My first "From Our Blog to Yours Challenge" at SSD!

Ok, here I go. This is my very first blog challenge at Sweet Shoppe Designs. The assignment was to tell which SSD designer you would take on a date and where you would take them.

I have two answers (perhaps a double date is in the future...lol!):

1. Manda Bean - The reasons are simple. She is an awesome designer and she has the word tatas on her blinkie. It isn't the tatas I'm interested in - just the fact that she put the word tatas on the blinkie! And obviously...we would get tacos.

2. Teresa Ferguson - For starter, why can't we all just look that cute in a hat? Also, her designs rock and she was one of the very first CT Calls I applied for (and got the rejection letter from...lol!). Soooo, I'm thinking if I wine and dine her she'll rethink her choice...JUST KIDDING! :) But ya can't blame me for trying!

Goooood Morningggggg!

Today I will not let my crabby, uninspired, angry students get the best of me. I will try to lift their spirits and remember that even if they pretend to not appreciate my efforts...deep down inside they love it that I care.

I will also let go of the fact that I didn't get picked for the DSAG's CT. The fact that I was not chosen does not define me as a scrapper and I need to stop thinking that way. The initial sting of rejection has passed, and thanks to Kara introducing me to the forums at Digi-Talk Shop, I realize that there are tons of CT Calls out there - which I am busy sifting through and applying for! :) I think because I started digi-scrapping with a site that keeps itself a bit closed off from the rest of the digi-scrapping world, I had no idea that all of this amazing designers and sites were out there! But, now....I have seen the light! LOL! Between Digital Scrapbook Artisan Guild, Sweet Shoppe Designs, and Digi-Shop, I have found several new and AWESOME designers! I am in love with Sweet Shoppe Designs....the kits and challenges there are making me more excited about scrapping than I have been in a long time.

I am going to make today a good day - even if it kills me! LOL!

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Well, I am trying really hard to not let myself be disappointed and discouraged, but so far it isn't working very well. I was not chosen as a member of the Inaugural Creative Team at DSAG. Oh well...life will go on, I realize, but that doesn't make the initial sting any better. I have gone through other CT Calls and not been chosen, but I really put all of my creativity and energy into the layouts for this one....and it just wasn't good enough. So...time to reevaluate, I guess. I need to figure out what is wrong with my style or techniques so that I can get better. I think the worst part is that I honestly thought I had a good chance to pick chosen this time - but that is all part of competition, I guess. I wish the best of luck to the new CT.

Reminders...

Well, I've always known that my parents were good people, but today I was reminded just HOW awesome they really are. They have been without power now for about 28 hours. The whole town where they live is without power and they are saying it could be Tuesday before it is restored. It is a small town with very few businesses - not even a grocery store anymore, so it is always hard for people to get out for last minute supplies when a storm hits. Anyway, my mom has to work at 3 a.m. and I told her that she should just come stay with us - after all it is closer to her job and we do have power now. She told me she couldn't because she had to take care of the people at the shelter. Her and my dad are both EMTs and my dad is also a volunteer firefighter. The fire station in town has a generator and has taken people in to keep warm and get a hot meal. My parents - like always - are taking care of everyone else even when they are in just as bad of a situation. I'm pretty lucky...even if my mom does drive me nuts...lol!

ice storms, power outages, sink problems...oh my!

So I am officially convinced that one of us did something terrible in a past life or something and this must all be karma coming back to us. I honestly can't think of any other reason for all of this craziness happening at once. Just in case you'd like a run down...I'll list it all here. That way, those of you who don't care to listen to me whine can just stop reading here and everyone is happy!

1. Car breaks down on 2/13.

2. We find out it isn't the starter - but that we need a new engine.

3. My students decided that last week would be the perfect time for them to act like they have no sense or respect for themselves or anyone else....yep...pretty much all week.

4. Yesterday we had a terrible ice storm and ended up losing power for about 4 hours. About
40,000 people in this area were without power - some still are, including my parents, grandma, and aunt & uncle.

5. Shannon ends up having to work today when it was supposed to be his day off.

6. The pipes under the sink started to leak while the dishwasher was running so I essentially ended up with water EVERYWHERE in the kitchen. When I called to talk to Shannon about it, he had the nerve to ask me if I had shut the sink off yet. Ummm, yeah....probably the FIRST thing I did when I realized water was going everywhere...thanks for the vote of confidence, honey!

7. Oh and don't that this entire time Shannon's Mamaw has been in and out of the hospital.

Ok, now...someone please tell me if I am overreacting or if this really is quite a lot of stuff going on at once. LOL! Sometimes you just have to laugh, I guess! Maybe this is a test? UGH! I fold!

even though we ain't got money....

Our life as a married couple at the moment reminds me so much of that song..."Even though we ain't got money, I'm so in love with you honey...And in the morning when I rise, you bring a tear of joy to my eyes...and tell me everything is gonna be alright." I think it is called "Danny's Song" but I can't remember who it is by. Kenny Loggins, maybe? I do remember seeing my parents singing along to that song in our mini-van on the way to The Ozarks once, though. They were holding hands in the open area between the front seats and singing along. That has always been a memory that is so easy for me to picture....and it has often times helped me remember that things are rarely as bad as they seem. In regards to my post on Thursday, things are looking a bit brighter. The finger-chewer had a much better day yesterday - he made it all the way until about 1:45 without any outbursts or defiant behavior. That makes everyone have a better day...trust me. Plus, Kara's family has spoken with her brother...he did end up losing part of his leg, but he is grateful to be alive and is already out of ICU. We went from owing on our taxes to getting SOME money back after we deducted the cost of daycare...so that helps. So basically, it is all a lot better than it was just 2 short days ago. Now don't get me wrong, we are still going to have to struggle to make ends meet with this whole engine fiasco, but not nearly as much as I had imagined.

Lily made the cutest macaroni necklace at school yesterday and she just HAD to have again first thing when she woke up this morning...I have a feeling it will only be leaving her neck to bathe and sleep. It is so cute! This morning, Shannon slept in because he worked late last night so Lily and I woke up and she watched some Little Einsteins while I cleaned the kitchen. Then we made a "Look and Listen Scope" out of an empty paper towel roll. According to her, it is "just like Rocket's!"

Now I'm off to get some things together so Shannon can finish the taxes and then I hope to do a little scrapping today. I also want to get some reading done - my friend and co-worker, Robyn, and I just started our own little book club. We just went and got our first 3 books last night. We planned to just get one, but Walden Books had a lot of awesome selections in the 3 for 2 section. So, we are starting with "Jesus Land" and then we also got "Keeping Faith" and another one but at the moment I can't remember the title. Anyway....I'm pumped to do some reading and discussing - I think it will be a good source of cheap entertainment for me! :)

Lots to type about...

Ok, let me start by saying that my thoughts and prayers are going out to my digi-scrapping buddy, Kara, and her family tonight. Her brother was injured in Iraq and they are awaiting news about his condition. Another fellow digi-scrapper had a very traumatic thing happen today as well. JoAnn was walking with her 4 year old daughter and the little girl was hit by a car. She is home and doing fine (physically) but the whole family is struggling to deal with the emotional trauma of it all. Please keep them in your prayers as well. That being said, that news has kind of put my complaints about my day into perspective. Now don't get me wrong....I'm still going to complain about them. But please just know that I realize that my day wasn't really as bad as it seemed before I heard about the difficult times Kara and JoAnn's families are going through.

On a happier note, my layouts are completed and turned in for the Digital Scrapbook Artisan Guild's Creative Team Call! There is a lot of great competition, so there is nothing left to do but wait with fingers crossed until they announce the new team. Either way I have learned a lot during the process, made some new friends, became closer friends with some that I already knew, plus I got some free stuff out of it! :) Anyone who knows me knows how much I love getting free stuff!! :) Also, Lily has really been funny this week. It's almost like she is literally growing up (physically and mentally) right before our eyes this week. She is just saying the funniest things and acting so much older. Help! My child is growing up too fast!!! Not really...I am loving every minute of this stage that she is in right now. Her new thing at dinner is to hold out her hands for us to take so we can pray, look at us and say, "Now, peat after me." She wants to be the leader!! Then, after we pray, she says, "Now, let's talk. How was your day, Mom? Ask me how my day was. How was your day, Dad? Tell me how my day was now, Dad." It is like she is this little adult trapped in a 2 1/2 year old body!

Now...sorry to break the happy mood....but I promised you some complaining and I certainly wouldn't want to let you down! Haha!

Ok. So first of all, my students are absolutely driving me insane this week. I don't know what the deal is. I love them all dearly - but I am telling you that today I seriously asked myself the question no teacher ever wants to admit to asking; "Can I seriously do this for my whole life?" I am honestly afraid to admit that I think the answer is no. Today I felt like no matter WHAT I did, it made no difference. My students were not interested in learning and my usual tricks to get them interested did not even so much as cause them to glance in my direction. I feel like so many of them have realized how far behind they really are....and they are starting to believe that it won't ever get any better. For example, one of my fifth grade boys who can barely read at a second grade level shook his head, threw his pencil down, hit himself in the head and said, "I just wish I could throw this brain out and get a new one. I hate my brain." He is one of my students who is almost always clowning, and I thought he was just trying to get a rise out of me...but when I looked into his eyes I realized that he truly meant it. I watched him go through the experience of coming to terms with the fact that he is so far behind his friends. And it wasn't a pretty sight. I don't know what to do sometimes. I think when I was younger, I had this vision of myself playing a Michelle Pheiffer (sp?) in Dangerous Minds type of teacher. The thing is - I'm not in a movie. I'm watching these kids slip through the cracks and no one seems to mind because they have an IEP and their tests scores "don't really count anyway." I have seen some gains this year with the boy I was talking about earlier. He has gone from never wanting to read in front of people and barely being able to read a sight word book to reading aloud with a small group even if he is the oldest one and has the most trouble. He still gets mad when a younger student tries to help him with a word...but not nearly as bad as before. What it boils down to is that I only have a few months left to work with this boy until he moves on to middle school. I know that he can make progress before then - but I'm not sure he believes that it is possible...and I'm starting to wonder if he has started to think it doesn't matter. I have to be strong for the both of us. I have to calm his anger toward the entire world somehow. I have to get him to stop chewing his fingers...lol. Sorry, if you knew the boy, you'd laugh too. He chews and chews and chews his fingers until I'm sure he will eat them up. He desperately needs to be evaluated for OCD and his mother says she wants to take him somewhere for testing. Whether or not she will actually do it is another question. Ok, moving on...I'm sure you'll read more about my little friend the finger chewer at a later date.

The other issue of the day is the fact that our freaking car broke down a little over a week ago and it still isn't fixed. We finally found a used engine and can buy it and have it put in for about $800. The trouble is that is about $600 more than we can afford right now. It just seems like whenever you take the chance to stop and breathe and think everything is almost okay...it all falls down around you. Now don't get me wrong...we still have the truck and it is working out okay to only have one vehicle. The only trouble is - we can't all go somewhere together in the truck. So anyway....we had talked about how we would just get our taxes done this week and then be able to use the money from our return for the engine or part of it at least. But, according to Shannon, I didn't have enough withheld from my paychecks this past year so now we're going to end up owing. UGH. I don't even know what to say about this. Hopefully there is something...anything...that we are missing somewhere and we can salvage this and get SOMETHING back. Or at least not end up paying much.

When it is all said and done, my life is pretty good. We are in a little bit of a tight situation monetarily at the moment, but at least we have a lot more than many others in this world. I will end with a few shallow, but very heartfelt comments about some of my favorite TV shows...

1. American Idol is back again! LaKisha rocks my world. That woman can sing. Also, Fantasia's song tonight literally had me bawling and running to go download it for my MP3 player.
2. All My Children is knocking my socks off at the moment. I KNEW it had to do with Zach's dad. Ha! Well, not all along...but recently I thought that was maybe the case...
3. The O.C. is over. I can't even talk about it right now. I have yet to watch the last episode. I'm just not prepared for the emotional breakdown that be involved with this. I'm kidding, of course...at least mostly kidding! LOL!

I'm off to go snuggle away my worries after I say another prayer for my friends. Please do the same!

Okay, back again!

I just had to write this down before I forgot. Tonight, while we were making dinner, Lily was so funny! Lately she has been all about helping with making dinner, setting the table, etc. It is so fun! Anyway, there were no more food prep tasks that she could help with and she was getting antsy, so I decided that the two of us would make place mats (place maps in her vocab) for all 3 of us. It was a BLAST! She was so into it - she wrote our names on all of the place mats and drew pictures. She dropped a marker on the carpet and didn't tell me about it...and when I found it, I told her she HAD to tell us if a marker falls. Her response was, "That's the truth, Mama!" I almost died laughing! I don't know where she gets some of this stuff. Ah, the joys of having a 2 1/2 year old. I can't imagine a better way to spend the evening. I am so blessed!

Okay...here we go.

Well, I finally did it. It didn't even really hurt that much...I set up a blog. I had tossed the idea around for a while, but never got around to it, so here goes. I was never very good at keeping a daily journal or anything like that...days, weeks, sometimes months would pass without me writing in it. I have really enjoyed reading some of the blogs that a few friends keep and thought now is as good a time as any. I spent about 15 minutes trying to come up with a name that suits me and was a little zany, funny, kooky, whatever you want to call it - but couldn't. Hence the title "Insert Something Clever Here" came about. Maybe I'll wake up at 2 a.m. and have a wonderful idea for a title. If so, I guess I'll do post or blog #2. Or maybe you'll hear from me again in a week. Who knows!