Posted on May 29, 2009 under General |
**Edit: I should note, because I have been getting compliments on this cake, that it is not one I actually made myself. I simply found this photo online and wanted an image to use for this post, so I can’t take credit. But I’ll be sure to show off my work when I have something to show!**
Summer is officially here!! Sort of. Today was my last day of school, and technically there are two teacher work days next week. But I will not be there for them because I start my Orff level I class at Samford on Monday. (For those who don’t know- it’s a music certification course.) So I’m excited, but not too excited yet. I’m glad to have completed another year of teaching, but my ‘break’ won’t truly begin until mid-June.
Now on to the more interesting news; I will be taking cake decorating classes this summer at Michael’s and they start Tuesday! This is my birthday gift and I am sooo looking forward to it. I have been wanting to try cakes for a long time and I think it will be something fun and relaxing that’s just for me. But don’t worry I’ll share my gift with others once I have some practice 
I’m not going to be a professional cake maker by the end of this but I do hope that I can make it a regular thing. I would love to do special events for my friends and family. My two latest obsessions have become: looking at cake pictures online (I could do this for hours) and watching the show Ace of Cakes on Food Network (seriously if you haven’t watched it you need to- it’s incredible!)
One more thing I plan to do this summer is take lots and lots of naps. I rarely find time to do that during the school year because I always have the guilty feeling of “Oh I have too many other things to do,” usually related to work or household chores. But now that I can clear my head I am aiming to take many guilt-free naps. Last weekend Me, Kevin, and Maggie took a nap on both Saturday and Sunday. I have never felt so rejuvinated before.
Happy weekend!
Posted on May 25, 2009 under Maggie |
I figured I would share what’s going on with Maggie because I know that many of you who read this have your own dogs. So if there is any advice you can offer, please feel free!
This started around 2 weeks ago. All of a sudden one day Maggie just showed no interest in eating. She does not appear to be sick in any way; she acts completely normal except for eating. I don’t think she’s lost weight because we have been forcing her to eat. She is on a 3 meal daily schedule. But it’s very frustrating because it’s like we’re trying to convince a small child to eat. We don’t exactly make airplane noises with a spoon, but we pretend to eat it and make yummy sounds or we’ll have her do tricks so she thinks she’s being treated. And she just acts so pitiful. This is the dog who used to scarf down everything- even to the point where I had to feed her before taking her out to the bathroom when I get home because that’s how much she loved to eat. Now when we put food out she just gets all sulky and her ears go down and she gets the puppy eyes like “why are you making me do this?”
So here are some conclusions for you, and let’s see if we can figure out what’s going on with Maggie?
- She went to the vet less than a month ago for a routine check-up. No worms and everything looked fine.
- We have always given her the same dry dog food, absolutely NO table scraps. The only treat she gets are milk bones. I usually give her 1/2 of one before bedtime just to hold her stomach.
- We did just buy a new bag of food (the same brand) when she started acting weird. Possibly it was a bad batch of food? But how can we tell, we have nothing to compare it to?
- I read online that we should try mixing in something like beef broth, chicken, etc. But I don’t want to get her used to something if it’s not necessary. Like I said we have been very strict about only giving dry dog food.
Well I’m all out of ideas! What do you think??
Posted on May 12, 2009 under Teaching |
No one was actually hurt But isn’t it funny how before a performance people always say “break a leg” ? How did that get started and what does it really mean?
Anyways, most of you know that I have been rehearsing with my 5th graders for about 3 months now working on the play “Beauty and the Beast.” In the beginning it was much more of a beast than anything else. Well we did our first performance on Monday in front of the school, and it went alright. Mostly the kids were nervous I think to act in front of their peers. I like to call that one the ‘dress rehearsal’. But then tonight we did our second performance for the parents and the kids did sooo well! I could not have been more pleased. Even though it has been a long, grueling process, it was so rewarding to see them succeed. I even had one boy in the play tell me after school that I had given him confidence. He told me that the first day he ever had to read his part (he was the narrator) in front of his friends he was really nervous and his knees were shaking. He said that because of the things I taught him he now thinks it is so much fun to act in front of people. Wow- could I feel any more blessed right now? That one thing that a child said to me just made my whole year. It made all those early mornings, late nights, and frustrating rehearsals worth every minute. It reminded me why I love teaching…and I needed that reminder.
So now the fun, the stress, the preparation is all over. Thank you so much to those of you who were praying for me. It meant a lot to me and God was faithful as always to see me through. To Him be the glory.