Merry Christmas to all...

I may or may not post again before Christmas so

I hope everyone has a very

Merry Christmas

filled with family, friends, and the spirit of the season!

Cooties...

Boy, am I glad to get to the bottom of this!

 My afternoon group are always so tired when the morning group goes home. Sometimes it can be a real struggle just to get them to do the things I need them to do. This afternoon they all went nuts on me and we had quite the discussion about cooties for a few minutes. They were so serious about this topic, I didn't have the heart to not let them openly talk about it and of course, I HAD to join in. Here are a few notes (the ABSOLUTE truth) from this afternoons heated discussion about cooties...

• Cooties are very real and completely contagious.
• They start with girls who give them to boys who give them back to girls. That makes complete sense, right? In other words, boys don't really HAVE cooties. They can just get them from girls. Side note... does this make them a carrier?
• My class definition of a cootie is and I quote...  "it's like a bug on a girl."
• Kids and grown ups are susceptible to catching cooties.
• According to one of my male students, I, Miss Chidester, do not currently have cooties because I am a teacher and not married. If I married, however, than I would contract cooties and would most likely never be able to get rid of them.
• Cooties look like a monster germ.
• The only way to get rid of cooties for good it to roll in the mud, shower, roll in the mud, and then shower again. This must be done twice, for some reason. Side note... I kind of pictured this like lather, rinse, repeat. Right?
• Cooties cannot kill you or make you sick, but they can make you allergic to the opposite sex.
• Hand sanitizer only kills one cootie.
• Being healthy and taking a lot of showers can help prevent cooties. If you don't do this, they might lay eggs on you which will cause an outbreak.
• Cooties can bite you and might be stuck on your skin forever.

Aren't you relieved to know the truth?

Still no camera...

Frustration is setting in.

My camera went into the shop to be fixed about a week before Thanksgiving. It was acting all crazy! It would freeze up and not take a picture or let me view or delete pictures. The store told me that I would have it back before Thanksgiving, but when I called to check on it, they told me that the part had not come in yet from California. So, almost a week after the holiday I still don't have a camera. I'm going to call and check on it tomorrow. I feel so "lost" without it. Seriously.

I sure hope I have it by Christmas!

Thanksgiving plans...

This year for Thanksgiving most of my family will be together.

My younger brother Brian, his wife Denise, and their two kids will be spending the holiday in Logan with his in-laws. "The Boy" and I went to dinner at their house on Sunday night, and I was really glad to spend some time with them since I won't be seeing them on Thanksgiving. 

I will be having Thanksgiving dinner with "The Boy" at my parents house. My older brother Clint, sis-in-law Martha, and their four kids will be there as well. It won't be our entire family, but it will be nice to be together. 

I will be bringing my classic green bean casserole to Thanksgiving. My family makes fun of how excited I get over it. I love the stuff! My version is mostly sauteed mushrooms, onions, garlic and cream with way too many french fried onions and a hint of green beans. Last year I brought a huge cake pan full and ended up taking most of it home. Evidently not everyone shares my love for it, but my sis-in-law Denise does so she took some too. I'm going to tone it down this year and take about a fourth as much. I'm also baking two cheesecakes tomorrow to take. One is a New York style plain with cherry topping for my chocolate hating father, and the other is a triple chocolate for us normal people. Hmmmm... now that I think about it, I'm pretty much in charge of bringing the fat. Nice, nice.

Happy Thanksgiving!

An attitude of gratitude...

Thanksgiving is one week from today. 

One week! 

As I've been reading stories over the past few weeks to my first graders about pilgrims, the Mayflower, and Thanksgiving traditions, I cannot help but think about what an AWFUL pilgrim I would have been. Seriously. I loved my Alaskan cruise I went on last September, but umm... for some reason, I'm pretty sure the Mayflower wasn't equipped with diet Coke, amazingly comfortable beds, world class food, and hand sanitizer at every turn. We had one semi-rough night on the cruise, and by semi-rough I'm talking about a minor amount of rocking. Yep. That was enough for me. So forget about the Mayflower... plague, filth, rancid food, and poor water. I'll take a luxury cruise any day!

I am, however, grateful for the pilgrims and their incredible desire for wanting religious freedom. It makes me wonder... would I have been converted enough to leave my home in England and haul my family to get aboard a horrible ship and roll the dice of chance in a new, undiscovered land? Who knows what I would have done. But I am grateful that I didn't live during that time.

I'm grateful for the life I live now.

I'm grateful for amazing parents who have always provided for my emotional and physical needs.

I am grateful for a mindful and loving Heavenly Father who has provided me with opportunities and associations that I cannot even begin to understand.

I am grateful for this land of freedom in which I live, and for those men and women who have fought for it to be a free land for all.

I am grateful for amazing family and friends who have always been an incredible support to me, no matter what. 

But most of all, I'm grateful that I have so many things to be grateful about!

Not my random thoughts...

Whoever wrote these really understands life. I cracked up at a few of them because I am totally guilty of thinking the exact same thing.

Random Thoughts for the Day:

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this -- ever.

15. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Darn it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What did you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

17. I keep some people's phone numbers in my cell phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

18. My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How do I respond to that?

19. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

20. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.

Sick camera...

Nothing too exciting to post other than I'm once again annoyed by something.

My professional digital SLR camera is on the fritz right now.
It's just under 2 years old and of course, is no longer under warranty.
Annoyed.
I have no idea what happened to it.
I keep it in its case 24/7, treat it nicer than anything else I own, and it quits working.
Annoying.
It freezes up, won't take pictures, won't allow me to view or delete pictures either.
I called Sony and they said it would be $200.00 just to look at it.
Even more annoyed.
I found a repair shop locally that is looking at it right now.
Let's hope it's fixable for a reasonable cost.

Technology can be so annoying!

Unloved...

One of my students handed this to me a minute ago. Cracked me up!
Obviously my mini lesson on writing letters and being specific sunk into her head.

Dear Miss Chidester,
I love you!
You are nice!
Have a good day!
The class loves you except Jacob.
Love, the whole class
except Jacob.

Speaking of the devil...

Me with Satan... oh I mean Michael Ballam. Oops!

One of my students this year is the grandson of Michael Ballam. If you're not familiar with the temple video at all than he just might be another college professor and opera singer to you. I, however, am most familiar with his starring role as Satan, cira a really long time ago. He came to our classroom today to see his grandson and eat lunch with him. It was really cute. I had no idea that he was coming. I'm so glad that I slept in this morning (late night phone call with "The Boy") and scraped myself together (what the #$%@ is with the extra poofy hair on one side?) with minimal effort for my camera shoot with Satan... oh I mean Mr. Ballam. I asked if I could have my picture with him for my blog. He kindly obliged. I also mentioned that I wouldn't refer to him as Satan.... oh I mean Michael Ballam.

Add 5 pounds instantly!

I went to a Halloween party this past weekend (see the post below). Everyone was assigned something to bring for the party, and my assignment was to bring a dessert. Seriously, I am a geek and I think I lost sleep over what to bring. I know... I'm lame. But after a few trial runs of a few different ideas, I settled on taking chocolate caramel brownies (an old family recipe we've had around for way too long) and a cheesecake. The problem with this idea... I've never made a cheesecake before. So, I got a recipe online, bravely bought everything I needed to make a 10 inch raspberry fudge cheesecake, and spent the 4 hours making and baking it. I have to say, I think it turned out pretty well for my first time. There is always room for improvement so I'm thinking cheesecake might just be my new thing to bring.

Finished and uncut. Can you believe I was lame enough to actually add mint to the top? Believe it!

A slice of pure, unadulterated, smooth, delicious, creamy FAT. Yum!

Silky was the killer!

On Friday, "The Boy" and I went to a Halloween party at one of my friend and co-worker's house. It was one of those murder mystery dinners where everyone tries to figure out who the killer is. She did a great job transforming her place into a club type atmosphere. I had my camera with me, but didn't end up taking any pictures so I swiped these from Allison's blog. Ummm... thanks Allison. :) Allison is too cute and although we were all exhausted from a LONG day-before-Halloween with first graders, we all had fun and it was great to just get together. Thanks Allison and Mason for hosting such a great night!

Our FABULOUS hosts... Mason and Allison (aka Ernie and Molly)

Cory and Marianne (aka Eddie and Silky-who I kept calling Slinky all night. Go figure)
Marianne's character ended up being the murderer, which is hilarious if you know the quiet, reserved Marianne.

Me with "The Boy" (aka Scoop and Treighton Harrow) I'm not sure why my hair looks so incredibly gray or why "The Boy" looks so caught off guard with the camera. We were both pretty tired.

Nate and Kim (aka Billy the Thrower and Torchy)

Look-a-likes...

I changed the look of my blog a little early. Halloween in on Saturday but I'm too lazy to change it now. Oh well. Thanksgiving is just around the corner!

So, I got this as an email forward from my good friend Jamie. I'm not big into forwarding things so I thought I'd just post it instead. A few of these gave me the giggles. I especially like Clay Aiken and Mary Kate Olsen. Donatella Versace is a pretty good one as well. And Hillary Clinton? Well... you can decide.

Slightly confused...

This morning one of my students came into the classroom all excited because her mom just had a baby last night and now she's a big sister. (she warned me that her hair wasn't looking very good because her dad had to do it since her mom is still in the hospital) So she and I get into a conversation about babies, and how much fun she will have with her new sister. A few minutes later she comes up to me and blurts out...

"Miss Chidester, I was thinking... if a girl marries a girl than they will have a lot of kids because girls have kids. And if a boy marries a boy than they wouldn't have any kids because boys can't have kids. So then if a boy marries a girl they can have some kids, but the girl is the one that has to have them, right?"

I simply nodded.

Hmmmm....

Barack + Obama = Nobel Peace Prize

I heard on the news this morning that the nominations were due only two weeks after he was put into office as our President. Ummm, what? You mean, there are people overlooked who have devoted the last 20+ years, not to mention millions of dollars, trying to cure some condition that is responsible for taking thousands and thousands of lives? I am one of the most unpolitical people you'll ever meet (unless there is a debate about over sized classrooms, grouchy lunch ladies, or negative claims against Diet Coke) but come on! Really? I know President Obama is not the first standing president to receive the award. There have been two others. But why exactly?

What do you think about that?

Disclaimer...

I will never, ever, ever receive an award of any kind unless it were an award for supporting the "National Hairspray Application Association", which I'm pretty sure doesn't exist. For those of you who cyber-stalk my blog, just know that my politically uneducated brain can't quite get on board with Obama's most recent accolade.  

House pictures... finally!

I've been a little lazy with getting house pictures posted. But here they are!

I'm glad to be home and it's fun having so much new stuff. Seriously, that whole flood episode seemed like my world had ended. Seeing so much damage all at one time made it feel impossible to fix. It's hard to explain but going through the process taught me a lot. I came out of it having gained a lot... and not just in home upgrades either.
Although I joked around way too much about being my age and living with my parents, I was grateful for the chance to get a glimpse into their lives. Including my mission, it's been 14 years since I've lived at home, so you can assume it was a slight shock to my system. All in all though, it was a little entertaining.

Well, enough rambling. Here are some pictures...
(keep in mind that all of the flooring is new too!)

The upstairs t.v. room

My bedroom

The laundry room - keep an eye on those $#&@ washing machines hoses!

The front living room

The kitchen
New floor, new cupboards, and all new appliances

Downstairs
This is the room I had finished off into and office.

Larger downstairs bedroom with walk-in closet.

Another downstairs bedroom... formerly mint green.

Downstairs bathroom. Thanks Tank for jumping into the picture.

Downstairs hallway

My ceiling fan "project". To save a little money, I refurbished the one that was already there with new class and better blades. Am I thrifty, or what?

Downstairs family room

Let's hope it's a L O N G time before I post anymore house pictures again!!