Chelsea Salomone: July 2009

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Now I Am...

Much better!!

Four Chapters: Burgers To Dog Hair

Chapter One:

Yesterday marked, what I believe, to be the second happiest day of the year for Nick. Second only to opening game day, yesterday was season ticket arrival day.

Now if you were to ask Nick that question, he would give you the p.c. answer and swear that it's only the fourth best day of the year. First is our anniversary, second his birthday, third first game of the season and fourth season ticket arrival day. Don't believe him. The way he tore into that envelope, smiled from ear to ear and stroked & admired those glossy season tickets- I don't buy it! I don't even get that kind of adoration any more! So needless to say, Nick was a happy camper!

Chapter Two:

Yesterday I fully intended to clean the house. I will say, during the school year I have been indulging myself and having our house cleaned. But I feel (somewhat) guilty paying some one to clean it during the summer when I'm just sitting at home with no responsibilities. So yesterday, I decided I had been putting it off long enough, and I woke up ready to clean. Except I wanted to read some blogs first and make some phone calls. Well next thing you know it was 11:00, so I decided I had better fix myself some lunch. After that I absolutely was cleaning the house.

Except then I started thinking about how much the tops of the cabinets and counter tops bugged me, and how I had better rearrange them. I didn't want to spend any money- okay that's a lie- I WANTED to spend money and change the tops of the cabinets, but I thought I had better not spend money on it. I just moved around what we had, dug in some closets and used my scissors and hot glue gun. It's not perfect, but I think it turned out pretty well, considering it was 100% free.

Here is a picture of before (from last fall- I don't keep pumpkins out all year): It looked WAY too crowded and almost kind of "country" to me

After: You can see I still need to find something long to go above the microwave. Also, I switched the lamp and the orange bowl that was in the living room. I also moved the canisters to the other side of the kitchen and rearranged the counter top decor to give us more space to cook.

Anyway, it's not perfect but a lot less cluttered and didn't cost a dime.

Chapter Three:

I did finally get around to cleaning most of the house, and then my mom called and wanted to know if we wanted to meet her and Pa and Scat at Twisted Root for dinner. We invited Al & Teri to make the party complete.

I'm not a big hamburger person, but I love that place. They even serve snow cones, so you know I love it. And I REALLY want to sit in this chair at some point.

After eating steaks on Sunday night, I'm pretty sure a burger and fries was the last thing we needed to be eating. But my, it was delicious! (Sorry Abby & you other vegetarian blog readers.) Just look at that deliciousness. And all those calories...

Next time I'm going to try their veggie burger.

And, chapter four:

After a long day of season ticket stroking, rearranging, dusting and eating hamburgers, we had one more thing to do. We went to Wal-Mart and bought shears to give Lexi a hair cut. We normally take her to get cut during the summer because it keeps her cool, and she hardly sheds at all when her hair is short. Since Lexi is going to Colorado with us, we figured my dad and his dust buster would love us for that. We started thinking, instead of spending $70 every other month to get her cut (more than my hair cut!), we (meaning Nick) should just do it. I didn't get a final picture, but she looks pretty cute!

Now it is 10:30, and I have successfully postponed finishing my cleaning from yesterday, yet again.

The End.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

"Take a Look! It's a Book! Reading Rainbow."

Today I had a reading workshop all day. One of my pet peeves is when other adults read books to you, like you're a kid. Lucky for me, I got to listen to books being read aloud for six hours. Oh and stand up and sing songs about books. That was fun. There were definitely some good ideas here and there, but overall it resembled an extended episode of Reading Rainbow.

The good news was, this gave me an opportunity to ponder some really important topics- like whether it's time for me to trade in a bikini for a tankini permanently. And if I should get a pedicure before we go to Colorado or after we get back. The other great thing about today was that all of the teachers from my school who were there decided we should go to Joe T's for lunch. I LOVE JOE T's!!!

I did finally hear back from my doctor's office today. Thank you for all of the sweet comments! All of my blood work came back fine, which is a big relief! They are still waiting to hear about my "pox culture." I actually am hoping they find something because there's some reason I keep getting chicken pox (or whatever it is) and not feeling so great. I don't want them to say it's nothing and just send me on my way. If that happens, I'll be left to my own devices aka WebMD. And that's never a good thing.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Monday Funday

Last night we went to Del Frisco's for Katie's 16th birthday. Except I'm pretty sure there was a mix up, and we should have actually been celebrating my brother's 16th birthday. There is just no way that Katie is already 16!

It was very nice and of course, the food was excellent. My aunt and uncle had reserved a room in the wine cellar down on the first floor. There were probably about 15 close friends and family who came to celebrate.

Katie got some cute gifts, but I'm pretty sure her new car is her favorite! I know mine was!

I just wish I still had that denim shirt- it sure was pretty. And the tall sock tan lines are awesome too. The even more awesome thing about those sock lines is that they're from being outside for band.

I wasn't sure what to get Katie for her birthday. Things have changed a lot since I was 16. Obviously. So I wound up getting her a key chain from Brighton (for her new set of keys) and a gift card.

My pox are looking somewhat better, and I was able to cover up them up pretty well last night. It's amazing what an over sized part and a bunch of concealer can do! When I don't have on any make up at night, it's a whole different story though. I am supposed to hear back from the doctor either today or tomorrow. I'm really hoping to hear something sooner rather than later!

Today I went to Dallas to have lunch with Nick. We ate at a really good Chinese place called Howard Wang's on Northwest Highway. I just love going to eat lunch with him and visiting his office. After Nick went back to work, I decided to make the most of my trip to Dallas by shopping for some birthday gifts and picking up something for little Mya. She's going to be here soon! Selfishly, I'm hoping that Kari doesn't go into labor while we're in Colorado.

Have a good Monday!

Sunday, July 26, 2009

And Again.

So I have chicken pox. Again. For the fourth time.

I woke up early Friday morning because I was supposed to go play golf with Christin. I looked in the mirror and saw three bumps in the exact same spot on my nose and cheek and forehead as before and there was also one on my back, in the same spot as last time. I probably would have just dismissed it as a bite or a breakout, but I know what to look for now.

So, I let myself cry for just a minute because I was frustrated and feeling sorry for myself and then, I cancelled golf and called the doctor. I went to a different doctor this time, and they were really nice. I saw two different doctors while I was there, and I think they were kind of baffled. They don't think I have shingles because they're not painful, and the bumps aren't in clusters. But they follow a line along my mid line like shingles. They look more like a couple of random chicken pox that don't itch, but they don't know if you can really get that.

So, they're trying to figure out what's going on. They took a culture of one of the "pox" and drew a bunch of blood. I'm going to say ten vials.
When I tearfully told Nick this he said, "THEY DREW TEN VIALS OF BLOOD FROM YOUR ARM?"
And I said, "Well I don't really know. I couldn't watch them do it, so I can't exactly say. But it felt like 10."
I think it was more like 3 or 4, but I'm going to call it 10. The point was it took forever. And it hurt.

I had a bunch of fun stuff planned this weekend, including a girls' night on Friday night, but the pox put a kibosh on all of that. Both doctors assured me that I'm not contagious and even if I am having recurrences of chicken pox, it's very mild and not airborne. But they said I need to rest and take care of myself. And besides, having three big pox on your face kind of limits your social interaction. Not to mention the fact that my arm is sore from losing ten vials of blood. :)

I went to lunch with my mom on Friday after my appointment, and then Nick and I have spent the rest of the weekend at home. We have played Scrabble and rented movies. I read books, blogs and magazines, I took a bubble bath, watched an Amelia Earhart documentary, taught Lexi a new trick and cooked dinner until I had pretty much exhausted every possibility of things to do around the house. I'm not very good at doing nothing. Especially when I don't feel that bad. So finally last night we went for a drive and got ice cream.

Today my pox look a lot better, and I HAVE to get out of the house. My mom and I are going to a movie this afternoon, and tonight Nick and I are going to Del Frisco's to celebrate my cousin Katie's 16th birthday.

When I look back on this summer, I don't think having chicken pox twice will be one of my fonder memories.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

The Not So Distant Future

Last weekend when I was in Austin, I was greeted by a big orange and white sign on u.t.'s campus that said, "Welcome Class of 2013!"

Well, I guess saying that I was "greeted" by the sign is a bit of an stretch, considering I never actually saw the sign. But Jenny told me about it. And if you know anything about Jenny and her story telling, it's basically like I saw the sign.

Anyway- CLASS OF 2013!!! Where has time gone? I read a quote once that said, "Days pass slowly and years go quickly." That's so true! Class of 2013! I'm pretty sure that in a not so distant past, when most of us envisioned 2013, it had something to do with robots. Now 2013 is in the not so distant future! And I'm still cooking and cleaning and doing my own laundry...

This reminds me of the other day when I was telling someone about a group of girls I'd just met at a workshop. They had just graduated from college and were about to start their first year of teaching. I was saying how fun it was sitting next to people "my age." But right after I said that I started thinking... actually... they're kinda not. Eeeesh...

Even though I feel like I am, saying I'm "their age" is borderline awkward. In the way that a 28 year old guy who still comes to all the frat parties is awkward. You know exactly what guy I'm talking about.

So, the moral of the story is: 2013 is lurking in the near future and I should not pretend to be 22 anymore. (Even if I feel like I am.)

In other highlights of my life, the sign for my classroom door came in today. I LOVE IT!! I think that it turned out so cute!

I ordered it on Etsy from Sassafrass Sweet's shop, which you can visit here. She did such a good job! I secretly wish I could hang it in our house, but Nick might have something to say about that.

I went back to school this morning and actually got all of my boxes unpacked! I am SO glad! By the end, I just started shoving stuff in drawers and cabinets. That is going to annoy me so badly later and I'm gonna have to go back and organize everything, but at least it's out of boxes. That's actually how I pack too. I just throw things in boxes and tape them up. But we'll get to that in a minute.

I realized as I was unpacking that I have an abundance of plastic containers: Literally this isn't even half of them!! But I really will use them all for one thing or another during the year. Crazy, I know!

Here they are after I used the ones I needed today. There is a whole other row behind the ones you see on both shelves.And finally, (because posting pictures of plastic containers might just be one step BELOW posting pictures of your flowers), these were the remnants that I dumped out at the very bottom of the LAST wonderfully packed box: Three more plastic containers (naturally), a Weight Watchers points book, Valentine sprinkles, pieces of border, a bag of Splenda packets, ear candling tubes, a tampon, and a police hat. I don't even know what to say about that.

Have a good "hump day" everybody!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Random Teacher Stuff

Normally I'm not the kind of teacher who goes up to school during the summer. But I started thinking how good it would feel to have my classroom unpacked before Nick and I go to Colorado in August. That would be such a relief to start back to work after our trip and at least know that my classroom is done. I'm going to be teaching reading instead of math this year- which I'm SUPER excited about- so I feel like I'm going to have a lot to brush up on before the kids come.

This morning I went up to school for a few hours and worked in my room. You wouldn't know it by looking at what I still have left to unpack:

It's pretty overwhelming to think about everything I have to do in my room. I really did get a lot done- I got all of the furniture moved and some of the boxes for my desk unpacked. This year I am going to set up my desk so that my reading group table is right there in front of it.

But it was SO hot in there, and there is still SOOO much to do. I may try to go up there for a few more hours in the morning and one day next week to just see if I can't get it all done.

Here are some pictures of my classroom two years ago, when we started out the year self contained and I taught reading.

That year our grade level theme was "Are you smarter than a fourth grader?" It was SO cute! I don't know if my new school does grade level themes or not.

Anyway, for the past four years I've had a "bright color/ocean" theme in my room, as you can tell by the pictures. I'm really sick of that. I want to do something different, but I have accumulated so much stuff that goes with ocean theme. It would cost a fortune to start at square one and replace everything!

I don't know- no matter what I do, going back to school always costs a lot of money. Especially when you're teaching a new grade or a new subject! If you are a teacher, do you find yourself spending a lot of money on back to school?

I am thinking about just getting rid of all the ocean stuff, keeping the bright colors and just adding zebra print or polka dots. I am also going to add some little touches I've always meant to do- like finding a cute lamp, hanging a shelf, and getting my director's chair monogrammed. I am also having a sign with my name made for outside my door, and I can't wait to see how it turns out!

I wanted to get a picture of my room before I started, but the camera I keep at school was buried in a box, and I didn't find it until right before I left. Go figure! But I did find these pictures from the end of last year on my camera. I had forgotten all about this!

Here I am with Misty and Rendee on our planning period painting signs (high school cheerleader style) for the TAKS pep rally.

Which of course led to this:

We covered Tammie's whole arm in paint! Can you imagine what we would do to one of our students if they did this?? Great example we are!

The funny thing was, I picked up Tammie's kids from P.E. and Music that day. I told them that Tammie was in the nurse's office because her arm had broken out in a terrible skin disease. I told them not stare at her arm too much. That's the thing I like about teaching fourth grade, they're old enough to where you can actually joke around. It's not like telling a first grader that, which would just be mean! Not to mention this was the end of the year, so our kids knew by this point that we were always joking around and being silly. Yet, several of her students still thought the paint was a disease when she walked in the room and wouldn't look at her arm!

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Rest of the Weekend

I got home from Austin early Saturday evening. I pretty much sat my bags down, jumped in the shower, and then we left again to go pick up Kimba and Dillon. I love the fact that they live exactly 1.8 miles away from us!!

We went to eat at a place that just opened called Twisted Root. They have the BEST hamburgers, fries and homemade root beer. Oh my goodness, it was so good! The one in Dallas has even been featured on The Food Network. It's by Babe's Chicken in Roanoke, if you know where that is. After that, we went to listen to a Beatles cover band that was playing at Bear Creek Park in Keller. Kimba had made some Oreo cake balls that were to die for that we enjoyed during the concert also. It was exactly what we needed after eating burgers and fries for dinner! The weather was surprisingly nice, so it was a perfect night to be outside. We had a lot of fun hanging out with Kimba and Dillon!

Today we went to my grandparents' house in Arlington to celebrate Pa's 77th birthday! Aren't Pa and Scat so cute?

I just love how much they still love each other after all these years. Scat has always been like a second mom to me. I am the oldest grandchild, and she and I have always been really close. As an added bonus, Scat has the best sense of style and her house is always beautifully decorated. Not the typical "grandma" style at all. hope I age as well has she has!

Me with two of my cousins, Reece and Hillary (and Annie):

My mom and Annie:

My mom and my Aunt Diane:

Here was the funny part. Nick and my Uncle Randy were dressed EXACTLY alike- down to the shoes and everything!! We were cracking up.
Nick:

Randy:

What was even funnier was that Randy's wife Ana and I both wore red!

Also, please keep the Bearden family in your prayers. They are having a very difficult time and have been on my mind a lot lately. They are from Arlington and all four of their kids went to Martin. Their daughter Chrissy graduated in 2001 with me. They could really use some prayers right now. http://www.shanabearden.com/

Austin: Wink and A Gun

This weekend Jill and I went to Austin to visit Jenny.

This is how our trip ended:

But it began on Thursday when I drove in to watch Jenny's weekly kick ball game I have been hearing so much about. I had pretty high expectations going into the game, and it definitely did not disappoint! Jenny's team snatched a 10-2 victory against this week's opponent, MC Hammered. It was a lot of fun, and every one on her team was so nice.

After the game, we went to Dock's with her team.

On Friday morning we woke up and went to Hamilton Pool, just west of Austin. It is a natural swimming hole, and it was so pretty. I want to go back there for sure! We packed a cooler and ate lunch on the little beach area.

On Friday afternoon Jill arrived from Houston. We met up with Jenny's friend Emily for dinner at South Congress Cafe. Delish!!

After dinner we went to an old house that has been turned into a bar called Lustre Pearl. It was a very laid back, fun place to go. Which leads us to the hula hoops.

Besides being a bar in an old house, there was all kinds of cool things to do like listen to Michael Jackson on repeat, play ping pong, order from the taco stand, and of course, hula hoop. Being the 1993 Wood Elementary Field Day Hula Hoop Champion is not something I take lightly. And being such, I really don't think it's appropriate to turn down an opportunity to display my skills and talent.

Luckily, Jill was happy to join me.

The night did not actually end with the hula hoops, but it was complete in my book. The night officially ended with Jill and I (and Natalie via text) trying to convince Jenny that the only thing standing in her way of capturing the attention of the man of her dreams, is learning to perfect the classic move we like to call "wink and a gun."

Wink and A Gun Take One:

Wink and A Gun Take Two:

Unfortunately, Jenny was unsuccessful in capturing the attention of any fellow bar goers, but I really think it's just because she hasn't polished up her skills- not a reflection of the actual move itself. Clearly.

Jill's husband Luke later told us that the very best move, even better than wink and a gun, is the wink and a machine gun. Dang it! If only we'd known. Luke assured us that move is KEY in capturing the eye and heart of any single man. All I can really say about that is the dating game is a tough one now-a-days. The stakes are high. I don't think I could survive in today's wink and a machine gun era. So maybe Jenny can brush up on that while we're gone.

And now, without further delay, I present to you in video- Jenny Jones' base kick:

Thanks for letting us stay with you Jenny!! As always, it was so much fun!

Chelsea Salomone

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