resolutions, resolutions, reso LU HU tionnnnns (think "hallelujah chorus")

[Drumroll, please]

1. Wake & go to bed at regular, reasonable times (i.e. more than an hour before school starts and well ahead of midnight, respectively)
2. Post something pithy and/or meaningful daily
3. Read a new blog each day
4. Eat a decent breakfast every morning (falling under the "Lead by example" heading)
5. Delight in my candles more often (hopefully while in a dreamy clawfoot tub...)
6. Get a clawfoot tub
7. Establish joyful a.m./p.m. tea rituals
8. Figure out some form of exercise that I can do before my heart initiates a mutiny
9. Schedule & maintain regular rendezvous with my man, this hottie here at the Ace Hotel:

10. Print my photos and make cards for every occasion, for everyone I know, in a timely manner

11. Breathe deeply & be mindful of the moments. Except the ones that make me say F*ck, I'll let them fade. After I blog about them.

it's winter break! tra la la!

Friday Fill-In time ~

1. Snow snow snow snow (it's my mantra for the next few days...).

2. I'm looking forward to sleeping in (!!!) and spending time with my kids in their classrooms.

3. My man is the best husband ever! (Sappy, I know, but it's the holidays. And I want a back rub).

4. One of my favorite old tv shows is The Dick VanDyke Show. I watched reruns every morning during the summer.

5. I'm done with feeling guilty (and perpetuating guilty feelings in others).

6. The most enjoyable thing around the holidays is egg nog & Christmas lights at night.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to dressing up & going out with my man, tomorrow my plans include a haircut (possibly something new - I've got some time to work with it before going back to school), and Sunday, I want to enjoy the Christmas service at church.

thirteen blessings in a ridiculous half-week

I was Woman on the Verge this week, but I have successfully (read: sans criminal record/with teaching job) made it to Vacation Day #1! And there are many blessings that got me here relatively unscathed:

1. A best friend, whose Monday was comparably horrible, ready to share tea, tears, and stories right after school (Thanks, Jen!), plus all the great reader friends who propped me up, too
2. Enjoying a junior high orchestra concert (wherein some of the tunes sounded like the somber string quartet in Nightmare Before Christmas, yet it was just what the psychiatrist would have ordered)
3. Inspired poems by teenagers styled after "Stopping By the Woods On A Snowy Evening"
4. Witnessing the usually checked-out students in my speech class rising to participate in an assignment
5. Listening to the lovely (or at least earnest) voices of a local girls' choir singing carols
6. Watching my best friend's frequently squirrelly first grader sitting rapt during the choir performance
7. My 7-year old daughter coming down the stairs in her black velvet pants and black t-shirt (decorated with a heart made of bones) announcing "I feel like a shadow today."
8. My son calmly & coolly completing his Moon Base model after the initial "IDON'TKNOWHOWTOPUTONTHEFOIL!" freakout
9. Digging out the jeans I decorated with my faux-edgy quotes and pictures during my freshman year of college - and fitting into them! It's a CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!
10. Two classes (20+ kids each) totally excited about playing Taboo for the entire hour & a half periods
11. Receiving an official "Welcome to the school family" present from my principal (a stained glass star in our school colors; I will hang it in my office window with utter pride)
12. Cards, chocolates, cookies, and an ornament from students
13. The train & trestle my Advocacy class created from granola bars, pretzel sticks, marshmallows, frosting and gummi bears, complete with a jumper on the top bridge beam (Merry Morbid Christmas, everyone!)

Ah. Life is good.

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thursday thirteen ~ the naughty mom playlist

Here are 13 favorite bad mom songs from my iPod. Rock on.

1. Back in Black AC/DC (how could I not?)
2. Your Body is A Wonderland John Mayer (sigh)
3. She Goes Down Billy Squier (I have no idea what it's about...Someone cleaning floors?)
4. Shake That Eminem (I know! Only with headphones. Or an empty house. Never at school.) warning: link is the expliiiicit version.
5. I Get Excited Rick Springfield (Though next to Eminem, it's like listening to Barney)
6. Surrender Sammy Hagar (I can't resist doing anything Sammy says)
7. Yeah! Usher, with Ludacris (double sigh)
8. My Doorbell White Stripes (I'm guessing, but I think there's a double meaning here)
9. You're the One That I Want Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta (I realize it borders on ridiculous to include this song in the same sentence as "naughty" but it's fun)
10. Poundcake VanHalen (Sammy again, and the drill on the guitar...MmmMmm)
11. Take Me, I'm Yours Squeeze (These guys are the nerdy unexpectedly sexy boys in class)
12. Hot in Herre Nelly (I will forgive the misspelling and the bandage because he is hot. In here.)
13. Stacy's Mom Fountains of Wayne (Overplayed, sure, but still fun. And naughty.)

More Thursday Thirteen hijinks here.

eight maids a'milking

Okay, not really but I particularly like that part of the song. This is, however, a meme about 8 things. Read on for maximum enjoyment. (Oh, and thanks to my bff Lisa for the tag - visit her!)

8 things I'm passionate about:

1. Family
2. God & all his mysterious godly parts
3. Teaching
4. Writing
5. Chocolate
6. Books
7. Movies
8. More chocolate
9. And the Cowboys (but chocolate really needed two spots)

8 things I want to do before I die:

1. Live - too vague? Fine.
2. Visit with grandchildren
3. Witness my sister's contentment
4. Attend the Academy Awards (no idea how I can do this rationally)
5. Ride dozens of awesomely terrifying rollercoasters with Stu
6. See various parts of all the continents (my plans, they are outrageously specific, no?)
7. Know the successes of former students
8. Spend a wintery week in NYC

8 things I say often:

1. Seriously.
2. Puh-lease.
3. Put a spring in your step. (These phrases seem to paint a picture of impatience...).
4. That's a bummer. (The standard Love & Logic response to all excuses, complaints, and pleas).
5. Hey, he/she/you is/are left-handed! (I don't know why I get so giddy; it's like we must band together for solidarity in an oppressive right-handed world).
6. Let me smell. (There may be something very wrong with me).
7. Can we please watch something stupid? (When I've had a long day and just want to go brain dead in front of the TV and my man is involved in cerebral Discovery channel stuff).
8. Love you to pieces.

8 books I've read recently (can "recently" reach back to January, when I was actually reading regularly? I say yes.):

1. Blindness by Jose Saramago
2. Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott
3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
4. Maximum Ride #3: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson
5. Cuba Diaries: An American Housewife in Havana by Isadora Tattlin
6. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
7. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen (in progress)
8. Redwall by Brian Jacques (in progress)

8 songs I could listen to over & over again:

1. Hey There Delilah Plain White Ts
2. Heart & Soul The Cleftones
3. Everyday I Write the Book Elvis Costello
4. Strangers When We Meet The Smithereens
5. State of the Heart Rick Springfield (Remember when I said there might be something wrong with me? Exhibit B. I am totally sweaty over this video.)
6. This Better Be Good Fountains of Wayne
7. American Girl Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
8. Apron Strings Everything But the Girl

8 things that attract me to my best friends:

1. sense of humor (well-developed & healthy)
2. intelligence
3. honesty
4. kind-hearted
5. joyful
6. do not pressure me to exercise
7. freely give chocolate
8. indulge my OCD tendencies without [much] mockery

You guys rock

People who would also do this meme:

Um. Whoever wants to, jump in & leave a comment saying you're on board. Please. Seriously.

i'm beginning to get impatient for christmas

It's that time of the week! TGIF, baby

1. I relish Christmas.

2. White (simply elegant) is my favorite colors for the Christmas tree lights.

3. The candles in the window have no bulbs (candles in the window? I don't have the energy).

4. It's A Wonderful Life is one of my most favorite Christmas movies (followed closely by Elf).

5. My favorite Christmas lyrics are "We'll pass around the coffee and the PUMPkin pie!"

6. I'm dreaming of a snow day or two.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to cleaning my house then slugging in front of the TV, tomorrow my plans include feeding teenagers during their progressive dinner party before heading to a grown-up party, and Sunday, I want to be still for eight hours in a row!

Friday Fill-Ins, so brilliant.