What good is a college degree when you can't pick out the right shoes?

I think somewhere along the line there should be a course required for all men and women about appropriate wear for all types of jobs. Sure, I learned what to wear to interviews and what is considered professional attire, but whatever happened to the real-lief lessons such as "shoes you should wear for your first day of standing and walking around up for 8 hours straight"
Either I missed this class - totally possible since I did miss some class, ok a lot - or they never taught it. I tend to think they never taught it.
OK, now rewind to Saturday morning. I have 3 outfits layed out on my bed. What outfit shall I wear for my first real day at my new job? I have some cute business-looking type shorts with a nice white top - something I could wear some reasonable shoes with, some pants with a nice button up shirt - again something I could wear good shoes with. Or wait, I have an idea - I have a cute dress that if I put a white shirt under it I can wear these:



yup, you guessed it - know what won? The cute outfit with the way cute shoes. I wanna look cute for my first day at work. What's the worst that could happen? Again, had I had the above mentioned class, I would've known. I was taught crisis management, not how to avert a crisis.

Walking into the mall I get the first sign that I look cute and therefore chose the right outfit. A car of teenage boys drives by and they whistle at me!!! Wahoo!

I get in and I'm assigned to the dressing room and I'm thankful, I can check out the clothes and I can handle it.

Well, by hour 4 my feet are asking my brain what it was thinking and why brain didn't ask feet about this grand idea. Of course brain was trying to ignore feet. So, feet decided if brain wasn't going to listen they may as well go numb. Well, actually only toes decided to go numb.

Fast forward to today - almost 4 days later - toes are still on strike and have yet to communicate with brain that they are still attached.

And the moral to this story...I don't have one because I figure now that feet are going to be used to said shoes and I will probably wear them again - because hey I got a whistle from some teenage boys.

For Misty - my favorite cat lover

I think most know how I feel about cats, not my favorite animal. This cracks me up and if it didn't cost $15 I would so get one for Misty. Since I know you all need a laugh, here you go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4xntzFMzzE

Thoughts for Thursday

ok, my thoughts this Thursday are about stealing from work.

I started a new job today and my favorite clothing store, New York and Company. Most my close friends know that when I get a new outfit, that's where I got it from. They usually just assume that's where I got anything from. So, part of training today was about employee theft and it got me thinking...why would you want to steal and why would you want to steal from the place that is paying your bills?

I've never gotten this. In the name of full disclosure, I have stolen once in my life, but it was an accident and I still feel guilty. I was in elementary school and we had a gas station by us named Big Verns. I walked there one day and picked out my dollar's worth of candy, but then I couldn't find where I put some of it, so I figured I put it down and got some more. Later that day my mom and I were at KMart (you know I feel guilty because I still remember this 20 years later), I reached into my jacket pocket and low and behold, there was the air head that I thought I had put back. When the store closed a few years later, I swore that it was because I accidently stole that 10 cent piece of candy.

OK, now I get back to my point - why do some people ruin it for everyone? I understand why I have to have everything checked at the front of the store whenever I get ready to leave - because someone ruined it for everyone else. Where are the values of these people who think it's ok to steal for one reason or another. I don't see how someone can say that they deserve what they stole.

So, here's the question - if you knew that you could steal anything from work and know you wouldn't be caught, would you?

got the proverbial gun out to be polished

No, we don't own a real gun in the house, but even with Jenna only being 5, I think Jason is seriously considering getting one for when she starts to date. This was Jenna's conversation last night with her Grandma Mary. Names have been changed to protect the innocent little boys involoved. I only heard one side of the conversation since she was on the phone.

Grandma, Matt kissed me today....YES, on the lips (she says in her most exhasperated, annoyed voice). I thought he liked Jayci, but then he kissed ME. I don't know why. I guess he likes me. No, Davis is my boyfriend, not Matt. No, he didn't get mad. I said (she's sounding annoyed) I thought he liked Jayci and Jayci is my friend.

So, there you have it, you would think listening to her she was going through the problems of the teenage years, but no, this child does not believe that boys have cooties. She doesn't know where babies come from, but she has apparently had 2. (I must admit she looks really good for a 5 year old who just gave birth to 2 babies). It's only going to be a matter of time before she's playing kissing tag with all the boys and running slow so that they catch up to her. (I don't have an idea where she gets this from).

When I told Jason last night he just laughed, but I could tell, he was nervous about what's going to happen 10 years from now. She's a diva already and she's proud of it.

Our adventurous day!

Wow! I scheduled a day off and well, I still spent half a day at school. I'm in charge of a really cool thing that's going to take place at my school tomorrow. It's called the junior engineering fair and it's a whole day of hand's on projects for the entire school! Last night I had to come in and make sure that the modules arrived and delivered them to the teacher's classrooms. Today, I wanted to go in to make sure that the teachers checked their boxes before Monday morning in case there was anything missing. I also wanted to watch the 6th graders do their Olympics.
So, since I didn't want to pay for day care, I took Jenna with me. She loves going to school and loves my students (and my students love her). We watched the Olympics for a while and then the students went in for lunch. I ate my first school lunch in over 10 years today! It was a chicken sandwich, Trix yogurt, a half an apple, french fries....and kiwi! (oh and of course a chocolate milk). It wasn't too bad. Jenna thought it was cool to get to eat in the cafeteria and the 5th grade students I sat by were so excited that I was going to sit by them for lunch (I love the rewards of being a teacher - especially since right now I'm one of the cool teachers).
After we ate, Jenna went out and played with one of my 5th grade students (one of my favorite students), Elizabeth. They went down the slide so many times and just had fun on the big toy. Jenna was so sad when the bell rang and Elizabeth had to go back to class.

After the adventure at school, we ran home and I took a quick shower. Then, off we went again. I dropped Jenna off at daycare so that she could play with a friend that only comes on Fridays and I had a job interview at my all time favorite store - New York and Company. . I really liked the manager that interviewed me, it didn't really feel like an interview. I'm just looking for a PT job, especially since I won't be working for the school during the summer - we need the income. The manager said I should hear from her today or tomorrow - she just needed to contact my references.

I ran home to change out of the interview clothes and checked the mail and guess what was in there....I was approved for the Alternate Routes to Licensure program!!! What does this mean? You ask...well, in short - I can start working as a full-time teacher in the fall! I just have to take about 6 classes in the next 3 years to get my official teaching license!!! I'm so excited. I now have to send the approval to my school district and then they will interview me to make sure I'll be good (ummmm, they already hired me to be a part-time teacher, so I hope I'm good enough). Then my principal can actually offer me a position. I already talked to him about it - and he couldn't guarantee a spot for me, but I know that there are a lot of teachers leaving this year for different reasons.

So, I quickly called a couple people to share in my excitement and then went and picked up Jenna from daycare. I watched the daycare kids for a few minutes while the babysitter (the best babysitter in the world) ran next door to do something. Then I took Jenna to register for kindergarten. My baby is going to be in kindergarten! So weird.

Well, I believe that is all!
Have a great weekend!

Alia is having a good day!

I figured instead of trying to email my friends Alia's updates, I would just post them here.

April 11, 2008 at 01:29 PM MDT
Alia has had a good day. She has been in pretty good spirits and playing this morning. She is now down for a nap (hopefully we can get her schedule turned around). They are still doing some different tests to try and figure out her lung status. We are letting her rest but she will need to be poked to have some blood drawn when she wakes up. She HATES this!! It takes 3-4 people to get blood out of her.

We were able to pull one of her chest tubes. Hopefully this will help with her comfort level. She hasn't wanted to put on her duck mask this morning so we will try again later when Jared gets here.

Thank you all!

I want to publicly thank everyone who has been keeping me and my family in their prayers and sending good thoughts our way. Alia's surgery went well, but she still has the long recovery ahead. She's been very uncomfortable and has had trouble sleeping.

Thoughts for Thursday- trials

I've always believed that our Heavenly Father knows where are weaknesses and strengths are and He tries us to where he sees we need improvement, but also keeping in mind of where our strengths are. I believe there are 3 types of trials: physical, mental, and spiritual. For me, I've always been strong spiritually, but physically my body is a mess and mentally - I have clinical depression. So, Heavenly Father knows that I can rely on my spiritual strength when trials come that are mental or physical.
With all the trials going on in my family's life, I am so thankful that we are spiritually strong. That peace and comfort helps when nothing else can.

Now, I believe that our strengths and weaknesses can change throughout life. And you grow and at sometimes may be strong in all 3 areas, while other times you feel that you are failing in all 3.

What do you think are your strength and weaknesses are?

Dating and Texting

oh yes, my little Jenna is texting her boyfriend, Davis, right now to see if he wants to go on a date tonight. Yup, she has her princess play cell phone and is quite upset that he isn't answering.
So, I have a talk with her about how she doesn't get to go on a date with anyone but mommy and daddy until she is 16. In her words, "Oh man"
I am in so much trouble with this little princess. She knows too much already and she was quite upset when she lost her cell phone.
What happened to my baby?

Thoughts for Thursday

How thankful are you for being home? What is home to you?

I ask this question because with my niece being in the hospital so much over the past few months she really appreciates being in her own bed and in her home. It's not the things that my sister and brother-in-law buy that make it a home, but the feelings that are there. Alia is allowed to roam free and not be in a sterile environment. One time when they were leaving the hospital, as the wind hit her face, Alia leaned back and put her arms straight out as if to say, "I'm free".

I love my house, it is my home; but for some reason, I love being at my parents house. I love to sit there and just be with them. Especially on nights when Jason isn't home. There's something about watching TV with my parents or reading the newspaper - anything in their home. I wonder if Jenna feels that way about our home. Is there just something about it that makes it comfortable?

Am I just completely rambling? Probably - but I hope that you understand what I mean. What makes a home and home? Where are you most comfortable? Are you truly grateful for your home?