We Are the Griswalds. (Friday 5!)

Hey all! I am linking up with Fairytales and Fitness for Friday 5!

This is me and Paul. Except I am Clark.

It's finally done! Our outdoor lights are up!

I started around 7am on Sunday and didn't finish up until close to 3pm.

The weather was very chilly in the morning but as the day went on, I slowly started to take off my layers since it got warmer.

Putting up all the lights is EXHAUSTING so I didn't work out on that day. Decorating is enough of a workout!

Paul only helps with the icicle lights. Otherwise, this is my circus. He doesn't want to be involved and I enjoy being in control of everything.

There were a few snafus, but I was able to troubleshoot, use logic, and stay calm to make everything work. I didn't even need to make a trip to the store for extra extension cords. Somehow, I was able to arrange it so I had enough!

Enough talk, check out my decorations!

Bad News: MY FREAKING ICICLE LIGHTS WON'T WORK!!!! I tested them before hanging them and as we hung them. Then we unplugged them for a couple hours and plugged them back in when it was dark. They wouldn't turn on. I don't know what's wrong with them!

Merry Christmas, from my circus to your's!

A wonderful, thankful day.

Yesterday was a wonderful day! It was so wonderful that I wanted to share some of the things I was thankful for throughout the day- big and small!

• Thanks to Trazodone, I got a solid night's sleep! The cats woke me up twice but I was able to fall back asleep!

• After a frigid run with crazy winds, it was wonderful to spend the day in my warm classroom. I'm thankful for a job that keeps me WARM.

• I'm thankful for my saxophone students who have been practicing very hard and are moving along quite nicely in our lesson book.

• My second graders had an awesome music class. They sang their hearts out and then worked well in groups while playing a listening game. It was an "easy" class to teach because they were on the ball!

• I'm thankful for being able to reunite with one of my best friends from high school! We had dinner together and just jibber jabbered the night away!

How was your day? Anything big or small to be thankful for?

Adventures in the first day back to school after Thanksgiving Break!

Despite having a long, relaxing Thanksgiving Break, I was quite apprehensive about going back to school. I had been putting off some work that needed to be done within a day or two of coming back (my fault) and I have a chorus concert coming up. The concert isn't hard to plan for, it's just time consuming and requires focus. All this stuff looming over me was making me stressed.

I got good enough sleep on Monday night, ran 6 chilly miles (that will wake ya up!) and headed out the door with a spiffy new haircut and a coffee. I spilled some of my coffee on the way out the door but luckily Paul cleaned it up and I made it to work only one minute late.

When I got to my classroom, I started right in on my to do list. If I crossed a couple things off before the students arrived, I knew I would feel better about the day.

This week, our elementary school building is celebrating 25 years of being open. There are several festivities going on throughout the week, including a popular song from 1993 being played over the loudspeaker each morning. I can't tell you how excited I was that they played Michael Jackson's Will You Be There this morning! I was obsessed with this song when I was in middle school, and the album was my very first CD!! 

I also learned that Thursday would be dress like the 90s day. The funny thing is, I kind of looked like I was dressed from the 90s today!!!!

Every morning, I teach an instrumental lesson. Today was flutes. For some reason, none of my flute students were showing up. I practiced my flute (gotta stay at least one step ahead of my students!) but as the minutes ticked by, I figured I'd better go look for my kiddos.

All alone with my flute...

I found them. They all had their flutes, they just didn't come to their lesson. Okay then... Sometimes I feel like I know how 10 year olds think and then sometimes I have no clue!

At the end of the flute lesson, I realized I went two minutes over and was late for my second grade class! So I rushed over to my classroom, which is right around the corner. I apologized to my class's teacher for being late (I'm NEVER late and RESPECT my colleague's time) but she wasn't worried about it.

A couple minutes later, I realized I left my keys and my phone in the band room and the door was LOCKED! All of my music for my classes is on my phone (I play it via blue tooth through a speaker) so I needed my phone. I had to send two students to the office to ask if I could either borrow a master key to open the band room or if someone could come down and open the door for me.

My principal ended up coming down to open the door for me. How embarrassing! When he came, the kids cheered. Music class was saved! (It's all how you re-frame things, right!?)

Luckily, that was all the craziness for the day. Everything else went smoothly. One of the middle school music teachers even came down and taught 10 of my trumpet students a lesson all by himself so I could have my lunch! I worked through my lunch (chorus stuff) but as any teacher will attest, doing "work" during lunch is way different from teaching during your lunch. Oh, and there were free Diet Cokes in the lunch room. SCORE!!!!!

I survived my first day back! Woohoo! Eighteen school days until Winter Break...

When was the last time you put off a lot of work at work?
Do you like Diet Coke?
When was the last time a colleague really helped you out?

Thanksgiving Break Wrap Up!

I hope you had a relaxing Thanksgiving and hopefully at least one or two days off for the holiday. Here's some highlights from our Thanksgiving Break...

I have been raking leaves for a couple years with a broken rake. I finally realized... I can just got get a new rake! I got this big boy. One or two swipes and my yard should look perfect, right?

I did a lot of puzzles and Christmas was always right up there in my business.

On Thanksgiving Eve, we went to our friend Emily's house for her Thanksgiving Eve party. I don't see Emily nearly enough, so it was great to reconnect!

We got to see my family and Paul's family on Thanksgiving and it wasn't too hectic or rushy. I'm thankful for that. Thanks for hosting, Steph and Ken!

Grandma and Auntie Eileen

My awesome SIL, Debby

The kids played dress up...

 Emma, Ellie, Clem

Clark!

Ken, me, Paul, Steph, and Debby.

  

Swipey!

Cousin Alex

My Daddio and I went for a trail run at Detweiler Park. We saw several deer and the whole run was beautiful.

I organized a lot of my old keepsakes and found a bunch of gems... including my college ID card and this sweet autographed picture Tia and Tamara Mowery sent me.

Of course I wrote one of the best letters.

Paul and I went to the Carlisle Gift Show where my mom was a vendor. She sells her crocheted hats and knitted scarves. Check out Hats By Peach!

At the craft show, we got this awesome AT sign to hang! I love it!

Tell me some highlights from your Thanksgiving!

Meg Go Run - UPDATES!

Here are some updates in Meg Go Run's world!

~ I quit biting my fingernails. ~

The last time I bit my fingernails was on the morning of October 31st. (That's 27 days!!!!!) A special thanks to my friend and reader, Susan, who suggested I paint my nails to help keep me from biting them. It's really been helping. Now that I have a streak going, I don't want to break it! (You know me and streaks!) I got some cute nail polish colors and have been having fun switching it up.

~ I found my wedding ring! ~

You may remember it fell off my finger at an improv show at Broad Mountain Winery. Guess where I found it? It totally fell in my purse! This is a purse I don't use a lot, so I randomly found my ring on Thanksgiving night when I was cleaning it out.

~ Operation: Stop clenching my jaw. ~

When I went to the dentist a few weeks ago, they told me they saw some signs that I either grind my teeth or clench my jaw. I told them that if I do it, I'm not aware, but I would try to see if I notice it. Well, soon after I left the dentist's office, I realized I clench my jaw all the freaking time! Since then, I've been very cognizant to not do it. But I feel like I'm sucking on the side of my cheek and holding my jaw in a weird way in effort not to clench.

~ I love you, Trazodone. ~

My Trazodone prescription to help me sleep has been working well so far. I'm having some weird dreams but that seems to be the only side effect. I hope it continues to work. Getting good sleep is really a game changer.

~ Karen is my girl! ~

After my haircut from hell at Holiday Hair, I got it fixed by Karen at Jenny's Salon. I loved what Karen did to my hair, so I recently went back to her for another haircut. I think I found my girl!

Tell me something going on in your world!

What's Going to Happen In My Front Yard...

Today, I would like to show you what's about to happen in my front yard...

Over the past couple years, I have quickly acquired A LOT of outdoor Christmas decorations. I believe what I purchased during last year's after Christmas sale may have pushed things over the top for me. Here's what I have...

**Note: I did not pay full price for any of these items. If there is a price on the box, please know everything was anywhere between 50-80% off. I'm crazy enough to have an 8 foot blow up santa in my yard, but I'm not crazy enough to pay $35 for it!**

Two Christmas trees, because, why not?

Next, the blow ups...

Not Pictured: A cute orange fox with a santa hat!

Lots of pathway markers...

I have a pot to put this in. It's on my front stoop.

All these lights bring me such joy!

Decorations for on the house, bushes, and trees... 

This is going to be fun to sort through...

Random rope lighting to wrap around tree trunks.

And because all that isn't enough...

Don't worry, I know I am crazy!!!

We do not have a big, beautiful yard to display these decorations. In fact, we live in a small ranch house with a very small yard. I'm not sure everything will fit but I'm going to try.

Last year, it took me an entire day to put up all of the lights. I almost didn't make it in time because darkness comes before 5:30. This year, I plan to get up much earlier. Figuring out where to fit everything and plug it in is a logic puzzle that my brain isn't always quick to solve.

Paul thinks this is all way too much. But he also knows it makes me happy. Happy wife, happy life, right?

Do you put up outdoor lights?

What does your partner put up with because it makes you happy?