Final paper..complete!

Last class of this semester for me is Eng 102! I was done with my UWO classes last week, I finalized my paper tonight and will be handing in tomorrow...FINALLY! I enjoyed my classes but I sooo need to clean my house, get things wrapped, get a couple last minute gifts etc. We are having my father in law fly in this week on Thursday. He was very ill in October, had brain surgery and a couple months later...well he will be visiting us. Can;t believe it! We are blessed that he is still with us and ready for the festivities ( although we will be taking it easy this year)! I am two semesters away from graduation! I have my clinical next semester and student teach in the fall ( thank goodness) I so need a job after all this!. It has been quite a journey for sure! I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and hope you have a great break! thanks for a good semester!!

Really is it THAT time already?

Ok, so I don;t know about you but I realized today that it is December 11th...I looked at the calendar and started to sweat! I can;t believe the semester is almost over much less Christmas! It sneaks up on me every year. This paper for our class is one of the bigger projects that I need to work on. Very scary! Not only that but my house is a mess and we have my father in law (who was sick) is coming to visit us December 22-26th....I thought I was organized putting everything on layaway and having all the gifts pretty done, but between working and school..well lets just say I wish I could snap my fingers and get it all done! My husband went to third shift and we are starting to adjust to that schedule so that is going to take a while as well!
Breathe! Anyway I love this time of year but want everything done prior to our visitor coming!! TIS THE SEASON! There is light at the end of the tunnel, I will graduate next December.....can;t wait!! Hopefully I will be better organized next year! Merry Christmas all !

December!

I can;t believe it's December already! Planning, preparing and getting the house ready for Christmas. I am trying to make memories for my kids and we have traditions like picking out the tree, decorating and of course baking! we give out small treats to the teachers and friends throughout the holidays. My kids have two Christmas programs this year, one at their school and one at church. I am looking forward to all of this but also need to take time to really enjoy the season. I am actually going to a Christmas party for work with my husband so it will be nice to actually have a date...we don;t do that much so I am very much looking forward to having some time alone (well kind of). Anyway with homework, school and work I need to take time to take a breath and enjoy this time!

Thanksgiving

Well, Thanksgiving weekend is over. I can't believe it is almost December! I finally got all the shopping done and I think I'm ready..but things always come up. Being that I have a busy life, I try to get as much done as possible prior to December. I am on a strict budget this year ( as I have been in years past) because my husband just got a job (after well over a year of unemployment) and we are getting back on our feet SLOWLY! My children are getting things that are on layaway and I spent some money on clothes, but that is it. Luckily they are still young and are fine with any gift they get. I can;t wait to get a job after all this ( we pray) and Christmas will get a little better year to year. Although... this year we are so very grateful for Grandpa Lamberts recovery, our healthy children and the job we prayed for, literally for months. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because there is not a lot of "hub-bub" around it, just being grateful for your loved ones and no gifts!

Green Bay Packers!

Wow! Can;t believe the season the Packers are having this year. I don't remember ever winning this much. I have to admit, the last couple years I haven't kept track of the Packers ( except Super Bowl) not because I am not a fan, but because I am so busy that I really don;t have time to tune in and pay attention. This year I have been trying to stay on track and have been enjoying the games and getting back into things! It's a great time to be a fan! Go Pack!

ELF!

Ok, one of the best parts about this time of year is the great Christmas movies on TV. Elf and Grinch we watched tonight. My kids already know the "heat mizer(sp)" song and is looking forward to those movies as well. I love all these movies but my favorite of all times is It's a Wonderful Life. I tear up every time. As I get older and have gone through some things you do realize that you have ( or I have) a pretty wonderful life. I enjoy this time of year with my kids especially. To see them light up when they see the gifts under the tree is pretty awesome! They are young enough that they just love gifts and Santa is way cool! Anyway, this time of year brings back great memories of Christmas past and I look forward to the Christmas of the future!

Snow

The first snow always brings a warm feeling to me, ironic how it makes me feel warm when it;s cold. I am not a big fan of snow, I like it over Christmas then I would be happy if it was lo70's and sunny all the time! However I have great memories of being a kid and snow. We had a fire place and as kids we would sit and roast marshmellows in the fire place. We would build fun snowmen and HUGE snow houses which the whole neighborhood was in on. We had so much fun! I try to do that with my kids as well, although not a fan of the snow, I do like sleding and building snowmen. This year I need to drive to UWO for classes at night ( this week my wed night class is cancelled). I am not looking forward to driving hwy 23 but if it's only for a year it;s ok! So I guess here it goes, the first snow fall and certanily not the last... I have a feeling it will be a long winter!

Halloween

Today we had trick or treat in Plymouth. The weather was not the best, it was rainy and cold but the kids had fun!My 5 year old was a witch and my three year old was a fairy princess. They LOVE to go trick or treating. They do not eat any of the candy they just like to go and say TRICK OR TREAT! we have a great neighborhood where I usually go through about three bags ( large bags of candy). This year I have one bag left, I need to donate it this week as quickly as possible or my 10 lb weight loss will be 8 lb! yikes! Love the whole trick or treat thing, even if it is cold and wet. I want the kids to enjoy memories and build memories and a part of that is trick or treating!

Weight loss!

IT's early in the morning so I am trying to get my creative juices flowing. I joined weight watchers september 10th and so far lost 10 lbs. I've lost on ww before but never got to my goal. I have never been a size 3, nor would that look good on me, but I need to be healthy. I don't care if it takes a year, I want it off!. After my first child I lost the weight pretty fast, lots of my weight was water weight and I had surgery so I did not eat for a good two weeks after I had her ( not the healthiest) but a good way to get it off. With my second child I was sick for 7 months straight. I was in and out of the hospital a couple times. She was fine, I was not so fine. I threw up all the time and became dehydrated. After I gave birth, it felt so good to keep food down that all I did was eat! Fast forward to today and here we are. I am to the point where I really don;t care too much about impressing others, however I need to keep up with my kids and want to stay healthy for them and me. Also being a teacher you need to keep up with the kids in your classroom. Weight watchers is normal to me. You don't cut out any foods you just eat less portions and if you want to "splurge" you do. I feel better already with the loss of those 10 lbs. Holidays are coming, but I am determined to continue to loose because I know that it is hard to take it off! So I am on my way to being healthy. I want my kids to know that eating healthy and walking and running is good for you, and I need to lead by example. So cheers to another journey! A weight loss journey!!

Grandpa Lambert

It's been kind of a rough week on our family. My father in law, who we loving call Grandpa Lambert is in the hospital. He is older 82 but in some ways is younger than my own parents. He stays in shape and is sharp as a tack. He eats healthy and has a "zest" for life. He went into the hospital for "routine" knee surgery and hasn;t been out since the begining of October. Come to find out his knee is secondary to other things going on. He was dehydrated because he couldn;t swallow or eat for many days. He had an IV and ended up doing much better. Then he started having blurred vision and speech problems, well he had a mini-stroke and went into surgery last night. The Dr's drilled a hole in his head to drain to releive pressure and are waiting to see the results. He lives in Mighigan with the rest of my in laws. I actually get along with my in-laws, in fact I love them all and miss them, but our life is in Wisconsin and our home is here. As of this morning Grandpa is making sense and kind of pissed off that he is still in the hospital ( which is great, totally his personality). We are hopeful that he is out soon and acting like himself again. I know this took lots out of him so I hope he can recover, truthfully I wonder if he will come back "fully"? Anyway we are grateful he made it through and hopefully we will hear more good news the rest of the week. The toughest part of getting married at an older age is then the parents are older and I want my kids to know their grandparents. We lost my mother in law when I was pregnant with my youngest ( who is three), and my older one was 2. I pray Grandpa is around for a while so my kids will know him better. I value Grandparents in my kids lives, they get to know a whole other generation and learn things I would probably not teach them. Grandpa your in our hearts and prayers! Get well soon!

Fall weather?

I can't believe this weather! The fall colors are perfect and I had to get my summer clothes back out that I put away a couple weeks ago. This past weekend we were outside so much that it felt like it would be the absolute last time we would be out for the year. Seems funny to say it like that, but it's true. My oldest daughter who is 5 and well beyond her years asked me if Wisconsin is turning into Florida. We visit every spring break, my father in law rents a home for three months on Anna Maria Island. I said no, it was just warm outside. She could not grasp how it is fall, looks like fall but feels like summer. we played at the park, met some really nice people and grilled out! Some of my very favorite things to do in the summer. Playing in the leaves in shorts is a bit surreal, but I loved it. I am happy to dig in the back of my closet for summer clothes this past week and weekend. I hope to do it the rest of this week as well.

Tuesday October 4th

Today is my birthday. On my birthday I always reflect on some years past. I find it funny that some of my reflection brings me back to a full circle. Years ago I was in college and a traditional student. Now a mother of two, married and back to school. It has been quite a journey. If you would have told me then, that this is where I am supposed to be I would have said "no way". I was all about business, wanted a high powered carreer, didn;t want children and wasn;t sure about marriage. A lot has changed since then. After graduation I moved to chicago, went through a few jobs but settled on retail, which led me to Milwaukee, Chicago and eventually Sheboygan. I never had what I would precieve as a "high powered" job, but had a good job, made a pretty good salary and met my husband and had kids. Funny how you can have the "best" layed plans and it turns out different than what you thought. Ia am blessed to have two healthy children and a husband who loves me and a career that I am meant to have. I am an ordinary person who is lucky enough to have love surrounding her! Reflection is great, but I love the journey as well. If there is anything I learned is don;t plan things, life is like a box of chocolates, you just never know what your going to get...I think I heard that somewhere!

Reunion this past weekend

Can I still be tired from this weekend? My husband and I don;t get out much these days, but I had a high school reunion this past Saturday and got home around midnight. Some of you may think that is early, and in my previous single and no kids life, I was out til bar time...now...umm let;s just say those days are way over! we had a great time catching up with friends and I have to say my husband did a pretty good job of socializing with people he did not know very well. Like a dope I was on the committee ( like I have time for stuff like that), however I really didn;t do a whole lot, only got the DJ who is a good friend! Anyway, now I'm trying to catch up with homework, papers etc. Crazy, oh well, it was great fun and I think fun was had by all!

today's class

Hello Bloggers-Ok, so first off I need to follow the rest of you, I have not done so yet!Second I want to thank you all for your comments, I did not really want to have anything evaluated in class, but I usually jump at extra credit and it was worth it. I also want to say something about volunteering. So I am a little older than most of you ...I was the store manager of Goodwill for 10 years, and was a district manager for a resale store (of which almost all the employees are volunteers).I have had LOTS of expirence in volunteering. I was on the Brat days committee, and; a Jaycee for many years and held many different positions, was involved with Festive Fridays at the John Michael Kohler Arts center, I was an ambassedor for the chamber of commerce, sat on volunteer boards for RCS and Our Home, and in general was involved with community activities for lots of years.  I scaled down due to having children and now volunteer in the classroom, or at church. I have to tell you that my business (GW) was very successful partly because of my volunteering efforts.When I was there that store grew from a 300K year business to 1mil within 5 years.I had a great staff and lots of support, clean store, merchandised it well, but customers want to buy something from people they know. I had great donors and customers who enjoyed spending money because they knew about Goodwill through me and trusted me. The only reason I left was because they started promoting people (great) but you had to physically move ( not so great) and I had a family and could no longer move to another city. They transfered me to Fond du Lac, and the next step was Milwaukee.I needed to stay here. Anyway, while I aggree with volunteering and understand the importance of it, I personally ( due to family , work and school), can;t do more than what I am doing now, with my kids school and sunday school. The paper will be interesting to write and I will be reflecting on how I felt the first day I walked into a Jaycee meeting ( I did not know anyone...well one person kind of), and how it was terrifying, and yet made dear friends who stood up in my wedding and are dear friends to this day!! This ends my blog, gotta go and do homework!

Bit off more than I can chew??

I don;t know about you but sometimes I feel as if I bit off more than I can chew!  Today I taught Sunday School at our church and although I made it through I felt unprepared...then I started thinking wow taking this on means I need to be there every single Sunday.  Which normally I am however I would like to take a weekend and go away on a long needed date with my husband.  I think I can get a sub if need be..we shall see.  Anyway how are your schedules going?  I know most all of you have jobs, school and some have family.  It's not easy but it will be worth it in the end.   Well that;s it for now, thanks fellow bloggers! 

New post

Ok, well this is my second post and I am not sure I know what I'm doing.  So this is the second week of school.  I am traveling to UWOshkosh Tues, Wed and Thursday.  Kind of scary to me.  I am a mom and have two jobs, althought I know this is worth it, but my house well, let;s just say it;s a mess!!  Something has to give right?  Hopefully this will post!

First "test" Blog

Today was the first day of class.  This is the first time I am "blogging" (is that even a word)? so I am testing this Tuesday 9/6.