Christmas Spirit

It's time to start getting into the Christmas spirit. My dad got permits to cut Christmas trees down this year. My parents and my sister's boyfriend went up north and cut the trees down yesterday. I think they would have liked to have gone the week before but they were helping me get the rental ready to go (mom even spent 2 nights over here - she was amazing).

So, today my Christmas tree comes. Hopefully mom can find my box of Christmas decorations or else it's going to be a pretty empty looking tree. I do have a few boxes of balls that I bought after the holiday last year. But, everything else stayed at her house with the move. And dad is a hoarder in his parts of the house (garage and office). Mom won't let him put things anywhere else. She's going to attempt to look in the garage today. I hope she is able to find it. A lot of it's ornaments that I got as a child.

Dad told me he got me a stand at HomeDeopt yesterday. He said one cost about $6 and would only last 1 season and the other one was $50 and would last me a long time. Apparently now I owe my dad $50. (He knows how poor I am with all the house stuff. I hope he realizes he is probably not getting it until after xmas).

I need to go and buy a tape measure. Mom and dad are going to stop and get me some xmas lights for the outside of the house. I cannot wait! I've never had my own before.

By the end of today my house should have some Christmas spirit. The tree will be here and outside lights are being put up. I cannot wait to see how it all turns out. I am so lucky that my parents help me so much.

It has been a journey

I finally have my house! It became official on Friday. It's the same house I tried to buy back in July. It went from private sale to estate sale to short sale to a forclosure. It went back on the market as a forclosure in September. Since a lot of things had gotten taken care of the first time (apprisal, inspection, etc.). I had hoped to move in before the 10/27 (close of escrow). 10/27 came and went and their were issues all around (things with the recorder, things not turned on, seller issues, and the lender I was using the first time around went out of buisness).
I gave my 30 day notice for my rental but was not really sure if the house was going to happen. Thankfully FannieMae gave several extensions. And buying the house (upgrades and in great condition) as a forclosure saved me almost 20k! :-)
There were a few times I was mad that my agent hadn't noticed that it was a preforclosure. I saw something about it on the mls website under the tax links but didn't really know what it meant or thought to ask. But, if things hadn't of happened how they did I probably would not have gotten the house.
I was hoping to have 5 weeks to move and now I have 2 1/2. Now it's time for the fun to begin.
Every time I go over to my new house I like it more and more. It still doesn't seem like it's mine.

Yes, I'm crazy!

But, I'd like to explain my reasonings.

I'm having an actual birthday party for my dog this year ( family is coming over to my house and bring presents).

My dog (great dane) is turning 7. And the average life exp. for danes is 7 1/2 years. So just in case it's his last birthday, I though I needed to do a little party.

Yes, I know it sounds totally nuts. I'm not getting him a cake. Well maybe I'll get something special for the dogs to eat. The main reason is that my dog LOVES to open presents. He gets excited when he sees a pile of presents. It actually is entertaining to watch.

So I know this sounds crazy but in a few weeks their will be a dog party at my house. ;-)

I'm not complaining!

Really, I'm not.
How in the world is it almost fall break? Less than 2-weeks until break begins. 7 school days (not that I'm counting). I still feel like school just started. Or maybe that's my clutch for not having things done that I wanted to have done. The time consuming stuff in the classroom - that most people have no clue takes up a lot of teachers time(organize centers, figure out where things got put from having to move classrooms, move some shelves around - to list a small fraction of these things).

All I know is I cannot believe that the break starts at the end of next week. For break I wish I was being a bum. Staying up to a ridiculous hour. Sleeping in and doing whatever lazy unproductive thing I felt like doing. Instead I'm driving with my mom and sister to Texas. She had a stroke a few months back. So, where going to help with things around the house and then my mom wants to bring back some of her stuff.

And after break. I think I'll have some very exciting news to share!

Just take my money now....

So, I forgot to return some library books that I checked out awhile back ago. I finally returned them over the summer. I hadn't made it over to the library district to pay my fine.

Well, I got a letter in the mail from a collection agency. And I totally freaked. Drove the 30 minutes to the library and paid my $43 fine.

The lady looked shocked that it was so high (I didn't tell her that I didn't learn my lesson the last time I checked out books and the fine was almost double).

Someone should just revoke my library card now. Please?

Funny (ironic is probably a more appropriate word) thing is I use to get so annoyed with an ex boyfriend who would always be checking things out from the library and then having $20 and $30 fines. I always thought it was ridiculous and how could he let it happen. And now I'm doing the same thing.

Hopefully, I have learned my lesson!

Schools Out For Summer....

oops, I'm a little bit early for that mantra. A few more months, right? :-)

This years class is a lot more challenging. I have a lot of behavior issues. I also, have a student who is lower than any other student I have had before.
My last years class was so much easier.

Like with everything there are positive and negative things. While my class is challenging I have a lot of characters who have big personality. I also have some funny kids.

And over all this group is higher and it's amazing to see what they are able to handle. This years "challenging" class can handle 10 minutes of free time on Fridays. Last years "easy" class could not handle free time. This years group is a lot more organized and responsible. As a teacher, I love that my kids aren't losing their packets and a lot of them are doing their homework.

I just need a little bit extra sleep each week to keep up with this group -or- maybe I'm just getting old!!!

It can't be the age it must be the group! lol

This to shall pass

So I try to usually be a positive person and tend to see the good in things or find a positive spin. This semester is not so smooth sailing. I have a difficult class this year. They are getting better. It's just a lot of work to get the behavior under control. I'm taking college classes and after reading the syllabus for each class I have determined that these teachers are homework crazy. I just love the double standard that they have for education classes in college. They preach have a variety of different activies to accodomodate student's stregthens and not to send home lots of homework. That activites should be meaningful and not just busy work.... nice double standard grad professors! (okay, some do not do this but some are horrible). Okay, I'm done whining now.... Hopefully!

Houses and School

I am still in my rental with no place to call my own. The house I was buying turned out to be a huge mess. The house appraised for less than it was worth. Which was good for me. But, a week after I learned that the person who owned the house is deceased and an estate attorney is taking care of things. The amount owed on the house was slighly more than what it appraised at so they changing it into a short sale. I'm thinking about walking away. I'll be out some money but I'll get my earnest money back. There is a house that I really like in Casa Grande. So I might go look at it. I didn't want to look at any short sales from the beg. so it's diasppointing that it turned into a short sale. However, maybe Maricopa is not where I want to be. The utilities are so much more compared to other cities. Guess time will tell.

My students started on Monday. I have a wild class. I have a crazy boy (he should be in a self contained classroom but we don't have those at my school - so he has an aide sitting with him). It's been very tiring and at times a little frusterating. Becuase they just do not listen. Last years class was not like this. Of course we were told that this years class was very wild. Now I guess I see what they were talking about.

Road Trip

We we're about an hour and half away from home on our trip. We listen to my sisters mix on her ipod. It was a wide variety of songs.

My sister was sleeping.

The song It's Raining Men was playing. As the song was going on

"It's raining men......Hallelujah"

My sister wakes up and says, "What did you just say?"

26 hours and 5 states

I drove from Seattle to Phoenix with my sister on Monday. We did it in 26 hours. We even stopped in Boise and had a fun lunch with Ronelle. It did not feel like we were in the car for that long. Originally we were going to try to make it to Vegas and stay the night. But, when the trip started to not seem "that long" we tried to make it all the way to Phoenix and we did. It was fun surprising my family. My sister will be visiting for 2-weeks. It will be nice to spend some extra time with her.

Mini trip

The weather in Seattle is amazing! Why do I suffer every summer when not everyone in the country is? When I have a significant partner I'd like to move sonewhere more me. I can't imagine moving or living somewhere by myself. I know I'd make new friends and get to know people.
It's been nice spending time with my sister.

Mom rocks

I still don't want to do my homework. So, I will blog again.

Sometimes my mom is super awesome and does super awesome things. Last week I started getting stuff for the school year for my class crayons, folders, notebooks, loose leaf paper, pencils, glue, etc. I was about half done with what I needed and my mom calls me and she's at the store with my sister. She wants to know what kind of stuff I needed and how many pencil boxes I want.

Last year I didn't buy enough pencil boxes. They are super cheap at Walmart when they have the back to school sales. Well, last year I had enough to start plus 2 extra which I thought would be enough. I ended up getting 5 boys during the school year. And of course Walmart only had pink. Luckily one of the boys didn't care that it was pink I think he was just grateful to have one. Bless his little heart. This time I got blue pencil boxes.

In addition to the pencil boxes, notebooks, stuff for treasure box. She pretty much got a ton of stuff. It's so nice to be done.

When I called to ask her how much I owed her she told me it was her contribution to my classroom this year. That made my day!

More house talk

I should be doing my homework for my class since I'm going out of town tomorrow. But, I am a procrastinator and in true form I am finding "other things" to do first, like blog. :-)

I called my realtor today. I am trying not to think (much) about the house. He found out a little bit of information from the other realtor and why things were kind of weird with this sale. Turns out I'm not dealing with a seller but an attorney whose trying to get the estate in order. Kind of weird to be buying the house from a deceased person. I hope she lived a long and happy life. I guess that is the bad news. The good news is that (although not official) I should be getting my house now for 10k less. That makes me excited and not as nervous about the whole thing. Now hopefully everything goes thought with my financing. I was suppose to close on the 29th and he said that a few extra days will probably be needed.

My lease ends the end of August and if I'm moving I have to give a 30-day notice to the leasing company next week. I could go month to month but that will cost me 10% more. Guess I won't worry about it until the end of next week. I guess there are a few options.

Probelm?

"There are no probelms, only solutions."

I know more house talk. But, I feel silly putting this on facebook.

When I decided to make an offer on the house my realtor said he wasn't sure where the appraisal would come in at. He thought the seller was asking too much but the appraisal would sorta dictate the sale price.

Appraisal came back today and it is $10,000 lower. Which is good and bad. Good being that I might get the house for less. Bad that I might be starting all over again because I do want the closing assist included in a house that I buy. Right now I don't know what the seller is going to do. And I don't really know what I'm going to do. I do now have the legal opportunity to get out of the contract unless she accepts the conditions the same just at the lesser price.

Although I will be living in Maricopa for a few years due to my job. It does make me nervous to buy a house here. And I don't really want to live in Casa Grande because it's so farther from home. I kind of justified the buying of a house is that with prices so low here I could probably maintain the house and not live in it should I get another job down the road. I hate renting though. Especially when it costs more to rent a house than it does to buy and that's including all the taxes, hoa, etc. Of course I do live in a house that is much bigger than I need. I could find a rental that is a more appropriate size and pay $150 less per month. Living in this house has taught me that bigger is now always better. I thought I needed a 3 bedroom/2bath with at least 2000 sq. feet (and yes, I live alone). Kind of funny to think that was my mindset less than a year ago.

Leaving on a Jet plane. Don't know when i'll be back again...

So excited. I booked an airline ticket online and on Wednesday I'm leaving for a couple of days to go visit my sister and her hubby. I haven't seen them since Thanksgiving. And what's also exciting is they live right outside of Seattle. Which means that I'll be able to go outside for more than 5 minutes.

I am kind of getting excited for school to start. Which is kinda weird! I am trying not to think about it because soon I will be missing these summer days and counting down for a break. I already got all of the school supplies thanks to Walmart and Targets awesome back to school sales. I had to stock up. Because it sucks needing something during the school year and realizing how much more your paying for it.

I went and got my hair done tonight. My last visit I went a shade darker (which is still pretty light). I am still loving it. Sometimes I think about switching back to brown from blonde. I can't do it yet. Maybe someday.

Okay, enough rambling for one night. Plus I am at my parents house and need to go back over to my place to do a homework assignment I forgot to do last night.

Flip Flops

I heart Old Navy Flip Flops!
They are cheap and they have lots of colors to be matched to my clothes. And did I mention they are super cheap? Which is a good thing because every since I moved my dog will chew up flips flops left out when I'm not home. Sometimes I forget about this little problem. Actually I have forgotten way to many times.

Tonight, for very cheap, I have added some extra colors to my flip flop collection. But, I must remember...to put them up when I take them off.

Okay, now it's time to be semi mean. Why? Because, unfortunately, talking about flip flops reminded me...

A lady where I work loves to wear flip flops and open toe shoes. Only she has the most nasty feet in the world. They are super cracked all over the heals (they are probably the worst I've seen to date) and she can't keep dirt off of them. Pretty much they are gross. For some reason she doesn't care and shows them off to people every day. I wonder if her husband ever puts them in his mouth during foreplay. Sorry for putting nasty thoughts into your head. Just be glad I didn't take any pictures.

Inspection

Yesterday, was the home inspection. I am slighly annoyed because the home owner still didn't have the gas turned on. She's outta town and having her lawyer set all this stuff up. If I had known this I would have postponed it longer.
Nothing major is wrong with the house. A few minor things need to be repaired. There are a few recommadations. One of which is the carpet needs to be restretched in the master.
I think I am going to request all repairs be fixed and carpet restretched in master. In addition to something about the gas for the heater and fernace.

I am paying this ladies asking price so it only seems fair. That the house be in as best condition as it can. Comparables in the neigborhood are going for 20k less but this house has a ton of upgrades and well worth the extra money. I hope. Pam am I on the right track?

Can't wait to get outta this heat

I'm heading up north today with my sister. We're meeting up with some friends to do some camping. According to the weather on my phone there is rain up there. I don't even care because the highs are in the low 80's. Which is super awesome when the high today is going to be round 109.
Hopefully it's not to rainy else it will be a very dirty trip.

I like big bugs and I cannot lie

Well, there really gross. BUT, tonight I found the biggest bug I've seen. I gotta flashlight and quarter to take a picture of it. The bug is tilted down and it's end is really far down in the ground. Ready to see big grossness?



I am so glad that he didn't fly or even move when I had to get close. That would have been so nasty.

Need to vent about "nothing"

This blog is going to be very vauge and I'll appoligize now for the lack of details. I'm not aloud to talk about it but I need to vent.

So these things happen. You wish they wouldn't happen but they do. You hear about it but I don't tie much emotion or thought into it.

I know the person who did it. Not on a friend level but def. someone who we know who each are.

I have feelings I didn't expect to have. I am shocked, angry, mad, embarrased... to name a few.

I found out about this a few days ago from a friend of mine who called. I can't stop thinking about it. I wish I didn't know or more so that it didn't happen. I feel so effected even though it has nothing to do with me.

I really want to tell a few people. But since I can't really talk about it and know they'll talk about it the people that are close to them (cause how could you not). But I'm also embarrased for them to know.

In time maybe I'll be allowed or more open to talk about it.

Right now it just suprises me how something that has nothing to do with me has rattled me to the core.

Cool summer breeze

For the 4th I went up north to the cabin for the weekend. It was so nice getting outta this 100• weather. It amazes me that 2 hour away the air is so much cooler. 7am it was 49• outside. It would have been pushing 100 back home.
Next weekend I get to get out of the heat once more. Going back up north to go camping with some friends.
Summer break is pretty awesome. :-)

Eclipse

Yesterday, I went and saw Eclipse. Best one yet. My friend and I were talking before hand about team Jacob vs. team Edward. And we both concluded...
in the movies: team Jacob
in the books: team Edward

Totally freaking out

No really, I am. I am trying not to think about the house stuff. Because when I do I start to feel major anxiety.

I accepted the counter offer on the house. Tomorrow I write a check for the escrow and next Tuesday is the home inspection. I don't know if it's safe to say I own a house until Keys are in hand. I'm trying to only think about it in small doses. Too much and my stomach starts to turn in knots. Am I really doing this. It also scares me that I'm actually tied down somewhere. Did I mention that I'm totally freaking out about this?

Road Trip

I should hear back on the house within the next 24 hours. Other than that nothing much is going on.
My dear friend Michelle, who lives in Portland, invited me come visit her.
My sister got married 9 months ago and moved up to Seattle.
I am thinking since I don't have anything going on that perhaps instead of flying to visit them that maybe a road trip is in order. I love to drive and it would be cool to explore places.

But, would that be weird doing it alone?

I'm obsessed

This morning I found out that the house I put an offer on just got an accepted offer. Wasn't meant to be. Instead of being bummed this girl went and view the new listings that I got sent over the weekend. I asked to go see one and an hour later I was looking at it. And I ended up putting an offer on it. It's been on the market for 2 days, so hopefully the status doesn't change before they open my offer... Let the wait begin.

House #2

Waiting Game

Yesterday my real estate agent put in an offer on a house. Now it's time to wait. The hard part will be trying not to obsess about it.

A lot has been happening

Probably the most exciting is that I still have my job and I'll still be in 1st grade. My friend that was next door was asked to go up to 2nd. I also have to change classrooms and I'll no longer have a door that leads to another classroom.
Another thing is that I that I got preapproved for a home loan and have started looking at houses. I think I'll stay out here in the middle of know where. Not because I love it. But it's close to my school. I'm kind of scared to buy but it's actually a lot cheaper to buy than to rent. Even with new fees (hoa and property tax). I'll save a few hundred bucks a month. Will see though. Because maybe I should wait one more year until I know I'll be permanate at the school.
That's a quick recap. :-)

Errr

So next year I don't know if I'll have a job. Until I find out in a few weeks it makes the money situation kinda weird.

There is a comforter on sale that I want to buy at Kohls. This weekend I can get an extra 20% off - so great price. I love it. If I have a job I want it but if I don't have a job it's not as important.

I'm thinking of buying the set this weekend and in a few weeks when I know about my job either make my bed beautiful or return it. Is that crazy?

Isn't this cute?

No HOA letter

Well my front yard is now nice and tidy (we won't talk about my back yard). The HOA won't be able to send me any letterswhilewhile. It looks so much better. Wish it could stay like this.







For fun. Here is a picture of my back yard. Shhh don't tell the HOA!!!












Isn't it puuurrtty?

Recycling Bin

Today when I got home from work I found my recycling bin (bright pink) in an unusually spot. The lid was in the living room and the can was by the table? Are the dogs rearranging things or do they not believe in recycling?

Day off

I had 1 more vacation day to take off or I'd lose it next month. Today the fidge guy came and fixed the freezer. It sucked throwing out everything I had in my freezer. I went to the store and bought more freezer stuff.

I had another guy come out today to give me a quote for yard work. He wanted to come tomorrow morning to do it. When I said I wasn't going to be here. He said that was fine to just leave a check under the mat. This makes me paranoid. Hopefully he's trust worthy. Because my yard is in desperate need of work. Here r some before pics.



Not that bad from the other side of the street. But let's get a better look.



Can u tell I don't own an edger. And the bushes are in desperate need of being pruned.




See the tops r brown and dead. Not sure how that happened.

Can't wait to see how it looks tomorrow.

Bummed

I ended up not replying back to the ex on Facebook. I really haven't thought too much about him since. Funny thing is a different guy I use to date sent me a message on FB. weird!

This past week I got bad news at my school. Next year they will lose 300,000 ish in their budget. If the state penny tax increase does not pass my school will lose a little more than a half million dollars. 12 of us (me included) got notices that we will do not have a job next year. If the tax passes they will be able to hire 8 of us back. Not knowing sucks. I really like my school. I'd almost thought about seeing if I could stay and work or para pay (but that's like 7 bucks an hour). :-/

Get out of my head!

Latley I have been thinking about my ex latley. I don't know why. People break up when things are not going as they should. We broke up 3 years ago. And I have had a few relationships since then.

When we broke up I was not able to talk to him and had a lot of pent up anger. I could not talk to gin without being grumpy or mean. As time went on I no longer have any anger and can talk normal.

I'm friends with him on Facebook and he posted some cute pics of himself. Why? Why? Why can't I stop thinking about him? I even sent him a message and he replied with a long message about what's going on in his life and what he's got going on. He lives in another state and I guess he has a conference here at the end of the year.

I need to gather up some strength to stop thinking about him. And fast because I'm wanting to text him and suggest that we should see each other so he can see my (his old) dog. :-/

Does this mean I didn't get over him because I thought I did years ago? But if I haven't how do I and perhaps this is why I always sabotage relationships?

I'm confused...

Melted Frozen Goods

I got home the other day and everything in the freezer was melting. I had to throw out so much food, such a waste. The repairman came out today. My defroster is not working. To make it work I have to unplug the fridge for 6-8 hours so all the ice can melt. And I learned that the fridge is cooled by the freezer. I have to take all the stuff out of the fridge and put it in a cooler with ice, it's a pain. I did this once the other day and will have to do it in a few days to get me through to when they come back out. Doesn't the refrigerator know I have better things to do?

Shoes

Today, when the students went home I got the biggest and longest hugs from one of my boys. I know it was a big thank you from him.
He was in great new of shoes. When he played ball at recess his shoes were always falling off and he had very holy socks. The mom just got her kids backs few months ago and I have heard she's having a hard time. Over the weekend my mom went to get some new shoes. I wasn't planning on getting name brand because I didn't want to spend more than 20 bucks. Mom got an awesome deal some cool looking DC shoes for 10 bucks!
It was nice to do something for someone else. Plus I buy myself things I truly do not need.

Stop on Red?

I grew up in a big city right by Phoenix. It's all I knew and it seemed normal. I teach in a rural area. The town the school is in does not even have a traffic light...

New Book

I bought a new book that caught my eye the other day Flat Belly Diet. It says not a single crunch is required. I'll have to see about that. Actually crunchies are not that bad. Except when ur trainer makes u do 400.
Not ready for a diet but I'm also not ready to buy different size clothes so something has gotta give and soon!

Middle Ground

Before I became a teacher I didn't like my job and loved my social life.
Now that I'm a teacher I love my job and have a tiny social life.

Where is the happy middle?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I have never had a mouth dropping Valentine's Day. In years past if I got flowers from a boy then it ranked to be a good day. One day I'd liked to be swept off my feet. Something out of the movies. I know, I know, it's Hollywood. BUT, it would still be very incredible to just have someone amazing once go all out on that special day. Although maybe all it takes is having the right man in your life to make the day extra special.

While I didn't have any romantic Valentine's this year. Mine was very endearing. I had 19 very sweet 6 and 7 year olds who gave me so many gifts - boxes of chocolates, a single cake, stuffed animal, cards and hugs galore. They made it a very special day. One of the fringe benefits of being a teacher.

I need a...

Tonight I was very tempted (still am) to post an add for a roommate.


Rent upstairs in house for free rent and all utilites included for keeping the house clean, general matience, landscaping, taking care of the dogs while I'm at work, and a few cooked meals.



With things being as busy ss they r it would help make life pretty close to perfect! Come home and everything is done so I don't have to do a thing.

Special Day

Today my sister turned 24! Happy Birthday!!! She moved up to Seattle when she got married last year.

Her wedding was one of the best weekends of my life. It was an amazing wedding and so much fun. I still need to blog about it.

Since I could not be up there to celebrate her birthday. I sent her Edible Arrangements. Here r some pictures she sent.












Sorry she sent them that direction and I haven't figured out how to rotate them on my iPhone. I probably just need to download an app.
But, if u turn your head don't they look yummy?

Happy Birthday to you!

Both of my sister's birthdays are coming up. Less than 2 weeks!

I have an idea as to what I'm getting Heather.

My youngest sister Kimberly I am still debating. I need the WOW factor becase she wow'd me with a new iPod last month.
I figured she got me a shirt or something. I was totaly suprised! My old iPod was a first generation nano (that tells u how old it was) that an ex gave me. I ran out of room and was in need of a lot more space. Well baby, I got it!

I'm posting vague ideas of what in thinking... Just in case they read this before their bdays! ;-)

Can u figure it out? Lol

Heather:







Kim:

Tick Tock

New Years was a lot of fun and before I knew it the clock struck midnight. We had lots of yummy food and played games.

I cannot believe that it's a new decade. Where is time going? It's scary that being 'middle aged' is not far away.

I wonder what great things will happen during this decade of my life...