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Hang in there, Christie. I am sure there is a nice job for you out there.

I don't know if this is done in education industry, but have you thought about mailing your resumes to schools/school districts even before jobs are posted. I found 2 of my previous job this way. I opened yellow pages and just started mailing resumes to companies that looked good. If a school already has your resume, they will not need to spend the money posting a job that you would qualify for. Then, you can also apply when the jobs in the paper start appearing.

Hi Mom's

Today was another rough day at work. It is unbelievable how they treat me, but the end is starting to feel like it might start to wind down. Jobs should start to be posted in the paper soon and that will keep me busy sending them out, but I am trying to trust God to give me my dream job. I am in the desert and trying to learn what He wants me too and I don't like it very much.

I have gained 2 lbs from eating badly but I am working out. I am going to try hard to work out five days this week...we shall see.

I did beat my fitness minutes from last January so I feel pretty good about that.

Have a good night. Sorry it took so long for me to post.

happy birthday olga.
Janet congrats on your little hero. I hope he stays that way for ya.
Well i am taking a soak in the hot tub and just havng a glass of water with an orange slice. yum(thought i would mix it up hehe) gotta love those cabana boys
ok ladies have to go make dinner
Lu

Olga~I looked at the Canon's and you should be pleased with your photos. Is it digital or film?

Today has been another WONDERFUL day!

Oh, yea...camera.

We got Canon PowerShot SD780. We will probably develop pictures this coming weekend and I will let you know how they come out.

Sounds like Isaac is growing up. I hope you today is a great day for you, Janet.

Good morning ladies,

Haven't been to visit my spark buddies for several days... see my blog for the reason. Wish I could clone myself; I need at least 2 more of me to handle everything!! I'd run away and join the circus if I wasn't too old.... hehe. Maybe the cabana boys can help me out.

Happy belated birthday, Olga!

Have a great day, Moms!!!

A wonderful, wonderful day!!!! My hubby came in from barnyard chores tonight and said, "I had a good conversation with Isaac. He told me he was your hero today." So ladies what that meant is the talk that dh had with ds last night at bedtime stuck! They are reading a book about being a Hero for God but since Tim knew what has been going on around our house with Isaac's attitude and me he pushed it further. He challenged him to become mom's hero! I thought it was so sweet and I made sure to let Isaac know tonight as I tucked him in that he was my hero today as he had helped make it a very good day.

Olga - Happy Belated Birthday. I remember the last class that I took (for exercise I won't say how long ago) I never did really relax the first class, but it does get easier. Congrats on the 3rd place science fair. I can't remember how old your young'un is, but it sounds like she is a great child.

Janet - I hope you have a great night and a great tomorrow.

Olga~Well, if I would just read closer I would see that your birthday was YESTERDAY. Silly me.... I still want to know what type of camera you got. I received a Sony Cybershot for mine and I love it!

Glad you had a good day, Janet.

Olga~Happy Birthday belated! (When is the actual day so I can put it in my calendar for events?) Congrats on the new camera! What kind is it? And hooray for a fun yoga class and for your daughter placing 3rd in the Science Fair!

I've had a GREAT day and it feels like it was a long time coming after last week. LOL Loving it!

I forgot to tell you all that I has my first yoga class yesterday. It was a lot of fun. I found out something about myself. I can't relax. It took me almost the whole class, hour and half, to finally relax enough to enjoy myself. When I finally relaxed, the class as over. Hopefully with more classes, I will be able to relax much faster.



Edited by: OLGAINTX at: 1/25/2010 (17:15)

Happy Monday!!!

It was my b-day yesterday and my family finally got me a new camera. Woo Hoo!! I have been wanting one for years and it has a stamp date right on the pictures. Yea!!! My family took me to a fancy Brazilian all you can eat meat restaurant. Totally not worth the all you can eat price for me. How much meat can a person eat? I am more of a salad person anyway. But, it was very nice and we used the new camera. :)

My daughter got 3rd place in her school's science fair. She did a study of how BMI effects heart rate. She also got her first ballet point shoes. It was sooo cute. I think getting point shoes was the best thing that ever happened to her.

It's back to winter weather in TX. It will go down to freezing again this week.

Well, that's it for news from TX. Have a great week, Mommies.

Good morning everyone! Woke up to gray clouds and rain and now the sun is shining brightly. I'll take the sun over the other today!

School was uneventful with little boy today and I'm saying as I really, really needed that to happen! ds kept his daddy and I so tired of discipline all weekend. Today we're going to start our Valentine unit and tomorrow I'll begin throwing in some stuff for the winter Olympics. We're still growing our bean plants (put them in a pot of dirt today) and the pumpkin has finally broken the surface after two weeks.

I really had a bad week of getting the exercise in last week but today it will get back on track. I did do fairly well with my food choices other than craving salt this weekend. I know part of that was related to TOM.

An excited thing is that I did try a new gluten-free bread in my bread machine and it is WONDERFUL. Naturally it is a heavy bread but it has wonderful flavor and was yummy toasted with some margarine and jelly! I can see having a sandwich once in awhile now that won't make my stomach sick! Yeah!

Good Day LIL Mommies,

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and no one is horribly effected (or is that affected?) by the weather. It was wet this morning, but the wind is blowing and drying it up fairly quickly.

WARNING - THE REST OF THIS POST IS BORING AND PROBABLY NOT WORTH THE EFFORT OF READING!

I found out the the mom that is in charge of the fundraising for graduation was dragged kicking and screaming into it. She doesn't think that people deserve a reward just for showing up. I told her that his is how the world works today. She just signed up her daughter for t-ball and I told her that she would get a trophy just for playing.

I really like wearing dress clothes and making caps. I think buying caps and gowns is a bit ridiculous, but apparently that is what the school wants. I don't think I have mentioned, it is a Private V-PK but paid for by the state. According to my SIL who owns a daycare that has VPK (but which is too far away), they are not supposed to ever even ask us for anything like supplies and yet they have a huge list we are supposed to bring in every three months. Not that I really mind bringing in some supplies because usually I don't. However, they did have everyone sign up to donate a bunch of stuff in early Nov, most of which I have never seen used. If I weren't so lazy (and worried that my vehicle is going to break down), I probably would have found another one for him to go to. It's only a mile from my house which is extremely convenient.

Oh well, sorry about that rant. It is just a bit annoying sometimes (Just like most of you probably feel about the post.)

Candi~I so hear that about the bathroom! LOL

Having a nice Sunday. Nothing huge and exciting, but a nice day.

I can so totally relate to the last time going to the bathroom without someone following me. What fun!

Morning Moms!
I'm sitting here wondering when I got to go to the bathroom without someone following me in there? Must have at least been 5 years ago!lol If it isn't James it's one of the dogs! This house isn't big enough today for some reason.
Sun is shining. Need to walk the dogs. Need to go out to play with James but it is still so muddy.
Well, hope you all have a great week!

hi girls
just stoppin by to say high and get another soak in at the hot tub. I actually and going to be bad and have an ice cold beer!!! cabana hoy......... aaaaahhhh
cynedra, is it a prek program or kinder wither way, i do agree with you on why do they need to have a fundraiser. What do they want to buy???
ok chicks have a great nite, didnt realize it was past 9
Lu

I made a great long post, but apparently it was eaten by the computer. So, I'm just going to say HI and Have a great Sunday.

As a teacher and now a parent, I can say that these "graduations" or "moving up ceremonies" are very important to the kids and I do believe form a rite of passage from one part of their young lives to the next. I am waiting for Nason's "graduation" next year from preschool to kindergartern with mingled feelings...my baby is growing up!

My first teacher-parent-conference is Monday.

Wow, my own children went to a private preschool. They put folding chairs in the commons turned one of the rocking boats upsidedown for the step up on stage, made mortar boards from bowl and paper plates. Everyone had cookies and punch afterwards. Cost nothing, value... priceless.

When my kindergarteners have their "Celebration" (We don't even like the term graduation... it's their first big school experience for heaven's sake. graduate from what it's the beginning...) at the end of the year we practice about 6 songs with hand movements. We reserve the auditorium at the High School (we have no stage at the elementary) and all 75 kindergarteners can invite as many family members as they want. Everyone wears their Sunday best (we wear uniforms so this is a big deal) we sing, we dance, we clap, the teachers show a "slideshow" we create from photos taken through out the year.

After the ceremony, we share our portfolio boxes... painted pizza boxes with items saved from throughout the year. Everyone goes home. Again cost nothing... value priceless.

and as Forest Gump says, "That's all I have to say about that."

I agree...fundraising for a 4 & 5 year old "ceremony" is a little over the top!

Botox for headaches? Really? Why? Never heard of that before!

Had a good day at Friday School. Class went easily and then I was able to just sit with other moms and chat and actually got about a dozen stitches done on the cross-stitch. Got home and started school about 1:30 and naturally the boy child chose to fight again. UGH! I kept my cool and he lost his favorite army helicopter (it's big...thought I'd try that and see if mattered) and one of the men that goes with it. (Yes...he lost the man AFTER the helicopter.) He was very sad about it and hopefully one day he'll realize I don't even want to lose the first thing. Giving away his prized toys is harder on me and hubby I think! Tonight we're clearing out the frig for supper so nobody will be happy except me as I'm going straight for the cut veggies!

I also made it to the library to get books for our new unit studies (Winter Olympics and Valentine's Day). Came home and placed requests for books I couldn't find. Tonight I plan to cross-stitch a bit more at some point.

I hope they will provide something more than just cake and cookies. Let us know how it goes.

Olga - You do not talk to much when you long in. I'm okay with a ceremony, but having to do fundraising for it seems lame. They are 4 and 5 - a simple ceremony with cake and cookies would be perfect. I don't know, I just don't understand it. I guess I will wait and see.

Hi Mommies. Happy Friday.

I am so glad it's Friday. It was a very stressful day for me yesterday and I am still tired today. Some will not believe this, but I had Botox for my migraines yesterday. My Dr injected Botox into my head and neck to stop my headaches. I don't know if it will work as it does not work for all, but it sure stressed me out. The doctor that does it is very far away from me. So, it took me 45 minutes to get to his office and then I had to wait for 45 minutes for him and then this shots really hurt. I was in a hurry to get to work. By the time I got back to work, I was all stressed and anxious and tired. And, I am still tired today. Hopefully, I can get some rest this weekend.

My son had a very cute ceremony for his kindergarten graduation. He was in private pre-school, so he was actually leaving the school to go to 1st grade public school. School already had hats and gowns for the kids, so we didn't have to buy. It was sooo cute. They gave each student a diploma and of course cake and cookies. They had a program where they sang songs. Parents brought cookies and school provided cake. No additional money involved.

When my son graduated 5th grade to move on to middle school, he also had a ceremony. School provided cake and punch. The kids had to dress up nice and also got graduation diplomas and they did a slide show where we could see etch child as a baby and then in 1st grade to see how they have grown. It was also very nice.

I know I talk too much when I log in. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Take care.

Cabana boys...come on over, darlings. I need you.

Happy Friday Ladies!

At least I hope it is a Happy Friday. Even though this was a short week as DH had Monday off, it has seemed incredibly wrong. It is too wet to let the boys play in the backyard, so we may be going for a walk instead hopefully. L had only one bad day at school this week which is good for him.

Then the fun thing. They sent home a flyer for fund raising ideas and volunteers to raise money for their graduation in June. It is a graduation for 4 and 5 year olds, how much money do they really need? Maybe, it is just me. The thing is the mother that I usually agree with stuff on is the one who is heading the whole operation. (Maybe its the difference between being the mom of girls vs. boys.) I asked L if he wanted a big thing or if he just wanted to be done. I just want to be done, Mom. I'm curious what type of ceremonies your children participated in.

I am sitting here shoving pretzels into my mouth...feeling tired and overwhelmed. I am taking a break now...so I can sleep. The work load ebbs and flows...but at least it is Friday tomorrow and I did exercise.

I am OK...just pooped!

Cynedra~That's interesting that you can't see the difference with the 3D. We really enjoyed it and I'm glad we had already seen it without the effects so we could enjoy the effects. Neither of us had ever been to a 3D movie before so it was a fun date night.

Christie~Sorry you got hit with a mountain of paperwork.

We have to go pick up the kids in about 20 minutes and then my plan is to watch Raymond reruns and cross-stitch. I've given the thumbs 3 nights off and I need to get back to it a little.

I wanted to make sure that I popped in to say hello! Work slammed me with tons of paperwork due tomorrow. I need to exercise tonight (somehow gained weight this week) and still am doing laundry. I miss having time to chat...but I am here for all of you!

Lu - I'm getting in that hot tub too. Sounds wonderful, and tell the cabana boy I could use another drink. I'd like a strawberry margarita, but I will stick with to my water with lime.

Janet - I hope you enjoy the movie. DH and I don't have luck with 3D movies. He's blind in one eye (at least as far as forward vision goes) so that ruins it for him. For some reason, I don't see the difference either - haven't figured that one out. Sounds horrible but I wish we could get someone to watch the kids so we could go out. I hoping maybe my mom can come over on the 14th, that the weather will be good, and DH and I can pack a lunch and go hiking. (that's a lot of hoping).

L was fairly good today - he was good at school anyway, but a bit fussy for a while after he got home. S is just a mess lately. When DH got home, I hit the treadmill b/c I needed the time away even if it was just 20 feet onto the screened in porch.

Lu~I am on my way to share some fun with you at the hot tub!! I will request another shoulder massage and take advantage of that fresh lime water again. Thanks for the invite! And you'll be VERY pleased with our February location.... think warmth, lots of sunshine, cabana boys, ocean breezes.... (Your co-leaders have agreed to plan different month outings and I got February and found a place I knew I would enjoy right now!)

I am doing MUCH better today. It was just a very tough & rough day as Lu put it and I'm thankful things are smoother today. TOM started and the hormone shift has been a blessing (I've never had it this badly as the last couple of cycles! Gotta love perimenopause!) and I was able to defuse my son's choice to try and control the situation during math easily and without emotion. Whew! He did me a favor and played his second card so I now have confirmation of another thing I felt he was doing. Very helpful information! We ran 2 hours worth of errands and then stopped at McD's for lunch. My only mistake there was having a burger instead of a salad, but today is not the day to tell TOM "no." LOL Another joy today...the scale was down another pound and that's a miracle when I typically gain 2-3 when TOM is beginning! Means I should see another drop by the middle of next week and I am getting very close to seeing a set of numbers that have been elusive for years!

Kids head to grandma's in a couple of hours and dh and I are going to go see The Christmas Story in 3D at the $2 theater. We saw it the "normal" way last month and thought if we had the chance to see 3D we would do it as neither of us has ever seen a movie in that format before. I was feeling a bit sick from the regular format at parts so I can only imagine!

Glad to feel like I'm back and ready to Spark today!

Janet, i think you may need another massage from the cabana boys. it sounds like you had a very tough and rough day yesterday.
hope everyone is doing good. any word on where we are going in february, we need to shake our boodies hehe. Hey, i see a couple of cabana boys carrying a portable hottub over here. HEY JANET come on in the water is great, it will melt all your troubles away., And you other ladies, there is plenty of room and unlimited choices of beverages. woooooohooooooo
CABANA BOYS RULE!!!!!!!
hehe have a great one ladies
Lu

Janet & Olga - Congrats to you both for your daughters' achievements. The pointe and the wanting to help that is great.

L was a handful yesterday and then some and shows signs of continuing the same way today. S is 2 so he is a handful every day. It took L forever to toilet train because he just didn't get it. S, on the other hand, I believe really gets it, he just doesn't want to be bothered. Oh well. I'm sure he won't start Pre-K or K still in diapers.

Cynedra~The cabana boys also know how to give a great shoulder massage. I too enjoyed their fresh lime water this afternoon.

Olga~That's so neat about your daughter being strong enough for pointe! Quite an achievement.

We are still just paying attention regarding Haiti orphans. At this time things are such a mess that it is not even possible to consider. Still trying to piece families together before they can know who is without. Just breaks my heart! Not only for the scared children and families that are separated or finding out they've lost precious people but for the families in other countries that were so close to adopting orphans and now they don't know when or if they will be able to from Haiti. Just keep praying!

My day has just not been pleasant and after such a rough morning I've just felt a bit depressed and tired. TOM is about to break loose and I'm glad because that will help the emotional shift. I've tried to keep some distance from ds just because my tolerance level with him is very low today. He's even pushing hubby tonight and that's rare!

I really don't want to go sit in a class with 4 & 5 year olds tonight at church....the end of March can't come soon enough! I really, really need my ladies Bible study time! Anyway, my daughter has asked if she can help me and I am going to let her. She would have fun in her class as well, but as she said "I know the stuff we're doing so it gets a little boring." I understand that!

Edited by: DETERMINEDJANET at: 1/20/2010 (20:29)

Hi all. I have not been around for days and I missed so much.

Christie, I am so sorry about the job. It was not the job for you after all. There is something better out there for you.

Janet, when you mentioned adopting some of the orphans from Haiti, I actually started crying here at work. You and hour family have such big hearts.

DD made it to Point. She was evaluated in ballet and they said she possessed maturity, knowledge and body strength to go on Point shoes. I am so proud of her. We are going to buy her first point shoes this Saturday and I can't wait. I am just as excited as she is.

My older boy had major attitude today as well.

Did you know the cabana boys find the freshest water and put in the nicest slices of lime? Six glasses down.

I agree Cynedra.... let's get the party started!

Starting off to be a typical day here. School, errands, exercise, church and a boy with an attitude. Lovely huh? Getting soooo old this attitude and my TOM hormones aren't wanting to deal with it either.

Here's hoping that everyone is the storms stay safe and dry. Here's hoping that the latest aftershock didn't cause too much more problems or damages.

Janet - I hope all went well with school and ballet and getting your own time in.

Okay, it is entirely too quiet around here, so I am going to call in the cabana boys to liven things up - provided nobody minds. All right boys make us smile.

Today we are trying to get school accomplished before Amy and her girls arrive for play/lunch. After they go home (usually around 2) we need to head to the bank. dd has ballet at 4:00 so my goal is to get walking in sometime after the bank and before ballet.

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Good morning everyone. I should be vacuuming at the moment, or doing bookkeeping, but wanted to check in and say hi. My goal today is to do my c25k walk/run. I think I will definitely repeat week one of it. I need to wait until my laundry is done so I can wear my best socks for it though. Try to have a great day.

I missed a couple of SP Anniversaries. Head over to our celebration thread and see who is having a belated celebration!

I made it here!

Candi: Will write back..promise!

I just finished writing my Christmas thank you's today! And I did a zillion loads of laundry and ate WAY over my calories...boy am I tired!

I miss you all...

I guess the part I dread about mowing once it begins is that it is every week and takes almost 2 hours each time. I will look to the part of "by myself" for that chore. LOL

I did get the card finished and walked so 2 out of 3 goals completed today! I am off to work on food prep in a few minutes.

Janet - I have totally been there and done that with the sore thumbs from cross stitching. I actually love mowing. It is a nice quiet time where DH HAS to watch the boys. I think though that it will be another six weeks or so before I need to do it again. Then probably every two to three weeks until the summer thunderstorms start.

We just got back from taking the boys bike riding. It has been a while since I rode that long (which wasn't really that long - total about 6 miles, but usually only do a mile or two at L rate of speed. I got all my fitness minutes in today.

I hope everyone is doing okay. Kind of quiet around.

Candi~Glad you're back too!

Cynedra~Mowing? I am SO not ready for that chore!

We're finishing up independent school work and then will do a little more on plants today. I need to get busy putting our Olympics and Valentine's units together as I need something new next week.

Other plans for the day include getting the card made to ship a package to my niece for her baby shower, walking on the treadmill and working on dinner for tonight and the casserole for tomorrow's lunch. I've been enjoying getting so much done on the cross-stitch but I've overdone it and my thumb joints are aching. I'll have to cut down on the time spent so they have time to recover!

Good morning Mommies, well it is almost afternoon now. I have to go pick up L from VPK in a few minutes. DH has day off for MLKJR Day and I was able to mow the lawn this morning. It was more mowing a few scraggly weeds and oak runners and mulching than mowing grass, but it took 70 minutes, which counts as exercise. Woo Hoo. The scale seems to have stalled, but I've upped the exercise so I am going to assume that I am adding muscle.

Gotta run.

Wanted to drop in and say Hi! My computer has been down here at home for a couple of weeks! Glad to be back!

Christie - I hope your cold ends soon. I spent about two weeks not cross stitching because my nose was so horrible from a cold.

Janet - Good luck with the adoption. A place near here (that DH has done some work for) raises and teaches others to raise fish. Last weekend they lost all their fish here from the cold. They have also put in some of their tanks at two orphanages in Haiti. Last I heard, they hadn't been able to contact them to see if the children and the fish tanks (the food for the orphanage) had survived.

Other than a few articles, I'm not following the stuff too much. Doing lots and lots of prayers, but not much else I can do.

Did a walk this morning, but still need to do my C25k workout yet. I need to go unjoin the Bootcamp. I was pumped to start it, but the first day the exercise was with a ball - I don't have that, and at the time didn't have the mindset to improvise.