What a carb filled day! So, there you have it. I am off to early bed! Because a 39 year old will definitely need some beauty rest.

The crisis of being bored.

Summer vacation will start for my children in less than a week. My 8 and 10 year old daughter and son are already getting geared up for the last day of school. Since I teach during the school year, it is very irritating and exhausting to hear the words, "I'm bored" sneak out of my children's mouths. So, in order to combat this horrible phrase, I am going to start a summer writing project with my children and totally brainwash them into thinking that this project is "cool". Each day, I am going to begin my morning by writing a few sentences in a notebook. I will then wait for the first child to utter the "magic words". If they say they are bored, they will add a few sentences to the story and we will continue to write the story together throughout the summer. I find that by giving children a "thinking platform", they are able to change gears and possibly prevent real boredom from setting in!
My kids love to write....so they will probably look forward to this. For other families, this may be a total punishment. If your children don't like to write, sit with them and dictate their thoughts....sometimes a little parent/child time can go a long way!

Happy Birthday Mom!

I don't tell you often enough how much I appreciate you. You are my biggest fan even when my fan club is super small. You always try not to give me advice but sometimes that is all I really want and need. You lovingly tell me that I have enough time to get things that are "really important" done. And you seem to be interested in so many things that I talk about on the phone at 3:20 every weekday. Even if you don't understand those things at all! You pretend really well.

And that is why I am happy that you are still around! How old are you anyway?

I figured that my birthday gift to you would be to post this 10 year old picture!

Love daughter #2,

Feet and Wrists

I have had a plethura of emails asking about my new watch so I thought I would share what it looks like with you! (That last sentence was all a lie but it was extremely fulfilling to write!) Since I got my once-a season pedicure this weekend so that I can start sporting sandals, I thought I would kill two birds (baby cardinal rest in peace) with one stone and just take one picture. The following snapshot is quite disturbing so do brace yourself!








Get rid of all liquid in your mouth.













A few things I have learned:
1. My future is not in foot modeling or self portrait picture taking.
2. NEVER let the nail tech pick out a polish color for you.
3. Watches and feet don't mix. Ever.

There you have it. BTW, I will probably not be wearing sandals this week. Red toenails and high school students---they don't mix well either!

A Party at the lake....

If I were rich (wo)man, I would live on Gull Lake. Eidle deidle dum...... It is a moderately sized lake and is filled with multi million dollar homes owned by the big wigs of Western Michigan. I don't think many teachers live on this lake. There are also a fair amount of small homes but most are being bought up by rich people and renovated/torn down to make way for extravagant living. Today we got to go to Gull Lake for an end of the year church choir picnic. Everyone brought a dish to pass--I brought some spinach balls that were not healthy at all but they fell in the category of "appetizers" so I thought that the green spinach "look" was a nice touch for the health conscious people that were present. I then offset those babies with some throw-in-the-oven pizza rolls that had been in my freezer forever. And those were a heart attack waiting to happen! BTW, leftovers: Spinach Balls 4, Pizza Rolls 0. Hmmmm.....

The highlights of our outing were the chocolate sheet cake, the casual conversation, and the boat ride. The low lights were that the cottonwood trees were shedding a lot of cotton bits, the host's cat caught a baby cardinal while everyone just watched (I told everyone around me to just think of it as a "fluffy hamburger" and you wouldn't feel so bad), we all got a little sunburned, and Nate came back sporting some awesome giant bug bites on his legs.

But it was fun and memories were made. And everyone smiled a lot! Happy Sunday friends!