Is anyone still out there? I've probably lost all two of my readers with my recent lack of blogging. But I'm back and better than ever (maybe?)! This post will be what my principal calls a "scroller". She warns us frequently to not send scroller emails, but it's been awhile, dear blog of mine, and I've got things to say!
We had a great Thanksgiving in Sugar Land! We got to spend lots of time with family and it was wonderful. There were around 25 people at Thanksgiving dinner at Cam's grandparents and it was so fun! I really love the big family get-togethers. We don't really have those in my family anymore and while I love quiet holidays with my family, it can be really fun to have everyone in the extended family all together at once! The food was delicious - I swear there was every possible side dish you could imagine. When we got back to Austin on Saturday, we spent the evening with my family and had some yummy leftovers! My mom's dressing is my favorite thing ever, and she froze a batch for me! To quote my Daddy, it was so good "it made me want to smack my mouth!"
We got to spend lots of time with our nephew Logan, who is turning 1 this week (how is that even possible?!). Jennifer and I kept him while everyone else went to the UT/A&M game and he is just such a sweetheart. He is walking everywhere now and into everything! So much fun!
Speaking of that little football game, I'm really proud of my Longhorns! We didn't have our best game, but both sides played their hearts out and showed what a great rivalry it is. I was really happy for Case McCoy and the rest of the team - Case's uniform at the end of that game was such a symbol of how hard he has worked all season. All that being said, I am happy UT and A&M are done playing each other for now. The one day a year it's hard to be a house divided is Thanksgiving! Cam and I don't really get into the rivalry thing as much as others do, but it is still stressful. Cam is a football fanatic and a die-hard Aggie fan. We try to support each other's team when they're not playing each other. It's just not as much fun cheering for your team when you know that your husband is going to be miserable if they win, and vice versa. Plus I have a problem with a football game on Thanksgiving! Cam was gone from about 3 in the afternoon until 3 in the morning and while I'm happy he got to go, I missed spending the whole day with my hubby. To me, Thansgiving is a day about family, and the game should be on Friday. Maybe it will be fun to start playing again in a few years, once absence has made the heart grow fonder between the two teams, but right now I think there's just too much bitterness. As a third-generation Longhorn, I get the tradition and rivalry, but that's just my two cents on the issue!
I am so glad my Christmas shopping is done! I think I subconciously did that in preparation for the madness of the three weeks of school between Thanksgiving and Christmas break. Work is bananas right now! There is just a lot of stress and pressure right now and not very much time. I cannot wait to have a break in a couple weeks! At the end of the last two weeks, I've come home from work and realized my jaw is so tense that it hurts! Without even realizing it, I am grinding my teeth and holding my jaw so tight all day at work due to stress! I've heard of people doing this at night when they're sleeping, and I know you can buy mouth guards to sleep in, but what about during the day?!?
My sister and Corey gave me a giftcard for a massage for my birthday and I had it today! It was so nice and relaxing, and very much-needed. Thanks y'all!
I'm making red velvet cake balls today! They are in the freezer right now. I can't wait to see how they turn out! I have really gotten into baking this year - it's creative, relaxing, and I enjoy it so much. I've perfected the art of the sugar cookie, which used to be really hard for me to make for some reason. I have a dream of having a little in-home bakery where I bake things and sell them to local restaurants while I raise my babies at home!
I hope you're having a great weekend! Whatever you're doing, make it merry! :)
-I'm so looking forward to Thanksgiving! It's such a special day and I love the meaning and history behind it. My birthday is the week before Turkey Day, so from then until Christmas, I'm pretty much in celebration mode. It's the most wonderful time of the year!-Speaking of birthdays, Cam and I went to see Morrissey in concert this week for my birthday. It was a great show! Morrissey was awesome live and he is such a character. He's too cantankerous to play many of his hit songs live, but it was an amazing show nonetheless. Our friends Elena & Theo were sitting two rows ahead of us and we hung out with them before the concert, which was fun. I have to say that Bass Concert Hall is my favorite venue ever! Our seats were awesome and I just love it there. Doesn't hurt that it's on the campus of my alma mater either. -Are you watching the new Beavis & Butthead? Probably not, but Cam and I are and it's amazing. I watched this show pretty religiously as a middle schooler. My Dad even took me to see the movie when it came out. Everything is exactly the same - they're still in high school, still wearing the same outfits, but now they watch current-day shows and music videos. As you can see, I'm super mature - ha!!-I finished my Christmas shopping! I started Sunday before last and Cam & I finished last Sunday. I've never been done this early - usually I don't start until around Thanksgiving. It all started with a really good sale and then it was like I was on a mission to finish. It's a good thing too because this December is going to be crazy busy, so I'm glad to have my shopping taken care of!-Cam & I booked a little anniversary getaway and we're so excited! We're going to stay at the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort in Bastrop. It worked out pretty perfectly because we're going to a wedding in Houston the Saturday before Christmas, so on our way home that Sunday, we're going to stop in Bastrop and stay the night. It's supposed to be an amazing place, they were having a sale, and I love the idea of spending a little money to help the economy in a place that has been through so much in the last few months like Bastrop has.
Warning: This post is just me venting. It's not happy or positive or anything like that.In the past two weeks the following things have happened at school:Today I wore a cute outfit to work. I'm not one to brag, but this black and white jacket-dress is one of my favorite things ever, and it was finally cold enough to break out the black leggings and boots. I felt good! That was until a girl in one of my afternoon classes came up to me and told me I looked like Minnie Mouse. Just what every grown woman wants to hear, right? Last week a kid I don't even have as a student walked up to me in the hall and got really close to my face (he has issues and is special needs, which is why I shouldn't even take this to heart, but whatevs). He told me I had something on my face. Naturally I put my hand up to my face to wipe whatever it was off, and then he told me that it looked like a pimple that was about to pop. And the piece de resistance was when another teacher and I were talking to each other at the beginning of a class recently. This teacher is my work "bestie" and she is a year older than me. One of my rather clueless students (who is new and didn't know who this other teacher was) came up to us, looked at us for a second, and the proceeded to ask me if I was my friend's mother. Seriously? Is this my life? Am I working in bizarro world? I know they're just kids, but after awhile it gets old. And the sad thing is they're probably trying to be cute/funny, but they should know better at this age. And while we're at it, I've noticed another thing about this generation. Very few of them say thank you. For anything. Whether it's giving them a pencil or giving them an extra point they need to pass my class for the six weeks, gratitude is not in their lexicon. And it offends every bit of my Southern sensibilities. Yes, I'm being super sensitive. I'll be better tomorrow - I promise. I just have to get this out. Is it the weekend yet?
Come March, we will have a NIECE! Lizzie's ultrasound was Wednesday and it was such an amazing experience! They confirmed my suspicion that it was a girl and said she is perfectly healthy, which is wonderful in itself! Technology is really something - they counted all her finger and toes and checked out all her organs. It's incredible to me that they can do all of that at 19 weeks!
The fam had been leaning toward thinking it was a boy - everyone but me and Corey (and my Mom, who I don't think completely made up her mind one way or another) thought it was a boy. Of course we would all be happy either way, I just had a feeling it was a girl. I purposely wore pink on sonogram day and was happy to see that the sky was unusually pink that morning when I left the house. The ultrasound tech was awesome - we were talking about how active the baby was being and the tech said, "Yes, SHE is very active." Then, we cried. It was such a special experience and I'm so thankful to my sister and Corey for inviting me.
Doesn't she have the sweetest little profile? She is beautiful already!
Having our nephew Logan and our new niece in the world is so wonderful. There's something really special about watching your siblings become parents and your parents become grandparents. I can't even fathom what it will be like to have a baby of our own one day. Babies are such a blessing! Can't wait to meet Little Girl Granstrand next year. Her due date is the first day of Spring - isn't that neat and symbolic? When Cam and I were in New Orleans this summer, I had my palm read on Royale Street by a woman who happened to be named Elizabeth. She didn't have a set price like all the other readers around the city...she just took whatever you were willing to pay her. She told me that my sister would be having this baby - isn't that cool?
I have to write this down or I'll forget it...Today was glorious. I showed a video and was able to get caught up on all the things I neglected last week while I was working at school until 9 pm several nights (I'm not kidding) grading projects. By the way, my personal hell is grading middle school projects. Just FYI.Anyway, the video was an episode about the American Revolution from the History Channel series "America: The Story of Us". It's a modern look at historical events and it's really interesting. Part of the video is various well-known Americans offering commentary on history. The first VIP they feature is Colin Powell. He's talking about the Continental Army in the Revolution, blah blah blah. Cue one of my eighth graders:"Did he fight in the Revolution?"SERIOUSLY?!?You mean the Revolution that happened over 200 years ago? The one that happened before television was even a glimmer in anyone's eye?I can't make this stuff up. This would be cute if this was a kindergartener, but this is a 14 year old...4 years from voting age. Usually when a kid asks a particularly ridiculous question like that, I try to be extra sweet to them, because the other kids will generally pile on and make them feel dumb. But all I could do was shake my head and say, "Sweetie, no".To borrow my favorite of my Dad's expressions, some of these kids don't know their ass from their elbow.And that's all I have to say about that.
Hello bloggy people! It has been far too long. Today I got to do something fun and out of the regular routine. I went to a workshop on the Constitution in Waco. I got to hear four amazing professors lecture about different aspects of the writing and passage of the Constitution. It was so interesting and it made me miss college. I just think it is so fun to listen to someone really smart and well spoken talk about something that they (and I) are passionate about. It makes me feel refreshed to go back to school and teach the next unit, which just so happens to be about the Constitution. It really reminds me how much I love history and teaching it. If only I could just teach and not do the other 50% (maybe 70%...eek) of my job which has nothing to do with educating young citizens!Last weekend we had a great time in Sugar Land! We went in for our friend Stacie's wedding and while we were there I got to attend a family friend Haley's bridal shower. Both events were really fun! It was also great to see the fam! We are definitely in a season of weddings and babies! Speaking of which, one week from today we get to find out what my sister's having! I am beyond excited, so I can only imagine how excited she and Corey are getting. Boy or girl, Baby G will be one beautiful and very loved little one. American Horror Story is by far the most bizarre show I've ever seen. It's a new Fall show on FX starring Connie Britton (aka Tami Taylor from Friday Night Lights) and Dylan McDermott and one insanely haunted house. It breaks my heart that my television heroine Tami is having to live in such an awful house with such a nutso husband. Cam and I are totally weirded out by it but we can't seem to look away. Speaking of television, I am riding high on the heels of a successful phone call with Time Warner Cable! If you've had the pleasure (sarcasm) of having Time Warner, you know this is a rarity. I've found the secret is calling at night. The people who work the phone then are much more calm and willing to deal. I called to cancel our home phone and HBO, and wound up being able to keep the phone AND save $40/month on our bill. Score!This post is quite random, but that's life right now for me! I better run - I was at work 'til 9 last night and was driving to Waco before 7 this morning. I'm worn slap out! Have a fab week!
I'm really sad about Steve Jobs' passing. The first time I ever used a computer was in kindergarten. It was a gigantic Macintosh and I was fascinated. And now, like so many others, I can't imagine life without my trusty iPhone. Mr. Jobs was a visionary - he saw past what was in front of him and imagined things in a different way. In a world where everyone seems to work against themselves by constantly making things more complicated and convoluted, he worked to make things more simple and clear. Some quotes from the man himself:"That's been one of my mantras -- focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains."“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.” "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something -- your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."
We had a great Thanksgiving in Sugar Land! We got to spend lots of time with family and it was wonderful. There were around 25 people at Thanksgiving dinner at Cam's grandparents and it was so fun! I really love the big family get-togethers. We don't really have those in my family anymore and while I love quiet holidays with my family, it can be really fun to have everyone in the extended family all together at once! The food was delicious - I swear there was every possible side dish you could imagine. When we got back to Austin on Saturday, we spent the evening with my family and had some yummy leftovers! My mom's dressing is my favorite thing ever, and she froze a batch for me! To quote my Daddy, it was so good "it made me want to smack my mouth!" 
We got to spend lots of time with our nephew Logan, who is turning 1 this week (how is that even possible?!). Jennifer and I kept him while everyone else went to the UT/A&M game and he is just such a sweetheart. He is walking everywhere now and into everything! So much fun! 
Speaking of that little football game, I'm really proud of my Longhorns! We didn't have our best game, but both sides played their hearts out and showed what a great rivalry it is. I was really happy for Case McCoy and the rest of the team - Case's uniform at the end of that game was such a symbol of how hard he has worked all season. All that being said, I am happy UT and A&M are done playing each other for now. The one day a year it's hard to be a house divided is Thanksgiving! Cam and I don't really get into the rivalry thing as much as others do, but it is still stressful. Cam is a football fanatic and a die-hard Aggie fan. We try to support each other's team when they're not playing each other. It's just not as much fun cheering for your team when you know that your husband is going to be miserable if they win, and vice versa. Plus I have a problem with a football game on Thanksgiving! Cam was gone from about 3 in the afternoon until 3 in the morning and while I'm happy he got to go, I missed spending the whole day with my hubby. To me, Thansgiving is a day about family, and the game should be on Friday. Maybe it will be fun to start playing again in a few years, once absence has made the heart grow fonder between the two teams, but right now I think there's just too much bitterness. As a third-generation Longhorn, I get the tradition and rivalry, but that's just my two cents on the issue! 
I am so glad my Christmas shopping is done! I think I subconciously did that in preparation for the madness of the three weeks of school between Thanksgiving and Christmas break. Work is bananas right now! There is just a lot of stress and pressure right now and not very much time. I cannot wait to have a break in a couple weeks! At the end of the last two weeks, I've come home from work and realized my jaw is so tense that it hurts! Without even realizing it, I am grinding my teeth and holding my jaw so tight all day at work due to stress! I've heard of people doing this at night when they're sleeping, and I know you can buy mouth guards to sleep in, but what about during the day?!? 
I'm making red velvet cake balls today! They are in the freezer right now. I can't wait to see how they turn out! I have really gotten into baking this year - it's creative, relaxing, and I enjoy it so much. I've perfected the art of the sugar cookie, which used to be really hard for me to make for some reason. I have a dream of having a little in-home bakery where I bake things and sell them to local restaurants while I raise my babies at home!
