Miscellany Monday

February 22, 2011September 30, 2015 Lindsey P. Brackett5 Comments

Today is my birthday and I cried for the first part of the morning and then ate a big ol’ piece of homemade carrot cake with layers of cream cheese icing and laughed at my friend’s retelling of her friend’s facebook status detailing the cult following mass suicide of all her aquarium fish. So all in all, not a bad start to the day after all.

Why is it that triple coupon week at Ingles is always the week that I have no grocery budget left for the month and then when I go to the trouble of trying to figure out which deals I can get for free or next to it, I go to my store and discover that the actual prices are not the sales prices quoted in my coupon matchup list. Which is more of a commentary on the fact that small towns may be charming but they inconveniently only have one grocery store which means my store can charge whatever the heck they want and assume people will pay for it.

My phone has been ringing constantly all day. Or beeping with text messages. And if my cell isn’t ringing, the house phone is. I appreciate all the well wishes and the thoughtfulness and the simple fact that people have taken a few minutes to remember me today when they surely have so many other activities to focus on and I hope no one is offended that I left the phones on the kitchen table and went to take a long bubble bath and read a book. It’s just that right now everything turns into consolation for the bank’s situation and all I really want to talk about is anything but that. But then again, if no one called I’d be all mopey and woe is me, so I think I’ll just shut up about it.

I’m reading this really great book right now, The Wednesday Sistershttp://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=random05a-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0345502833&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr. My mom brought it to me yesterday when she came to take me on our annual pilgrimage for my birthday pottery. She likes to read books and then pass them along to me, which is great. And free.

I love that new GE commercial where everyone is country line dancing. It’s the kind of silly randomness that makes me smile and think that sometimes advertisers are clever.

I’ve decided to stop telling people I’m staying home with my kids next year because that’s not really true. I’m staying home for my family, for my grandparents, for my sisters, but mostly for me. It’s less of a time out from work and more of a career change. It’s time for something different.

My mom makes the best birthday cakes in the world. My jeans are not going to fit by Friday.

Miscellany Monday

February 8, 2011September 30, 2015 Lindsey P. Brackett1 Comment

Got the button to work! I had to download it to my desktop and add it as an image, but yay! So anyway…on to the miscellaneous of manic Mondays.

One.

If there is cardboard over your passenger side window, it’s darn near impossible to turn left. And if you’re relying on a six year old to tell you if a car is coming, well, let’s just say it’s a bit scary.

Two.

Having a mechanic in the family is way more convenient than having a teacher. My brother will be coming tomorrow to (hopefully) fix the window problem. And I will never take car windows for granted again.

Three.

My blog is under construction. I was going to leave it alone until summer when I have more time to really focus on adding some more gadget-y button-y things that I will solicit help with immediately, but I got interested in something different. I blame Kim because blogging is a great way to avoid the laundry.

Four.

Speaking of laundry, you can click on over to my sisters’ latest ventures and read all about Lavagirl and Shark Boy or the Prince of Zion. But remember I was first.

Five.

I’m controlling my chaos (which I’ve learned is a syndrome) and am trying to keep the house clean in small increments. But not while I’m blogging, see #3. Thanks to April I checked out the crazy FLY Lady and once I navigated the foreign language, found some ideas that totally work for me, and guess what? I realized I’m not that hopeless. I was doing a lot of this (like cleaning hot zones for 15 minutes a day) already. How do you clean so you don’t become a feature on TLC?

Six.

And as part of the great declutter cleanout redecorate livebetter deal I’ve got going on, I’m feeling more in control. All you perfectionists out there are nodding along. I don’t know why a clean sink and knowing I took one small bag of outgrown baby clothes out of the office makes me feel more settled, but it does. Okay, so I know exactly why it makes me feel better, but how much psychoanalysis are you looking for right now?

Seven.

Is the number of completion. Mama says that’s why there’s seven of us sibs.

So today I’m stopping the randomness right here, though I’ll leave you with this final question to ponder.

Today in my reading class we began to discuss that great Shakespearean tragedy of star-crossed love (I’m selling the boys on this by telling them it’s really all about sword fights).

I was asked, “So, is Romeo still alive?”

And that’s what reality tv has done to this generation.

Or maybe he was being deeply insightful and beginning a commentary on sacrificial love.

(even though I personally find R & J to be rather selfish)

Nah…he heard me mention the Leornardo Dicaprio version and figured anyone Mrs. Brackett thought was cute in high school had to be long gone by now.

For my eyes never saw true beauty til this night….

Manic Monday · monday

Miscellany Monday

January 25, 2011 Lindsey P. Brackett2 Comments

I’m tired of being manic so I’m linking up to lowercase letters and trying something new! Now if someone wants to tell me how to get that button into this post, I’d appreciate it.

1. Delay days are not snow days. In fact, they are the opposite of snow days. They masquerade as a few extra moments to relax that quickly turns into a frantic rush to get through the rest of the day by cramming an 8 hour workday into a 5 hour sprint.

2. I actually am ahead of the meal planning game this week. My delay today did allow me to put the chicken in the crock pot, so we had dinner 15 minutes after I walked in the door from Jazzercise. Record. Then, after the kitchen cleanup (which always takes twice as long as anything else) I went ahead an made White Chicken Chile for dinner tomorrow and let it simmer on the stove a bit so all I have to do tomorrow is reheat and serve. Yay, me!

3. So I’m thinking of writing an ode to my crock pot. I really don’t think my kitchen (or family) could survive without it. So stay tuned for a haiku or a sonnet or just some total random musings on my love of slow cooking appliances.

4. I have an addiction. It’s House Hunters. That’s right; I’m one of those nosy people who love to look at other people’s houses.

5. And I really want to improve mine. I’ve gotten over that we’re not selling anytime soon and I’ll probably post on that later, but I would like to make it more cozy, more decorative, more grown-up. At the same time that I long for simplicity, I also long to put my heart and soul into this place so I can stop treating it like a stepping stone to something better when truth is, it’s pretty good for us right now.

Manic Monday

January 4, 2011 Lindsey P. Brackett1 Comment

Here is the list of things I should have accomplished today:
1. Finish grading.
2. Enter grades.
3. Clean off desk.
4. Write lesson plans around new unit (as dictated by state curriculum map).
5. Post standards for Q3.
6. Work RiteAid UP deals.
7. Request RiteAid rebate.
8. Iron Joshua’s khakis.
9. Update January agenda.
10. Call my little sister on her birthday (since when I attempted she didn’t answer).

Here is what I actually did:
1. Went to three meetings and sent my principal minutes.
2. Made a stack of papers to finish grading tomorrow while my students are making a list of reading goals for the new quarter since I didn’t get lesson plans finished.
3. Cut coupons.
4. Went to Jazzercise.
5. Made awesome turkey tetrazinni for dinner.
6. Cuddled Amelia.
7. Read Little House in the Big Woods to Madelynne and Annabelle.
8. Laid out the girls’ clothes for tomorrow.
9. Wrote this blog.
10. Had a Quiet Time (well, I will when I’m finished here).

And guess what? I’m satisfied with list #2.

How was your first workday of the new year?

Manic Monday

Vacation Manic Monday

November 22, 2010 Lindsey P. Brackett5 Comments

There is nothing like a break. I know people who don’t teach can’t imagine why teachers (and students) need frequent breaks from school, but I would hope if you’re a parent you can understand.

Imagine being locked in a room for 8 hours with your kid. Now imagine you have to help your kid achieve unrealistic standards set in place by someone who has obviously never met a kid.

Now imagine that the only break during that day occurs for thirty minutes when you get to eat lunch (with the kid), go to the bathroom, check your mail, and have a conference with someone who thinks they know more about your kid than you do.

Then imagine that you try to give this kid something independent to do and while the directions seem so simple to you, they necessitate more questions than an inquisition.

Oh, and the only adult conversation you have all day revolves around, you guessed it, the kid. Ready for vacation, yet? Of course, if you’re a stay at home mama, you totally get this, minus the vacation part.

It’s people like my husband who (jokingly) says he has a “real” job, that don’t get it. I mean, why would they? They get to have lunch somewhere other than a cafeteria that’s akin to the zoo at feeding time, go to the bathroom without fear that a fight will break out in the 45 seconds they’re away from their post, and have conversations about how to fix problems with people who (hopefully) have some experience with the situation.

But if he didn’t do his job, I wouldn’t get to do mine. And be on vacation all week. So, yeah, 180 days of educational stress is totally worth Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring Break, and summer. Just remember us teachers have earned every minute of it!

Oh, and on my agenda this week? Lots of blogging catch up, decorating, cleaning, and adventures with the Princess Monsters. Stay tuned…