jan 30th

We had a non-student work day today.

The first part of our morning was spent exploring a new mission statement for our school.

We started by circling all the attributes from the list that were important to us.

Then we narrowed them down to a list of eight.

Then five.

Then two.

My top two were INTEGRITY and FAITH.

This was a fun exercise to do alongside Jay.

Our circled attributes were nearly identical.

His top two were INTEGRITY and FAMILY.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.6

jan 30th

Jay and I were quadruple-booked last night. We literally had to be four places at once.

We ended up having to divide and conquer.

It was lame not being together, but we both had fun

Jay was awarded Husband of the Year when he brought home Trophy Cupcakes.

My favorite.

Two red velvet, two mint chocolates, one vanilla with chocolate mousse frosting, and one chocolate with vanilla frosting.

Delish.

Now THAT'S a good Sunday!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.6

jan 29th

I spent some time with my parents today.

It's my favorite thing to do.

This picture is on their living room table.

Love them so much.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.6

jan 28th

Jay and I ate dinner at 4:15 today.

What could make that sentence better?

We ate CHINESE FOOD at 4:15.

Yep.

We ate dinner with the rest of the senior citizens of the eastside.

Pretty sweet!

Can you see Jay sitting in our booth through the mandatory restaurant fish tank?

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.6

jan 27th

I fell over myself trying to get a picture of the sunset tonight.

Did you see it?

Truly breathtaking.

Since I couldn't get a good shot with my cell phone … this one will have to do.

It's equally as adorable & sweet as a January sunset.

I was laying on the couch reading this evening and noticed a certain friend decided to share the same pillow.

I held up my camera over my head & snapped this picture.

Good boy Cooper, for looking at the camera.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.6

jan 26th

This is the view of my house I see when I drive home from work.

The sight of my house stopped by breath momentarily today when I thought the top-half of my house was on fire.

It wasn't.

Thank God.

What I thought were flames … was just the sun's reflection on the shingles.

A rarity these days for sure.

Happy sunny day friends!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.6

jan 25th

This is the picture of the day for many reasons.

We spent the majority of our evening at Verizon exchanging my new phone, for a newer phone that works better (long story).

Another reason … the people-watching at Verizon was at an all time high.

One man sassed the automatic bill-payer machine while grumbling about the government under his breath.

That was entertaining.

But he was definitely out done by the man who refused to touch anything … even though he was wearing rubber gloves.

Yes, you read that right.

Rubber gloves.

Now you understand why we didn't want to leave.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.6

jan 24th

I have the patience of a saint for children.

I have absolutely NO patience for objects.

Examples would include knots in shoelaces, tangled cords, stuck zippers, and finding something in junk drawers.

You can not begin to imagine how irritated I was while looking for my garlic crusher's insert.

I could feel my blood pressure rising … especially when I had to look for it in THIS horrid utensil drawer.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

jan 23rd

Jay actually thought he could leave this self portrait laying around the house and it wouldn't be my picture of the day.

Puhleese.

Me: wow babe, you have great ABS and HUGE shoulders.
Jay: what do you mean?
Me: this picture of you that I found.
Jay: Oh that's not me, I was just drawing a picture to write down all my injuries.
Me: uh huh. You KNOW this is going to be my picture of the day.
Jay: I figured.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

jan 22nd

Jordan and I at La Palmera celebrating Ty's birthday.

Happy Birthday Ty ... so happy we could celebrate with you!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

jan 21st

Look who's so into The Hunger Games … that they read while eating dinner.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

jan 20th

I finished The Hunger Games and now I'm onto Catching Fire.

Lord help me … I can't seem to focus on anything until I finish this trilogy.

Today, I read from 5:00 until 8:00.

I can't stop.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

jan 19th

Today we saw blue skies and NO RAIN for the first time in a very, very long time.

Today's picture holds a lot of meaning for other people living in the PNW.

It's called The Sky … and it's a welcomed sight.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

jan 18th

My yummy non-weight watchers friendly meal …

Pad Thai with prawns, lemongrass chicken, curry chicken and brown rice.

So what … we all have to fall off the wagon sometimes.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

jan 17th

First off … happy Martin Luther King Jr day!

I had a great day today.

Met my sis for lunch, ate awesome Greek food & ran errands.

All of which I failed to document.

I was having so much fun, I forgot about my picture of the day gig.

So here's a picture of Jay making dinner.

Who cares what he's cooking (French toast) … it's not ME cooking it!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

jan 16th

I did a lot of reading today, then went to dinner with Jordan.

Fun, fun Sunday … even if the Seahawks DID lose.

I watched the Golden Globes and was THRILLED with Claire Danes' win.

Temple Grandin was the best movie I've seen in a long time.

Thank you HBO for bringing autism and asperger's to the Golden Globes.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

jan 15th

It's the first day of a three-day weekend.

Love it.

I intend on wrapping myself in my Downy-scented sheets for the next few hours reading.

I am addicted to this book!

And who says only kids can have snowman flannel sheets?

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

random thought ...

For some reason, this quote from Clueless keeps popping into my mind this morning:

Ever notice how wine makes people feel, like, sexy?
- Christian

It makes me giggle every time I think of it.

Because wine just makes me tired.

The sign of old(er) age, I suppose.

jan 14th

I had my blood drawn today.

I've been taking extra folic acid and iron supplements and wanted to check to see if my numbers have improved.

Anyway, look how they spelled my last name on my intake form!

Is it a full moon?

Are they trying to tell me something?

At any rate - it was a good laugh.

birds & the bees {1st grade edition}

Student: Mrs. Stookey, we're going to play a game.
Me: OK
Student: I'm going to ask you a question. I already know that answer, but we'll see if you do too.
Me: Sounds like a fun game. Let's do it.
Student: Ok ... when a mommy dog (ooooh boy) has a baby dog (oooooh no) ... does it's baby come out of his BELLY or his BUTT?

I mean come on now ... this is a lose/lose situation for me.

Me: It's belly!?! (both a statement and a question ... PRAYING I'm right, because really what I want to do is forfeit my win in this game)
Student: WRONG! IT'S BUTT ... LOOK!

My student then proceeded to show me his library book ... "How Puppies Are Born" (or something like that ... I've blocked it out of my memory).

Lord help me.

Lo and behold ... the picture showed a puppy coming out of what looks like its mother's butt.

I actually sifted through HUNDREDS of pictures on the Internet to find one that most resembles the one he showed me.

But honestly ... it's super gross-looking.

Anyway, about 5 minutes later, apparently the kids were still looking at the book because ANOTHER student came up to me with this conversation:

Student: Mrs. Stookey, did you know that when puppies are born, they're wearing a coat?
Me: Huh?!?
Student: Yeah, it's true ... when puppies are born, they're wearing a coat.
Me: I don't know what you mean by that.
Student: They're wearing a black, shiny, slimy-looking coat.

UGH.

I promptly told my student to put his book away in his backpack.

ENOUGH birds and bees talk for one day.

Eat your snack already - it's snack time!

I'm exhausted.

jan 13th

It's hard to come up with a picture when all you did was work all day.

And both commutes were executed in the dark.

But alas … a tasty meal after my workout … which P.S. I thought I was going to die in the middle of.

My body could NOT be more sore.

It hurts to sit, stand, walk up stairs … anything.

Anyway - dinner.

Two slices of Oroweat Light bread - 1 point
One slice of light Cheddar cheese - 2 points
A few 3 slices of deli Turkey - 1 point
Mustard: 0 points
A ton of vegetables for 0 points: onion, cucumber, sprouts, tomatoes, pickles
And a bag of reduced fat Cheez-Its (because I worked out damn-it!) - 4 points

And I love them.

And I had a few extra points burning a hole in my weight watcher imaginary points pocket.

So dinner was 8 points ... but only 4 if you don't eat the Cheez-It's (which is usually the case).

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

support through words

Sometimes I think I talk about fertility and miscarriage too much.

I've been resisting blogging about it lately because I assume you're sick of hearing me blog about it.

And then I get an email like this - and I'm reminded that through my own grief and processing, I just may be giving comfort to other people:

Hey Lisa,
I was just going to tell you that last night I experienced my first miscarriage. They believe I was only 5 or 6 weeks along. I know all that you have been through and your strength helped me get through the pain last night. So I just wanted to say thank you for bearing your soul and sharing your story.

My heart breaks for my dear friend.

Please know you are not alone - I understand your grief - it is deep and real, and earth-shattering.

I love you.

jan 12th

Today was a snow day.

We did nothing all day.

Literally.

Nothing.

At 5:45 I started getting stressed about my picture of the day.

When you do nothing all day - you also have no pictures.

So I climbed into the back of my closet and dusted off my workout clothes.

Today's picture is me trying out my EA SPORTS Active 2 game for the first time.

I'm exhausted.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

breakfast

My favorite Weight Watcher's friendly breakfast:

3 egg whites: 1 point
scallions: 0 points
a pinch of cheddar cheese: 1 point (you could probably give .5, but I always round up
1/2 double fiber english muffin: 1 point
fat-free cream cheese: 1 point
steamed broccoli, then browned a bit on my skillet: 0 points

Total Points: 4 POINTS!

All served on my adorable bird plate (makes eating so much fun!)

And I'm SO FULL!

jan 11th

Hair cut & color with one of my favorite girls tonight.

Thanks Ami for always making me feel so pampered.

Go see Ami at Oasis Spa & Salon in Woodinville!

LOVE her!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

reaping

Me: what are you going to do with all your fantasy football earnings?
Jay: (laughing) I don't know.
Me: maybe you should take me on a date.
Jay: oh yah?
Me: yes! I should reap some of the benefits for putting up with all your fantasy sports.
Jay: (laughter) - silence
Me: this isn't a joke.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

jan 10th

This was a great weight watchers friendly dinner.

1 cup of Safeway's Savory Chicken & Orzo Soup
1/2 Oroweat Double Fiber English Muffin
Fat Free Cream Cheese spread
Salad with olive oil & vinegar dressing.

All vegetables are zero points.

Here's the point break-down:
soup - 2 points per cup
1/4 of an avocado (my splurge) - 3 points
1-1/2 T cream cheese - 1 point
1/2 double fiber muffin - 1 point
1-1/2 tsp Olive Oil - 2 points.

TOTAL: 9 points … but only 6 if you don't have the avocado. I had a few points left so I went for it.

Delish!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

jan 9th

We had some family members come over today including two young kids … Cooper was in heaven.

Here he is, buried in all his toys.

Can you see him?

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

jan 8th

Today was the first day I've felt well in over a week.

I met my parents for lunch, caught up on laundry, graded papers, and watched the Seahawks game.

I had a health-awakening talk from my doctor on Tuesday. Details aside (and still working on showing myself grace), I've rejoined Weight Watchers.

So I spent the majority of my afternoon making what I call my "Motivation Closet."

This is a picture of my guest room closet.

All my clothes that don't fit me right now.

I can't wait to fit into all these cute clothes again.

Motivation.

Are YOU trying to lose weight for health reasons?

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

jan 7th

At first I thought this should be the picture of the day
since we're finally taking our Christmas tree down.

But then Jay spent WELL over 25 minutes
unclogging tree branches from the vacuum hose,
and I figured this was the winner.
{notice the tree made it outside!}

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

jan 6th

I didn't do anything today.

I stayed home and slept all day.

All day.

It was heavenly, minus the sinus infection and Pink Eye.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

jan 5th

Today is not my day.

The saga of my sinus infection continues.

I also woke up with Pink Eye today.

Drove into work to write sub plans and went to the doctor.

Now I'm at Bartell's filling my prescriptions.

While waiting,
I walked into a display.

I basically wanted to fall apart and cry in the middle of the store.

I can't wait to crawl into bed and shut my itchy eye.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

jan 4th

We went back to work today & it was so nice to see the kids.

Everyone was very excited to write about Christmas in their writing journal.

In the picture above, this student wrote about how he heard Santa on his rooftop.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

jan 3rd

Went to an all-day workshop today.

It was really great.

The speakers were fantastic and the workshops were great.

There was a lot of

scaffolding, scaffold, and scaffolds.

This is a picture of my PowerPoint handouts.

Notice all three slides include a variation of the word of the day.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

new year's resolution

resolutions are made to be broken.

but i'm going to try not to break this one.

in an attempt to document and share my life journey -

my intent is to post a picture a day for 2011.

let's see how long this lasts.

two days in and i'm still going strong.

happy new year's everyone!

xoxo

jan 2nd

My mom and I at the 5th Ave Sound of Music sing- a-long.

My mom up on stage

introducing herself to the audience as Sister Mary.


Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

jan 1st

This was our view of the space needle last night.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

test

Testing to see if I can now blog from my phone. Yes, I made it into the technologically advanced world. If this works I should say.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5