Back from Maine.

I woke up in Maine and now I am in PA. I wanted to miss the storm hitting the east coast tomorrow, even if it meant getting home at 3AM. Must sleep. More updates later!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of you in Blogland!

I am quite cozy here in CT and off to Maine tomorrow morning- yeah! Santa brought the KitchenAid mixer-- any favorite recipes?

School's out for Christmas...

School ended today with a pie throwing contest. The students all bought pies for individual teachers and the proceeds went to charity. The school raised about $500 and I was covered in whipped cream. It was funny and the kids had a ball! We are checking out the last girls tomorrow morning and then I am home free! I just found out I do NOT have to report for jury duty early tomorrow AM after I let those girls out...

Consultant Boy and I chatted online for a long time yesterday. He is off to Europe for an extended vacation until January 2nd... boo! I will miss him.

Our faculty holiday party is tonight and my dancing shoes are READY!

Staying in

Tonight is the long awaited annual Outdoor Club holiday party. I, however, am staying in. The ice is very bad outside and normally I would tough it out, but I need to do my Christmas cards and relax. Our faculty holiday party is tomorrow night and it is dinner/ dancing. I need to be ready... it will be so fun!

Cranky

So, it has been raining for three days straight. I have been preparing kids for a test for a few days-- doing reviews, etc... and the kids are all saying "Do we have a test today, Ms. LPP?" Ah... don't they understand anything? Bring on the whining. I am exhausted and ended up sleeping through BOTH my alarms this morning (I have not done this for 8 years!). Consultant Boy is going away to Europe this weekend until after the New Year and has not called me all week, he did chat with me on Facebook on Monday night (still with his SINGLE status- when will that change?). I have done little to no Christmas shopping... gotta get online this weekend. I am on duty aka. lock down in my apartment all weekend. I am getting out to chaperone kids to Penn's landing ice skating. I traditionally host a New Year's dinner cooking with my boss and this year my mother wants me to spend New Year's with the family. I am not opposed to my family, but I have a tradition that I look forward to every year and spent all of Thanksgiving and am going to spend all of Christmas with them. Can I snap out of this funk? Hopefully, soon...

A lovely weekend

The SATs were profitable and I worked out afterward. Then, I baked some cookies for Consultant Boy and was off to Delaware. He took me out to dinner here. I had an amazing meal with pasta, broccoli rabe, and sausage. We had bananas foster for dessert. On the way home, I stopped by Panera to grab an Asiago Cheese bagel (Thanks Prep-E Girl for reminding me of something I always used to crave) and stopped at the Trader Joe's. It was bigger and nicer than the one in PA. I got to the gym in time before it closed for another weekend workout. I taught today and took a walk with one of my collegues. Pilates and yoga kicked my butt tonight, but I met a girl who is new to gym who is from CT and has a sister who went to my high school. We know several people in common. Yeah for a new friend in the area!

Getting in the Christmas Spirit after a long week...

Getting in the Christmas Spirit after a long week...

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper- once I learned how to wrap neatly, it is great.
2. Real or artificial tree? Artificial because I am away for about 10 days around Christmas.
3. When do you put up the Christmas tree? First weekend in December.
4. When do you take the tree down? By January 2nd, after my New Year's party.
5. Like eggnog? Not really...
6. Do you have a nativity scene? Unfortunately not.
7. Favorite gift received as a child? GeoSafari circa 1992- LOVED it!
8. Easiest person to buy for? Neighbor.
9. Hardest person to buy for? My father.
10. Worst Christmas gift? My grandmother gave me a denim shirt one year with a handpainted birdhouse- dreadful.
11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail, of course. I love doing picture cards. Do people actually email cards now?
12. Favorite Christmas movie? I love A Christmas Carol because of the message it sends.
13. When do you start Christmas shopping? I do it throughout the year. Usually, I get a start at a Lilly sale.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I always use a bad gift from a student in our family "White Elephant" swap.
15. Lights on tree? Yes, white lights.
16. Favorite Christmas Song? Traditional- The First Noel, Fun- Christmas Wrapping.
17. Travel during Christmas or stay home? Travel to CT, then Maine.
18. Can you name Santa's reindeer? Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer,Vixen.
19. Star or Angel on top of Tree? Angel.
20. Open presents on Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning.
21. Most annoying thing about this time of year? The blowups on people's lawns... competitions for best lights... whiny, spoiled children... people forgetting the true meaning of Christmas.
22. Favorite ornament? A wooden figure skater that moves when you pull a string.
23. What do you want for Christmas this year? Peace on earth, but I will be happy with a KitchenAid mixer and maybe some ski accessories.

SAT Saturday

I am making the easiest $95 I ever make this morning at the SATs. I get up early and sit and read instructions until about 1PM. I can read during the test and it is a somewhat relaxing experience- as long as I am not taking a test! Tonight, I will drive down to Consultant Boy's for a date which may involve meeting some of his friends- ah!
Last night, I went to the outlets and it was not crowded at all. There were so many good deals! I behaved myself and only got a pair of brown ballet flats at Gap, dress and earrings at Ann Taylor Loft, and my favorite Home Sweet Home Yankee Candle and a Candy Cane one for my classroom during the holiday season. I guess I did get a lot, but not too much.

Worth it

Even though I got in at 2:45 AM on a school night, going into the city for the holiday party was worth it. The people I met in high school were unique, special people and it was so fun to reminisce with people that know me so well. I need to stay in touch with these people beyond these reunions.

I plugged through the day today and am now going to bed.

First cup of coffee this year

I am having my first cup of coffee this year at school. I am exhausted and cold... Tonight I am going to my alumni holiday party at the Yale Club in NYC. It is going to be quite the trip for a Wednesday night, but these people are very important to me. I did not go last year and feel like I missed out... I will also see friends from college afterward for dinner. Yeah! Let the crazy holiday party season commence... My outfit:

Peppermint Joe Joe's....

These things are addicting.... I am officially calling this the Peppermint Joe Joe incident of 2008... They are worse than thin mints, Oreos, etc...

Pants I do not have to hem!

Any other petite girls out there who are tired of adding $8.50 to the cost of any pair of pants? Why $8.50? Hemming, of course! I was bound and determined to find pants that fit (chinos) without hemming or that were not capri pants to begin with. After J. Crew (too long), LL Bean (too long and boxy), Lilly (much too long and big in the hips), Gap (yes, too long), Ann Taylor (too big in the butt), and some others; I finally found the perfect pair of chinos in an unexpected place-- Ross Dress for Less. They are Docker's and are Petite Short. Yeah! They are not bad looking and for $9.99 I am wondering if Ross will get more colors in soon... Where do other people find petite pants?