Terrible Timing

Mother Nature has the worst timing. Does anyone else agree with me here? Periods during beach trips. Sinus infections before spring break. Strep throat during Christmas break. Well, she has reared her ugly head again-this time plaguing me during the last week of school. Evidence for my case against Mother Nature (hereby known as M.N.) this school year alone:

Exhibit A: The very first time the hubs went away for a trip to Alabama, I get sick. He wasn't gone 24 hours before I started feeling icky. Heavy meds were prescribed and I only ended up missing one day of school.

Exhibit B: M.N. struck again during the month-long outage. Talk about miserable timing. At least the first time he was only gone for a few days, this happened smack dab in the middle of the outage when there was no way in hell he could come home. This time I juiced up with some Russian Tea (recipe to come!) and was back to battling 8th graders the next day.

Exhibit C: That tramp hit me good this time. Not only is David gone again (I mean really?! What's the fun in getting sick if there is no one there to take care of you?!?), but it's also the last week of school. I was bound and determined not to let her knock me out. I'll give you one guess who won this one. Here's a hint, I'm snuggled up in bed surrounded by used tissues. I tried to tough it out, but I think by doing so I only made it worse. Joy. I won't go into the yucky details, but let's just say I didn't know snot could turn that shade of green.

I think we can all agree that M.N. is pure evil and should be stopped before she does much more damage to my immune system. I trust that the jury will make the best decision for all, until then you can find me downing shots of Robitussin and lathering on the Vick's Vapo Rub. 

Bookworm

I am a bookworm. There, I said it. For as long as I can remember I have taken every bit of downtime that I have and read. I was that kid who always asked to go to the library during homeroom and I’ve turned into the adult who always has a book in her purse. I’ll read anything actually. Books, magazines, newspapers, pamphlets. You name it, I’ll read it. As I’ve gotten older I find that I have less and less time to read what I want. I’m hoping to change all that this summer.

Since I am a teacher I have the great fortune of having the summer off from work. My plans? Pool, read, nap, repeat. I’m sure errands and cleaning and a few vacations will be thrown in there, but for the most part that is the plan. I’ve already started jotting down a few possible reads, but I’m looking for suggestions! Here is what I’m thinking now:

The Help by Kathryn Stockett 

(going to be a movie too!)

If You Were Here by Jen Lancaster 

(all of her other stuff keeps me in fits of giggles so I’m really looking forward to her novel debut)

Mini Shopaholic by Sophia Kinsella (

I loved all the others and am hoping this is good too!)

Georgia Bottoms by Mark Childress 

(I read a review in a magazine and it looks like a page turner)

Skipping A Beat by Sarah Pekkanen 

(read the back while waiting for the hubby at Target and it looks cute)

As you can see my list is pretty sparse. What are y’all reading these days?!?!

Southern Banana Pudding

Anyone from the South knows you don't show up to a party empty-handed. Last weekend found us at quite a few shindigs (I know our popularity is astounding-ha!) and I wanted to try something beyond the usual dish of brownies or plate of cookies. After a miscalculation on days of the week and number of bananas necessary (I'm an English teacher not a Math teacher) I realized we had a few more than necessary. After some searching I found the recipe below and figured I'd give it a whirl!

46 Nilla Wafers, divided

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 packages (3.4 oz each) vanilla instant pudding

2 cups cold milk

1 tub (8 oz) cool whip, thawed

4 bananas, sliced

1 package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees. 

Crush 30 wafers; mix next four ingredients.

Spread onto bottom of 13 X 9 pan sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake 5 minutes; stir. Bake 3-5 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool.

Beat pudding mixes and milk with whisk 2 minutes.

Stir in 1 cup cool whip. 

Layer 1/3 of the crumb mixture and half each of the bananas and pudding in a 2-quart serving bowl; Repeat.

Beat cream cheese and granulated sugar in medium bowl with mixer until blended.

Gently stir in 1 cup of remaining cool whip; spread over top, sealing to edge of bowl.

Sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture.

Refrigerate 3 hours.

Top with remaining cool whip and whole wafers just before serving.

Enjoy!

It sounds like a lot of work, but it really wasn't. And, I can assure you the final product was well worth it! Here are some pictures from the process:

 The mess I created

 First layer

 Delectable topping

 Finished product!

Side view of bowl with our precious monogram-thanks Kelsey!

When the Animals Ran the Zoo

We officially have one week left of school and I am beginning to feel like a zookeeper. I love my job and all my kids (no sarcasm here, honest.), but I’m beginning to lose it. We all are. The kids are tired. The teachers are tired. The administration is tired. In fact, I have a feeling we’re keeping the local coffee industry in business right now.

Anyone who has kids, or works with kids, knows that kids do best with routines. These past few weeks all routines have flown right out the window with little birdy wings and chaos has stomped on in the door to take over. Every day we have a new schedule to follow and me being the scatterbrained nut that I am can barely figure it out, let alone convey it to the kiddos. Add the fact that we are absorbing kids as they finish testing and  beautiful beach weather and you have the perfect recipe for disaster.

Today was one of those days. We even had the cherry on top of it being a Friday AND the afternoon was blocked out for the faculty/student volleyball game. Awesome (sarcasm here). Even though I had a very structured lesson about Anne Frank and the Holocaust planned out, there was no way in hell those kids were going to focus. And I can’t really blame them. They’re a week away from sweet freedom, the last thing on their mind is what it was like to be a teen during the Holocaust. Needless to say, my teammate’s brilliant idea to take a few laps around the track saved us all.

We all survived to the game when they were able to get some of their energy out and chit chat with their friends, and we were able to do the same. By the time the bell rang it was more than just the kids racing for the door, the teachers were right there with them. Or should I say, the zookeepers.

Thankful Thursday-Nothing to Lose

I missed this last week and knew I couldn’t miss another in a row! As with every week, I have MUCH to be thankful for. Above all else I have life in my body and breaths in my lungs. A few other things I’m grateful for right now:

*friends*
(David and I have such stellar friends, both new and old, that I know we couldn’t live without)

*air conditioning*
(today’s high was 96. Enough said)

*summer trips*
(we sat down the other day with our calendars and it’s shaping up to be a pretty busy summer!)

*the pool*
(a wonderful treat on this miserably hot days)

*supportive coworkers*

(necessary during this cuckoo time of the year!)

*my hubby*

(he's a pretty cool kid)

What are you counting as blessings this week?