Missy Mack was invited to participate and CHA CHA had it’s first meeting this weekend. It was in a beautiful spot full Austin history and art. It used to be called Laguna Gloria and was owned by Clara Driskoll, who was well traveled and wealthy. Her home still stands with her art collection that represents her life as she grew up in the state of Texas. It was endowed to the Museum of Art and History in Austin.

The children were given Explorer badges with their name and a pencil attached along with a sketch book and a an Explorer CHA CHA visor.

There were 4 spots where the children were told a story about a piece of art on the property and asked to draw a picture of it in their sketch book.

There was some hiking with poison ivy just to had a bit of spice to the hot afternoon.

And snacks and water at the end, thank goodness! The kids had a great time, the adults learned a lot and I enjoyed watching the kids enjoy sketching and observing art in their city.

I was able to catch a few sweet moments with Missy Mack and her friends.

I am so proud of her teacher for following her dream. I have heard her talk about it over the past year and I know this non-profit coming into action is filling her heart with joy. I am just glad that I get to go along on the adventure.

Thanks Mrs. W.

Thanks Laguna Gloria!

I go into the teacher’s lounge to eat my baked potato. I am eating with a grade level that I haven’t eaten with yet this year and they have the last lunch so there is no one in there but me to begin with. Then two of the 4 teachers join me in the lounge, but they sit at another table leaving me to sit alone. Every other grade level will move around their tables to include me, but there was no offer from these teachers. They are both new to my school. I don’t know them and they don’t know me. We have met, we have made small talk. They are nice. I was thinking this would be a good opportunity for me to get to know them but I wasn’t invited to join them. I brought a baked potato and I spent a lot of time plating, and mixing all my fixings on the potato. I was committed to eating this lunch and a spread sort of.

These two teachers begin small talk and then one of the teachers begins to tell this story to the other teacher about busting her husband cheating on her while she was pregnant 1 1/2 ago. Super awkward, but it gets worse. She goes into details about a phone conversation she had with the other woman, the confrontation with her husband, the things she found on the computer, why she decided to stay on and on and on. A LOT of information Personal information. There I sit one table over from these two. I am not included in this conversation but yet I am there hearing it all.

So AKWARD. The most awkward I have ever felt.

I kept hoping someone else would come into the lounge maybe to pee or get a drink or just enough of an interruption to make it stop, but no luck. I consider picking up my plate and taking my lunch to my room ,but it would have been even more awkward to do that. I consider throwing it away and leaving, but it was really good.

I just wonder… why would you tell this story in your new place of employment in the lounge?

She went on to tell about how her husband wants to take this job that will send him overseas for 3 months and how she pretty much told her that if he took the job, she wasn’t sure if things would really work out with them because his cheating relationship happened over the Internet until it got more serious. Neither one of them can see the other person’s side of the situation.

Now I am pissed because I know this about her. I am worried about her, her baby, the kids in her class, her stupid ass husband.

Why?

Why are people stupid? Men, women, it’s all the same. Why do people treat people badly? Why are they selfish? Why do they think with their pants? Why do share these intimate details at work, in the lounge, with a virtual stranger sitting at the next table?

TMI People, TMI!

I NEVER post my picture on this blog. EVER, EVER, EVER, but I am going to make an exception for this post.

Missy Mack also wanted to make one that looked like her teachers, so we did and sent it to school.

Here is the requested picture of me in the navy dress. Please keep in mind I was caught off guard in the hallway at school and my AC was not working in my classroom so my hair is melted. I am now unhappy about the way I looked after seeing the picture, but I do love that dress.

That is it, there will be no more pictures of me on this blog. You have been warned so don’t ask again.

Oh, Yeah, I just need a friend. My husband is totally not a height person and could never do this, but I have always wanted to do it. Always. I just wish I would have done it when I was younger and before there was a child in my life. I would only do skydive tandem.
2) Do you prefer baths or showers?

I like both, but I prefer a shower. I am very modest and the bath thing is a little too out there. I also like the water hot enough for a crab boil so I can never last as long as I would like. I am also someone who likes to take care of business so a shower is just more efficient. It isn’t as harmful to the planet and I can get in, do my business and get out. I can not understand people who shower for longer than 10 min.
3) What is the best vacation you’ve ever been on?

I think I am going to have two part this . Best vacation I have ever been on was San Francisco both on my honey moon and when I went with my best friend, Jodi, to meet her birth mother and it was an amazing trip that inspired my honeymoon.

As a family, I think Disney World was so magical both times I went with just me and my dad and then when Mr. Mack and I took Missy Mack. When I went with my dad, I dreamed of being able to take my child and I am glad I was able to do that.

4) How do you and your hubby (or boyfriend) celebrate anniversaries?

We used to be really cute about it and always tried to get each other a simple gift that was part of the traditional gift for that year. On our first anniversary he gave me stationary with my new last name on it because the gift for year one is paper. Sometimes we get a joint gift that we need, like a new mattress or tv. We always go to dinner. Sometimes it is celebrated with lots of symbolism and sometimes it is simple, but it is always sweet. This past year was year 10 and the plan was to return to Napa, but that didn’t happen. Oh well, such is life. We still love each other.
5) Have you ever had sex in a public place? If yes, where?

I don’t think so. It wasn’t memorable if I have.
6) If you could be one person for a day, who would it be?

I am going to be really lame when I answer this question because I have never really wanted to be someone else. I kinda like who I am and realize that we all have our challenges, stresses and joys in life so I don’t think I would like to trade mine for someone elses. At least I made these choices. Although, I wouldn’t mind being someone with unlimited funds for a day so I could buy things without worry.
7) What is your favorite color and why?

I love the color red. I always have. It started because my hair is red and while some people, including myself, get made fun of for this trait, it has always been one my favorite things about myself. I had a red VW bug for awhile and I loved it. I had a red kitchen and love red shoes. I know the other day I proclaimed my love for Navy and I do love Navy, but it isn’t my all time favorite color. Is there anything that really scares you?

A mouse, mice, rodents of any kind. Really ugge me out. Gross. I can’t even stand to look at this picture. I had one that lived and died in my classroom 2 years ago. Yuck. They scare the shit out of me.

Also, I have a tiny fear/anxiety of driving, really just being the passenger. Ever since I became a driver, I had envisioned the crash that could happen if you make the wrong choice and I am constantly doing this when I am in the passenger or driver seat. I can dismiss it easier when I am driving but not when other people are driving. My grandmother never learned to drive and my mother is a nervous wreck in a car so I blame them.

I am to tag 8 others to answer my questions and then create their own questions for 8 others to answer, but every blog I read has been tagged except Momma to the As and she is in the middle of move so I am not that cruel. Anyway, I thought I would try something different. I will put my 8 questions out here and anyone who wants to can answer them. Sorry, I am breaking the rules.

1) What is your favorite song right now?

2) If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?

3) What is your dream job?

4) What is your favorite thing to make homemade?

5) What is your favorite family tradition? Either one you had as a child or one you are creating with your own family.

6) Do you hide anything from your significant other?

7) What is the one thing you carry guilt about that you know you should let go of but can’t?
What small treat do you grant yourself that brings you great joy?

Last night, I finally saw Eat, Pray, Love

I love it. It was true to the book, Julia was charming as ever and Javiar Bardem is hot.

There were parts of the book that were left out, and as always, they are favorite parts. They didn’t put in the part of Italy where her sister comes to visit and I thought Liz’s thoughts on her sister’s path in life and the differences between the two of them were very enlightening to her healing process. They also skipped the end of her journey in India where she played hostess for a much longer period of time and these were the moments where she met her demons and put them to rest. The movie sort of skipped over that messy part of her journey. The movie also didn’t even bring up the part of the story, also messy, where Wyann drags her feet to build her house after Liz raises money for her and the role that the boyfriend plays in that piece of the story. Otherwise, it was very true to the book and all things that happened in the movie, happened in the book.

I hope I haven’t ruined it for anyone. I did really enjoy movie.

Today, I entered into a sleep coma, that I will rejoin shortly. I woke up at 10, I have been in my pajamas all day, along with the rest of my family and I have napped 3 different times. It is ridiculous. I can’t stay awake. Mr. Mack is loving it. It drives him crazy that I will never rest. Crazy. So, he is loving that I am actually allowing all of us to relax.

In between napping, I got out Missy Mack’s baby clothes so that she can dress her dolls in them. It was such a sweet and sad trip down memory lane. She was so tiny. Her first pair of crocs were so so small and cute. Now, I am stressing about getting this American Doll for her on her birthday in 6 weeks. I know we can’t afford it, but I really want to get it for her.  Also, made pink rice krispy treats with Missy Mack and Mr. Mack made the best pizza dinner ever!

I am exhausted and going back to bed. I am beginning to wonder how I will survive the school year.

Yes, that is right carrot lotion. I couldn’t find the Berts Bees lotion but I did find this

It has carrot seed oil, carrot juice, pumpkin, sweet potato, melon and dead sea mud. All except the sea mud I have heard of.

By the time I found the lotion, Mr. Mack’s burn had faded, so we hadn’t gotten a chance to try it.

Until, we returned from the big girl pool party for Aunt Heather. Missy Mack and I were burnt. I put the lotion on her and the next day it was faded and even a little brown. We put it on me two nights in a row on the 2nd night, I felt the heat leave my body and the next day was the burn was completely faded.

Amazing.

Here is my public service message to you, get some carrot lotion, it heals. It also smells good and feels good- Bonus!

You are welcome.

The dress is Navy blue. I love navy. It is a classic color. I wore it with these cool chunky faux pearl necklace, my pearl earrings and these damn shoes.

They are so cute and give the appearance that they might be comfy, but you would be wrong, wrong, wrong. Luckily, I already knew these puppies were not a wise choice so I brought a back up pair and only wore these for a bit. I need some great navy shoes because I am on a mission to get more navy in my wardrobe.

Here is how much I love navy. Every time I get a new car, I want it in navy and I coach myself that I will buy it in navy even if it has to be special ordered, but then I get caught up in the moment of having a new car or they work out some deal if I buy the one they have on the lot and I leave without my navy car. Navy was the color of the bridesmaids dresses in my wedding. Granted, 10 years ago they didn’t have the beautiful choices that they do now, so it wasn’t really what I had imagined, but our colors were navy with yellow roses. Mr. Mack’s mother hated that I picked navy and couldn’t understand it.

I got so many compliments on that dress. I felt pretty all day long. Even after I switched into flip flops. Everyone thought it was a fantastic dress and I have to agree. Some one said I looked very Jacque O. And several people discussed how much they love navy and forget it about it in their wardrobe. I am telling navy is a great color. It looks awesome with a pop of red, with white it is stunning and it is a easy with jeans or khaki. The lady that teaches next to me has a shirt with navy and black on it and it is beautiful.

So, I don’t give a damn if the dress is ‘O.K’. I thought it looked damn good. Even though it is a size too big and I did have to tug at it a bit. I looked good.

Missy Mack was pretty cute herself. In a smocked dress her Mamaw sent her. I tell you, her eyes were crystal blue in the dress. That also made me happy!

Speaking of Missy Mack, Mr. Mack and I have decided that she must have been switched at birth because she is tan. We are the pastiest people on the planet. She is fair. Always has been, but this weekend we both got some sun and over the summer she has gotten her share of sun. When she gets in the bathtub, you can see her swimsuit lines and her skin has the appearance of brown. How can this be? This picture doesn’t do it justice, but I am both confused and happy for her.

Lastly, I may have mentioned that I am not feeling very productive at work. Well, yesterday after sitting at my desk all day and forcing some work to happen, I got up for a little walk around the school to get some air, when I returned to my room, I realized it was freakin hot. Like sauna hot. We took a thermometer in there and it was 82.2 degrees. What the hell? I was having a large parent meeting first thing the next morning. This would have to be fixed. When I arrived at school this morning, I was told that it was bad news. My air compressor was broken and it wouldn’t be a quick fix. Well, I suffered through it again today. I have been sweating buckets all day. I better have lost 5 pounds. I feel so gross. I can’t take it. Hopefully, it will be fixed tomorrow.

Therefore, I am going on the record to state that I love air conditioning. I will never be able to survive without one. It is needed. It is a must. People, it was 105 here today. That is effing hot. I don’t care if it is 110 or 80, I must have air conditioning. I have proof that I will melt.

Just sayin’

1. I have to stop using the word dirty in my posts because I have a TON of spam from porn sites.

2. I am so very tired. Yesterday, I fell asleep within 5 minutes from being home while Mr. Mack made dinner. I slept like a rock and I have had a bad case of the yawns all day.

3. Monday is the first day of school. This will be the first year in a while that I don’t have a new outfit to wear for the first day of school. Sad.

4. My  mom is amazing. She and my step dad have really helped Mr. Mack and I out this week and I am so grateful for them.

5. My child’s nose has not stopped running since Saturday. I am tired of looking at her lick her top lip full of snot. We had to keep her home one day this week because she spent the night coughing. That means Mr. Mack was Mr. Mom. Here is what the house looked like when I got home from work. They were both upstairs in a deep sleep.

This doesn’t include all the toys, stuff and obnoxiously overloaded laundry baskets. If I were home with her, I would have cleaned up after every meal or snack and done a few loads of laundry. I mean, seriously, can you not clean the dishes and take care of the child? I guess not. I was trying not loose my mind over this even though I was throwing up a little bit in my mouth. Luckily, Mr. Mack cleaned it all up before bed, which I am grateful for, but I still wonder, why can’t one thing be cleaned up before you move on to the next? I know this is a difference in how we were raised, but gross. Eww. That is all I have to say about that.

6. Today, when I arrived home, the house was very clean. Mr. Mack had been working all day. Floors, toilets, dishes, laundry, all of it. I love him. He has also made dinner every night this week. I love this man.

7. How will I survive next week when I have do it this all over again, but a little bit earlier and there will be children involved. Lots of them.?

8. This morning was our version of Meet The Teacher. I have to say, it was sort of fun. It was so much better in year two. So much better. I had a mother say to me, ‘Ya know, you look so much more relaxed today than you did this time last year.’ It is so true. What a difference a year can make. I will be fabulous this year.

9. My classroom looks great. I will have to take some pics. I have a couch, which is so very cool. The only problem is I spent the whole day wondering around the room and distracting myself from the actual work that needs to be done. I need a deadline. I work best under pressure and since I am much more prepared this year, I am slacking off. It is frustrating. Maybe next week will be better when there is a schedule.

10. My hand is better. The X-Ray showed it was all good. The swelling is down, the bruising is still there but things are returning to normal.

11. I am trying to decide if I should color my hair this weekend. I don’t think the gray is too bad, but maybe I have just become so used it that I don’t notice. To color or not to color?

12. I think we are going to have to break down and tell Missy Mack about my step-sister’s divorce. She is here this weekend for a fun girls weekend with all her friends and we are going to hang out with her for a bit tomorrow. Missy Mack is asking loads of questions. How do I do this? What do I say? How do you explain divorce to a 4 year old?

13. I think it was Sunday night Missy Mack got to stay up late because she napped really late, like until 7:30 or 8:00 (she was sick). It finally got dark and she was awake so she requested doing sparklers since we haven’t ever had the chance to do them because it is daylight when she goes to bed. It was fun. She thought is was lovely. When I was a kid, my parents greeted me each birthday with sparklers in my room. It was so fun. I tried it out on Mr. Mack’s 21st birthday, he didn’t think it was great. I am sure some of that had to do with our teeny tiny apartment that we lived in at the time. The sparklers took on a scary the place is going up in flames effect, which was not at all how it was in my house. It scared the shit out of him. My parents also arranged for us to leave our wedding reception to all of our friends and family with sparklers in the parking lot. I thought it was fun and thoughtful. Mr. Mack was again not a fan. Anyway, we had fun doing sparklers with Missy Mack on a random Sunday night.

14. Cold Beer is good. I mean, really Cold Beer!

When Missy Mack woke up she was pissed to discover I had left without her. She wanted to go to school. That was the first text I got from Mr. Mack and the second was about her falling in love with a St. Bernard on t.v. and that we were screwed because of it.

The presentation went great. Everyone was engaged and I got several compliments so that was nice. I haven’t been able to think of the start of the year yet because of this presentation and my brain was total mush after our presentation. Tomorrow is officially the day I can focus. I hope so!

Mr. Mack’s interview went well, but there are several more in the process. He made it past the first round, which is good. It is just not what we were expecting. We were hoping for him to start a new J-O-B tomorrow. Patience. We need some. And some cash.

I went and got my hand X-Rayed. It was painless, quick and easy. I am interested to see the results.

I went to several stores on the way home for Bendryl fast melts in cherry flavor for Missy Mack. I can’t find them. You know why? They have been recalled. Great! I have only been giving them to her since Sunday. Parent of the Year! Hopefully she doesn’t grow a third ear or something.

When I got home, there was a such a mess in this house, so be ready for that rant on Thursday. I know I am a lucky girl to have a situation where Mr. Mack will be at home to watch her when she isn’t well, but her could multi-task. Or maybe not!

Here is hoping for rest in this house tonight and a job by the end of the week. Along with a classroom that is put together and ready for children on Monday. That is a lot of hope.