Snippets

My house is uncommonly calm right now. I have a homemade soup simmering on the stove, and when I sat down to do some web-browsing, Marley helped herself to a spot on the couch and Coconut took her pre-Marley post as my blogging partner by sitting on my lap and watching the cursor travel across the screen.

*****

Thanksgiving was pretty good this year. We feasted at my parents' house, and Alex's mom and brother joined us. My brother was home for a change (he was deployed the last two Thanksgivings), and with the exception of A's brother (who was strangely quiet and made an abrupt departure), everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

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Last Sunday we did Marley's mange treatment. She was a trooper during the bath, but I felt soooo bad sticking her soaking wet into a crate and making her air-dry. After about 30 minutes of watching her sit there and shiver, I took a hair dryer to her. (We have borrowed a space heater from my parents for next time.) She spent the next two days sleeping like a log, waking only to eat and go outsite, and her skin is still red and raw in some places. I can't believe we have to do this at least 3 more times.

*****

Alex's birthday was last Friday. I gave him some golf club he hasn't shut up about for the last year and a half. On Saturday night we went to Harrah's. It's not our favorite casino, but it's the only place we've ever won anything significant. We had dinner at the new McCormick & Schmick's they have there. We were both totally unimpressed-- my Fresh Seafood Mixed Grill was bland, and the risotto it was served on was tasty but mushy. Alex asked for a crabcake alongside his filet mignon, and the waitress ended up bringing him an entire crabcake entree in addition to his filet entree. He was scared to send it back for fear that someone might spit in his dessert, so that ended up costing us an extra $30. Also, we didn't really win anything.

*****

My cousin's Bat Mitzvah was two weeks ago. My mom made the interesting observation that no one seems to dance anymore unless it is a choreographed dance like the Cha Cha Slide. Apparently it is more about knowing the words to every song. Most of the teens just kind of bounced around in groups, yelling lyrics at each other. The high point (for me, anyway) was when my brother and Alex won the dance contest. The couples dance contest. As a couple. We also got my grandma to don a giant pink fur pimp hat and red aviator sunglasses. I have already ordered the picture of that one from the photog's website.

Happy Thankspigging

Our First Thanksgiving in the New House turned out well. I don't know what all the hubbub is about-- it wasn't that hard. I guess a lot of prep and cleaning went into it, but when it came down to the cooking, meh. Perhaps if I went more gourmet and less traditional, it would have been more difficult. Oh and also if I had cooked the turkey myself, if my parents hadn't brought two of the side dishes, and if Alex's mom hadn't brought the desserts.

Like I mentioned, I purchased it pre-cooked from Wegmans (love), but it still needed two hours in the oven to heat up. End result: It tasted like turkey. I'm not a huge turkey fan, and no one else I know is, either. I've had brined turkey, seasoned and herbed turkey, roasted turkey, injected turkey, fragrant turkey... they all kinda just taste like turkey to me. I just think turkey is turkey. And, since my dad was the only one who ate dark meat, and he prefers beef anyway, I decided that next year I will just cook a turkey breast and prime rib. Cheers for new traditions!

*****

I have already had my fill of leftovers, and it's only Day 2 post-TG. Yesterday's Menu featured Italian bread French toast with homemade cranberry sauce topping for breakfast, a leftover sandwich for lunch, and turkey croquets with a mashed potato casserole for dinner. I had a leftover canoli and some brie with crackers for breakfast this morning. I keep thinking I should make a soup or something, but as I hardly cook, I do not have a stocked pantry, and therefore would have to go to the store and buy food to cook leftovers... I dunno... seems to defeat the purpose to me.



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And now, the moment you've all been waiting for!!!

More pictures of Coconut!


"She don't eat meat, but she sho likes da bone! RUFF!"


Jail Dog


Apparently humans aren't the only ones to enter a Thanksgiving coma...

Full of Soup

I am supposed to be getting a new student sometime next week, probably Wednesday, and I am kind of dreading it. I can't say the addition of a new student after rules and consequences and routines have already been established would "stir the pot;" all things relative, I'd say my class functions at a simmer on a good day. I am thinking this kid is going to bring the pot to a rolling boil.

Also, too many cooks spoil the broth, as long as we're going having fun with soup metaphors.

*****

Alex's mom's birthday is on Tuesday. I won't see her on Sunday, when A and his bro go down to visit her (already made plans due to boyfriend who does not share info until the last minute, ever), but I want to send a nice gift with him to redeem myself. On her birthday last year, we had only been dating a few months, so I didn't get her anything, and then on Christmas, he talked me into the worst Christmas gift. Ever.

Still no ideas. Think. Think.

*****

I need to start making plans for Friday nights. They are way too long and lonely, hence: sitting here blogging. No offence. I love y'all. But I'd rather do something crazy on a Friday night, and then blog about it over a cuppa coffee on Saturday morning.

It's been awhile, eh?

Not so much has been going on lately, hence my hiatus from haiku. Okay, that sentence was not supposed to end with the word "haiku," but I love alliteration. Big dork. Yes.

A few tidbits from the last three weeks of non-blogging:

• My first Valentine's Day to ever actually have a Valentine was a strange mix between This-Is-A-Stupid-Madeup-Hallmark-Holiday and I-Have-The-Best-Boyfriend-Ever-And-Thank-You-For-The-Diamond-Necklace. I suppose both things are true.
• The hideous freezing, windy, snowy, sleety, blow-freezing weather that we've been having lately left me walking out into the balmy 40°F sunshine this morning ready to strip off my coat and run back inside for my flip-flops.
• One of my 3rd graders asked a girl in another class to be his girlfriend today. She comes into my room for the after school program, and he wrote on the chalkboard, "I love you so much I want to mari you! from GremlinKid."
• That's all I have to say, which is pretty bad for 3 weeks away from the keyboard.
• Hope to have something to post tomorrow.
• See you then.
  

Welcome the new year... Bond style!

At least, that's what we did.

This New Year's Eve was spent at the Continental Mid-Town in Philly with Christine and HerBoy, and if I do say so myself, it was an awesome time. Check out the evidence (aka sub-quality camera-phone taken picture):



Yes, friends, those are go-go girls you are seeing. Alex and Tony enjoyed them immensely, while Christine and I just felt that they weren't so cute in the face, and that the gold body paint didn't do them any favors. But whatev.

I'll tell you though, the very best part of my weekend was that I got to spend the whole thing with TheBoy. Usually, Alex only gets off on Thursdays and Sundays, which obviously does not match up with my schedule. Match that with the fact that on most nights he is working until 9:30, and my bedtime of Between 10 and 11, and we don't see each other all that much. This week, however, he was off his regular Sunday, PLUS today, and so we've pretty much been playing House since Saturday night. I found out that TheBoy makes a wicked good cheese omelette, and also that spending so much time with him makes it even harder to watch him go home.

Last Year's Resolutions:

• lose weight (or "get healthy," as some of you might pretend that is the real reason for eating better foods and exercising, and not the fact that you want your ass to look better in jeans)
• talk less about myself and listen more about others (in other words, I will always make sure to turn any comment made by any person into something about myself, and be sure to always respond to people with, "That reminds me of the time I..." and "Oh yeah, that happened to me once and..."
• do my capstone project by May so that I can really actually get my reallyreal pieceofpaper Master's degree
• stop living with my parents (because, really, what is more attractive and admirable than a 25-year-old living with Mom and Dad?)
• like guys with whom I am compatible and who show an interest in me, and will not choose the ones who keep me guessing as to their feelings for me and I will not turn into Crazy Girl while trying to be aloof and pretend like I don't care

I guess two out of five is okay, but two out of four would be better.

This year:

• The weight thing, as always was and as will probably always be
• Read at least 1 book per month
• Put more effort into my job (i.e. turn in my lesson plans on time, stick with those plans, stay around after the kids leave and prepare for the next day so I'm not running around like a headless chicken for 6 hours)
• Capstone
  

Christmas Deadbeat

Yup, that's what I am.

Having never really celebrated Christmas before, I was all excited about the prospect of enthusiastically opening my pile of gifts and then watching Alex open his, and then the two of us excitedly testing everything out while sugar plum fairies danced around my living room.

Except the whole thing? Kind of anticlimactic. I'm not saying I don't appreciate everything I received... I love LOVE all of my presents- they were all thoughtful and perfect and Alex gave me the sweetest card that almost made me cry. But he brought them all over on Christmas eve, and despite my protests, he insisted that in his family that's when they opened their presents. And who am I to start my own Christmas traditions? I'm Jewish for christ's sake.

And also? His brother was there, and though I love his brother, it kind of took away from the romance of it all.

And one more thing? He told his dad the same thing he hinted at wanting when he was with me, and so by the time I gave him his stuff, he had already gotten the rolling garment bag. So basically he openened a steamer, a leather DVD binder, The Family Guy vol. 4, and a grooming kit. Whoot. Whoot.

My loot?
The TV/DVD player
Burberry quilted jacket
Burberry cashmere scarf
Matching cute pink gloves
A red leather laptop bag
Travel jewelry case
PJ pants
Slippers
a classic musicals collection of DVDs
The Devil Wears Prada DVD (I wanted to see it)
a Pier 1 gift card
and a Poo-Pooing Santa Claus

I suck at giving presents.

I know, I know... I kind of knew this would happen and had resigned myself to the fact that I'd be receiving more than I'd be giving. But wait til you hear this one.

We're going out to dinner on Christmas Eve with his mom and grandma. I have been asking Alex for a month for some suggestions for what to get his mom, who I don't know all that well. The most frequent response was, "Just get her something stupid." Which was extremely helpful.

Fast forward to the day before Christmas Eve, and I still don't have anything for her. I'm at the mall. I'm freaking out. I frantically text message him that I am not going to dinner and you can't make me.

Christmas Eve morning, after I make several debunked suggestions of what I could get her, Alex insists that I should just get her a couple of pounds of ground Dunkin Donuts coffee, and no, I shouldn't get the gift set, just the coffee, keep it simple, it's useful, she will love it, relax, relax, it's no big deal really.

So I get the friggin coffee.

Fast forward once more to dinner. Set scene: Jess opens a gift bag from Alex's mom, which contains tons of little accessory type things, antibacterial gels, mints, etc. (because if we had eaten at the house, I'd have had a stocking), and a $50 Commerce Bank gift card.

And then I handed her my gift, which contained two pounds of DD coffee and a tin of homemade peppermint bark. She did seem appreciative, but I'm pretty sure I saw her checking under the tissue paper for something she may have missed. A loose coffee bean, perhaps.

So I wake up Christmas morning, and all I want to do all day is cry. My gift to my boyfriend was spoiled, my gift to his mom was straight up retarded, and by the way, his grandmother gave me a card with a $10 in it and I got her nothing.

Y'all? I suck at Christmas.

Fa La La La La

Hello again.

I've written a couple posts in the past few weeks, but I never actually published them. I'm not sure why... I guess they weren't very well written, and well, I dunno. I haven't been in the Blogging Mood.

I haven't been in much of a 'Tis the Season Mood either, but you know, everyone has shit to do around the holidays.

I like buying something thoughtful, and I stress over anything I choose. I like giving and all, I just don't like giving if I'm not 100% sure the person will 100% love the gift I give. This makes it hard to pick something out, ya know?

Anyway, I finished shopping for Alex a couple weeks ago, and I am pretty satisfied. I was kind of torn about what to get him and how much money to spend-- this is my first holiday season with a boyfriend to buy for. He kept telling me how much he was buying, and I kept freaking out because how can I, making less than half of his salary, even compete?

And then finally, after receiving the advice of a couple coworkers, I decided to just let him Spoil Me. It's not a competition, it's just the Spirit of Giving, and he knows what I make and how much I can afford... And who knows? I thought. He might just be exaggerating...

Yeah. So he gave me a LCD flat panel TV/DVD player for my bedroom the other night. Because, you know, the box was too big to wrap, and I'd know what it was anyway as soon as I entered his house.

People, I know it's supposed to be the thought that counts, and it's not a competition, but god, how do I compete with that?! It makes the rolling garment bag I bought him look like a stocking stuffer.

On the other hand... It feels good to be Spoiled.

*****

If you have never spent the week before Winter Break with 5 behaviorally disabled kids, you might wonder what it's like. This might give you an idea-- just imagine 4 more monkeys...

Anything Can Happen On Halloween*

On my way in to teach a group of behavioral students on a day when most average kids can be said to act like they've got the devil in them...

Here goes nothin'.

* Reference to The Worst Witch. If you're not Christine, you probably don't get it. (Chris: For real, we are the coolest.)