Saturday, May 21, 2011

Friday + Festival

Hi! Happy Saturday! I thought this weekend would never arrive...and I am SO glad that it's finally here!
Weekend plans include...
  • tutoring 10-12:30 this morning
  • going to my tailor to get a dress hem fixed, a lining added to a (see-through) skirt, a pair of jeans hemmed, and an old Gap maxi dress made into a skirt! hopefully this won't cost me too much!
  • work out today, yoga tomorrow
  • maaaaaaaaaybe going to Ben's race tomorrow...but it'd mean leaving the house at 7am and not returning until 7pm...so the jury's still out on that one. 
  • cooking! i'd like to make tacos tonight! and perhaps a PIE! :-D
Friday was a busy, fast-paced, fun-filled day.
It started with a quick stop at a gas station that advertised Dunkin Donuts on it's sign! Low and behold, I was able to create my own Dunkin Donuts iced coffee, right inside the gas station. AMAZING.
cawfs + ice + a little skim milk = heaven
Yesterday was our county's Special Olympics!
We took 8 students, and there were 4 adults...which turned out to be the perfect ratio of child:adult. We took blankets and chairs and the event supplied a covered tent for us to set up camp for the day. The event was held at one of our county's high schools, out on the football field. There was an "opening ceremony", in which each school lined up and carried it's flag around the track (about 200m) and onto the football field. The mayor of Sanford was present, as well as our school's superintendent and many school board members. The high school's marching band played the National Anthem, we said the Pledge of Allegiance, and the Special Olympics Oath. Then, it was finally time for the games!
Each of our students participated in two events. The choices were: 25m run, 50m run, standing or running long jump, softball throw, and frisbee throw. They also had a 200m run for the 18+ crowd...but our little 3rd graders were content to run 50m. Our students did wonderfully! They ran their little hearts out, and every student was awarded a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or participant ribbon...so each student went home with 2 ribbons!
Around 12:00 the games finished, and we made our way back to our tent to set up for lunch! Hardee's donated sack lunches for the kids, including a burger, a (single-serving) apple pie, and a little bag of potato chips. One of the teachers from my school got the adults Subway, and we sat down for a picnic lunch!
Overall, it was a WONDERFUL experience. This was my third year participating in my county, and it was by far the best year. The event was well organized, there were plenty of helpful volunteers, and it was a beautiful day! Success. :)

Moving on!
I made it home around 4:00, took a quick shower, and CRASHED. So tired!
I napped for about two hours, caught up on my day with Ben, and then we decided to head out for dinner.
I had heard about the Got to be NC Festival happening this weekend at the Raleigh fairgrounds, and it seemed like a cheap and entertaining event.
We drove to the fairgrounds, and were pleased to find that parking and admission were FREE! We grabbed a map and a brochure, and started wandering in search of dinner. I had heard on the radio that there was going to be a Shriner's fish fry, as well as fresh BBQ. We walked past many carnival rides, games, and fried food...and finally found the Food and Wine expo! It was $2 to enter, and there were plenty of freebies to nibble!
jams!
bbq sauces! SPICY!
Muscadine Grape slushie! well, that was $3. BUT SO GOOD.
Finally, we found the WINE.
several wine vendors! all local to NC! :)
We tasted wine from about 5 different vineyards...and found several that we LOVED. We kept gravitating back to Stephen's, which held many fruity wines, reminiscent of a apple orchard & winery in Michigan that I've frequented and loved. We sipped Peach, Apple, Blackberry, Pomegranate, Watermellon, and Blueberry...but the Peach and Blackberry slole the show!

We decided to purchase two bottles, and the workers were pleasant and helpful!
can't wait to get home!!!!!
After a bit more browsing through the expo, we headed back out into the fairgrounds to search for DINNER. We looked high and low for bbq, but couldn't seem to find any! So we settled on the Shriner's Fish Fry, which advertised fresh-caught NC fish, shrimp, and clams. We decided to share a 3-item plate, which included fish (not sure what kind), shrimp, and clams...as well as sweet potato fries, 3 hushpuppies, coleslaw, and a can of soda.
hellooooo fried seafood!
I had a few bites of everything...but gosh, it was FRIED. I mean, I knew it would be...but it was a little hard to stomach. The shrimp weren't too deeply battered and fried, and I liked them the best.
After satisfying our hungry bellies, we wandered around a bit more and found a petting zoo! My heart strings always pull when I see farm animals in captivity at the fair...but these little guys seemed very well fed and had plenty of water and room to roam around their HUGE pen. It was free to pet, and you could purchase a baggie of chopped carrots to feed the animals for $1. There were so many families trying to squeeze in, I just watched from a distance and awwwwwed at the goats.
so busy!
We finally made it back to Ben's car, and headed home. Of course, once we arrived home, we immediately got to work poppin' those bottles of wine!
taste testing at home
The peach wine is by far my favorite of the night. It's sweet, yet has a little bite! And it tastes exactly like the peach wine I know and love from Michigan. <3

Time to get ready for my day!
Have a great one, friends!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

JustiiiIIIIIIINNNN!

Today I was Dave Grohl  in female form...but instead of chugging fresh pots to fuel musical talents, I was fueling my speedy fingers that were whipping out IEPs on my laptop.

It was a busy day. Start. To. Finish.

First thing: my alarm rang LOUD and excessively. I snoozed for a few 20 minutes, then roused myself and headed for THE GYM. I ran 4 miles in 43 minutes! I did mile runs with 1 minute walks in between. I felt sweaty and GREAT! Since I haven't posted in so long, I'm sure I haven't shared my new shoes with you! They're the Nike Run Free +2, and I feel confident in saying that these are the BEST RUNNING SHOE I've EVER WORN. These shoes are so light. They make running feel amazing. Plus, I don't wear socks with them. Weird? I'm not sure what the protocol is on running with no socks. But these feel wonderful with bare feet inside; it's like they were made for my feet. <3

ignore those janky Shox in the background.

--insert showering, super-fast getting dressed, buying my first cup of coffee for the day from my gym's cafe, then driving to school--
...30 minutes later...
ahhhh fresh CUP.
I'm obsessed with my school's Keurig coffee maker. It's basically the coolest contraption I've ever used. I love that it makes me one cup (well, not one liquid cup...that mug fits about 16 oz) of fresh hot coffee in about 30 seconds. MAGICAL.

I made it through 4 hours of 5th grade EOG science testing, worked on some more IEPS, had a yummy salad made with lettuce, cukes, tomatoes, chicken, black olives, and spicy hummus as dressing! And a little baggie of dried apricots. Mmmm. :) And another mug of hot cawfs. (thank you, Miss Julie Golean, for that new term)

Got home from school around 4, got a phone call from a girlfriend, and turned around and headed out for a cup of froyo!
I'm sure you can imagine what a delightful cup of tart + pineapple frozen yogurt topped with ALL FRUITS and a few white chocolate chips looks like...
...but if you're not sure....and you live in the Triangle...come meet me for fro yo sometime!!!! :)

Now, I'm home.
I just baked several chicken breasts and a whole pan of asparagus and zuchinni(s?) for lunches for the rest of the week. My belly is too full for that tonight, though...see the above paragraph. ;)
I'm sitting on the couch with Izzy, still working on IEPs.
not too full for a little beer! :)

Also, still counting down the days 'til paperwork/meeting/testing freedom...that would be 16, if you're counting with me.

Good night!

Monday, May 16, 2011

It's been a month

since my last post.
...How obnoxious am I? All I can say is: I've been BUSY.
obnox and annoyed and busyyyy
My life has been so jam-packed with teaching, meetings, testing, tutoring, running, and cooking.
Seriously, so crazy these days!
But! There's good news!
17 school days until summer vacation!!!!!
via
 ...and 7 more IEP meetings
via
...and 7 days of EOG testing
via
and our favorite day of the year......!!
via


So, I promise that after June 9th, I will be posting regularly.
Because...what excuse do I have then? Other than "I've been busy laying at the pool and getting my toes done".
We teachers take our summer vacations seriously, right? :)

 *****
The lovely Anne from fANNEtasticfood.com is hosting a SPIbelt giveaway!
Go check it out and enter to win a SPIbelt for your runs or workouts!