Random | Marriage Confessions Random | Laugh. Fight. Stay Married.

Yesterday was a long Monday for me. Nothing particularly bad happened. It was just a long, stressful day. Aren’t all Mondays?

I woke up this morning and thought, “Today is going to be better.”

Nope.

I got to daycare, dropped Bean in his classroom, and then headed to Gracie’s room, like I do every morning. Only, as I turned to leave, Gracie’s teacher stopped me and pointed out that Gracie had a little rash on her mouth. Which reminded me vaguely of a pamphlet that had been sent home last week that said something about something about hoof and mouth disease. But feeling fairly certain that Gracie did not, in fact, have hooves, I had thrown the pamphlet out.

Turns out, you don’t need hooves to have hoof and mouth disease! It has it’s own special name for making people sick – hand, foot, and mouth disease. So, they kicked Gracie out this morning until a vet could confirm that her hooves were disease free.

I was already running late for work and couldn’t take a sick day because I hadn’t put in notice for a substitute, so Chris ended up having to stay home with Gracie. That started my whole day off wrong. After that, I got to work and realized I’d forgotten anything to drink (a serious mistake when you spend all day teaching and/or yelling over loud middle schoolers), so I stopped in the teachers lounge to get a drink out of the vending machines. Only, the vending machine guy must have filled the machine wrong because when I pushed Diet Dr. Pepper, I got a real Dr. Pepper. No diet. Which normally wouldn’t have been a big deal, but I was already pissy.

So, now I’m late, out of sorts, and pissy. I was getting mail out of my school mailbox about 10 minutes later, I opened my drink as I walked and the entire bottle spewed out all over me. Perfect.

Now, I was late, out of sorts, pissy, and sticky. Great.

I got through two class periods before I finally realized the lesson I had planned for my students today was going really badly. They weren’t ready for it and so I was dragging them through the material (no fun for them or me), so very quickly before any other classes came in, I rearranged my lesson plans and threw together a better lesson that wasn’t so complex. If you’re a teacher, you understand how much changing plans in the middle of the day can really get you off kilter. Actually, I guess anyone can understand that – when you plan to do one thing and then have to change your plan midstream. It really flusters you.

So, by fifth period, I was still running perpetually late, out of sorts, irritated, sticky, and flustered.

I got to lunch and realized that I had packed the worst lunch ever. Lettuce in a bowl. Seriously. No toppings, dressing, anything. Just lettuce in the bowl. And I had forgotten a fork to eat it with. The crappy lunch is due to the fact that I must have been daydreaming for the hour I went grocery shopping this weekend because we have NO FOOD in our house! I don’t know what the heck I bought because I spent the same amount as always, but there’s nothing in the cabinets or fridge! I did things like buy more pasta (which we already have tons of), but forgot the spaghetti sauce… ????

Anyway, my bad lunch meant that I was not perpetually late, out of sorts, irritated, sticky, and hungry.

When I got home, I was so happy to see Gracie and was relieved to hear the doctor had said she did not have hand, foot, and mouth disease. However, when I put Bean to bed tonight, I did noticed a small little rash had appeared on his mouth. Freaking great.

Some days, I have it all together. I leave home without Cheerios in my hair. I get everyone to where they need to be on time and with shoes on. I feel successful and fulfilled at school. I get dinner on the table and the kids in bed at a decent time.

But then, there are the other days. Today was an other day. I would like a do-over, please.

31 comments | posted in Around the House, Jobs and Careers, Marriage Confessions, Random, Understanding Katie | tags: bad days, life

I have had the same signature since I was in college. I sign with my first initial and then my last name. I started with the first initial thing because my maiden name was long and my formal first name is long and, quite frankly, I just couldn’t make my signature look cute. Shallow, but true. That long signature was just so hard to write. Instead of it being bubbly and happy, like I wanted my signature to be, it was the definition of chicken scratch. It just didn’t look good. And I got tired writing it. It was too long.

(Yes, I know I sound like a middle schooler. Blame it on my day job.)

So, I cut it down to my first initial and my last name. When I got married, my last name became even shorter and so did my signature. Now, my signature really looks like a KB and then the rest is undetectable. Apparently, the shorter my name gets, the lazier I become.

(This picture doesn’t have anything to do with my signature, by the way. It’s just the most recent picture of me. On a side note, to my side note, doesn’t it look like my head isn’t connected to my body?!?!)

This week, though, I was at the local library and I had to sign something. When I signed my name, the two older women behind the desk started having a private conversation right there in front of me about signatures of young people today.

“What kind of signature is that?” one said to the other, holding up my paperwork so she could see it better.

“It’s her initial and last name,” the other replied. “It’s how all the young people are signing their name these days.”

“Well, that’s not a signature!” the first chirped. “That’s just her initials!”

“I know,” said the second. “But they count it as a signature, so I guess we have to take it.”

This wasn’t the first time I’d heard that about my signature. My mom used to get on to me when I was younger for not signing my whole name. She works for a bank, so she’s always insisting that what I sign isn’t “officially” a signature. But, you know moms… So, I usually just blew her off and rolled my eyes.

But, after all this time, was she actually right????

So, I came home and told Chris what the women had said about my signature. He laughed and then said that he’d always thought my signature looked like a little kid’s initials.

So, apparently, I’ve been walking around for ten years signing my name like a child and no one told me. Thank goodness those little old librarian ladies set me straight. This has left me walking around for the past week like a middle schooler (day job again…), trying out my signature in all different ways. Finally, I thought I found the right one, but when I used it today at school?

Chicken scratch. And then my hand got tired.

Just like in college.

It’s amazing how far we come and, yet, how much we are still the same. (sigh)

Respectfully yours,
KB
*****

Marriage Confessions has been nominated by the Bloggies for Best Topical Blog and Weblog of the Year. Voting is open from now until February 19!

31 comments | posted in Changes, Fun Things, Just for Fun, Marriage Confessions, Random | tags: growing up, signatures

1. This week is a three-day work week for me. We had today off for MLK and Friday is a teacher planning day. Tuesday through Thursday are semester exams at my school, so I’ll have a pretty light work week even when I am working because my students will be taking exams all week. I’m mean and am giving them a two part exam. I have heard much complaining. Much.

2. Chris is at work until late and Gracie went to bed early tonight, so I let Bean Man stay up with me until way past his bedtime. We played with blocks and his train set for a long time. While we were playing, I had him help me organize all his toys. I found some plastic bins with lids and we made one bin for trains, one for blocks, one for cars, one for flashcards and puzzles, and one for figurines (Bean calls them his “guys”). He loves to sort, so he had a really good time putting everything into the right bins. I had been planning to go through his room and do this when he was gone one day because I figured it would be a real battle, but he really liked our cleaning “game.” I hope that helps him keep his room a little cleaner, but that’s probably real wishful thinking…

3. Today I took the kids to daycare even though I had the day off. I know. I felt like a jerk. But I needed to work on a writing thing (full confession: I’m working with my agent on my book again and it feels really good to be back at it…), so I took the kids to daycare to give me some quiet time. Later in the day, I met my friend Sarah for lunch and then a long, leisurely trip to Ikea for, basically, nothing. We came back to her house and sat on the couch and just talked for another hour and a half. I can’t remember the last time I had an afternoon with a girlfriend like that. No husbands, no kids, no plans. It was really great and it made me miss my friendships before I had kids.

(Is it wrong to say that out loud?)

4. My hair is longer than it has ever been and I am dying to straighten it to see how long it REALLY is. But it takes a long time to straighten my hair. It’s a whole process. First, I have to wash it and then dry it, which takes about half an hour. Then I have to talk nice to it while I load it down with product, before I finally start straightening. And the straightening takes half an hour to 45 minutes itself. I either have to have something really important to go to where I want to look like an adult and not like one of my students or I have to have a lot of time on my hands before I straighten my hair. Unfortunately, I have neither of those things right now and so my hair remains curly and feather-like.

5. I just found Glee on Netflicks and I am addicted. But it’s the same addiction I had when I read Twilight. I don’t think I even really like it, but I can’t stop watching it! It annoys me and I think the plot is stupid and I hate spontaneous singing. And, yet, I am on Season Two already in about three days! I can’t stop! I’m annoyed with myself! I seriously think that 90% of the reason I keep watching is just to see what Emma is wearing. She has the best clothes and accessories! Those 60′s floral necklaces she wears? To die for!

6. Gracie is cutting three teeth right now and you would honestly think that she was eating her own arm off. She has learned how to screech and scream and she now randomly screams out like she’s dying. I feel really bad for her, but GOOD LORD, GRACIE! Settle down, woman! I’ve learned though from surviving Bean’s teething and now going through Gracie’s ear-piercing screams that the best soothing cure for teething babies is to get them out of the house. So, this afternoon after I got the kids home, we took a blanket out to the backyard and sat in the sunshine for a while. All that stimulation helped Gracie forget that giant teeth were bursting through her little gums. When Chris got home for an hour dinner break, he came home and played with us, too. It was a great afternoon and we were all hungry and happy by the time we came back inside.

16 comments | posted in Around the House, Family, Fun Things, Just for Fun, Marriage Confessions, Random | tags:

1. I am finally getting up the courage to wear leggings and I think they are going out of style. Are they going out of style? I feel like I haven’t seen them in a while, but maybe I’m just missing them. I always miss trends by two or three months.

2. I just finished reading “Little Bee,” by Chris Cleave. It was so good. It’s a lot like “The Kite Runner,” if you read that one. You don’t REALLY want to know what is happening because it is so heartbreaking, but yet you can’t stop reading! It is incredibly well written. If you’re looking for something to read, I highly recommend that one.

3. I blogged this week over at Southern Weddings about mine and Chris’s New Years resolutions as a couple. We have occasional “State of Our Union” dinners and we usually kick off the New Year with one where we set our goals and priorities for our marriage for the upcoming year. For tips on how to have your own “State of the Union” dinner or conversation, be sure to go check it out. (And then leave me some comment love…)

4. Today I booked our air travel with the travel agent for our trip to Costa Rica in March. I am so freaking excited. I haven’t blogged or even talked too much about it though because I am so afraid something will go wrong and I won’t be able to take the trip or something. I think I’m just nervous and can’t believe we won something so incredible! I’ll feel better once I have my passport (yes, I had to apply for a new passport so I could take this trip and, naturally, it is taking FOREVER to get it back!) and our plane tickets in hand!

5. I am on Day Three of cutting soda out of my diet and I think I am going to die. I miss my Diet Dr. Pepper! I miss it so much! By 2:00 in the afternoon, I am craving caffeine. But I have been a good girl and have resisted and am only drinking water instead. It sucks. I hate it. But I’m doing it because I’m supposed to feel good…or WHATEVER.

6. My friend, Sarah, is doing this whole “refreshing our lifestyle” resolution thing with me and so yesterday she dragged me to a yoga class. I hadn’t been to yoga in four or five years and I had forgotten how much I love it. Even my mind felt better by the time the class had ended. Of course, this morning at school when I raised my arm to write on the board, I thought my arm was going to fall off because it was so sore. Hopefully, that’s a muscle growing in there!

7. My kids are the coolest. Hands down. They are the coolest people I know. I have so much fun with them. Bean and Gracie are starting to play together a little and it just melts my heart. Gracie got a tea set for Christmas and Bean has spent the past two days sitting down with her, drinking tea. He gets really frustrated that she doesn’t know how to hold the cup. She just gives this warrior cry and hurls something across the room. It’s pretty entertaining to watch, actually. I went back to work today for the first time in two weeks and I really missed them. Bean cried when I dropped him at daycare this morning and I kind of wanted to, too. I miss those boogers when they aren’t with me!

8. At Christmas, I stole a really warm, super soft fleece blanket from my sister’s house and I have to mail it back this week. I will be very sorry to see it go. If she was a good sister, she’d insist that I keep it… (hint, hint)

9. We had taco night tonight and to trick Bean into eating some of it, I told him the black beans were boiled peanuts. He loves peanuts. As soon as I said that, he started eating black beans by the handful. Mom wins. I love when I outsmart a two year old. Surprisingly, that doesn’t happen often…

10. It’s that time of year again, imaginary friends. The Bloggies are upon us. Every year I cringe at the thought of asking for you all to go vote, but, alas, here I am again. Asking you to go vote. This year they have added a new category called “Best Parenting or Family Weblog,” and I think that’s the category I fit best into. Why are the Bloggies so important, you may ask? Well, if you’re a blogger who makes money off of their blog, like me, then it’s a fantastic way to get your numbers up, which generates more revenue. It also looks really great to publishers for someone who might possibly be working on their book in super secret right now. So, if you’re feeling generous, head over to the Bloggies website and drop a vote for me into the Parenting or Family Weblog category. Then, if you’re feeling extra nice, Tweet it, Facebook it, blog it, tell your Grandma about it, and just generally spread the word that you know this super lame blogger who is asking for votes. It would be much appreciated. (P.S. I’m going to ask you to do this all again if I’m nominated. So, you have that to look forward to…)

Namaste.

17 comments | posted in Fun Things, Just for Fun, Marriage Confessions, Out and About, Random, Southern Weddings | tags: