What is this all about?

I've been thinking a lot about this blog, and the social networking platform of blogging itself. Clearly, this hasn't been a priority for me (you know, like raising my son has...). Because of this, I've been thinking about just walking away, shutting it down. I mean, I haven't posted since January, what's the point, right?

But then I thought more and while it's been awhile, I like the opportunity to randomly pop a post up. I'm narcissistic, so the chance to brag about my kid, or a project, or put up some gratuitous dog pictures or whatever, I'm not willing to let that go.

So I'm going to stick around.

I'm making no promises about posting what and how often. But I'm still here.

Oh, and I'm pregnant again. C is going to be a big brother.

2013: The year of the project "The Lobby"

I have decided that 2013 is the year of the project. I know we do a lot of projects around here, and I'm sure it's thrilling to all of you wen I post crappy pictures of my WAY-less-than-professional results.

But, it's my blog and I'll DIY if I want to.

The first project I want to tackle is the "lobby".

Our house was built in 1950. As a part of renovations at some point, one of the owners finished the upper level attic and turned it into the master bedroom. A lot of times when people do this, they don't put a door up there, and the entire floor is one big open bedroom. Thankfully, the person who adapted our upper floor added a wall and a door. I'm thankful. I like privacy. Outside our bedroom is a small area we call "the lobby". It is the area between the stairs and the bedroom. It currently operates as my craft space:

 

But, let's be honest. If I'm working with my craft stuff, I'm carting it into the living room where there's a TV. and now? With a child? Toys for said child to play with. So, this space has slowly degenerated into a terrible place to toss stuff. Just... stuff. 

I am so ashamed. And this is after N carted all of the craft boxes from the corner downstairs to the storage area.

So that's January's main project. Project lobby. There are some other projects are also on the agenda (such as a budget), but this is going to be number 1.

Happy New Year?

I'm not making any apologies. I post when I post and if you don't like, well, :P on you.

H and I have some serious things to get done this year, so in lieu of resolutions, we're making a 2013 project list. Without further adieu, here it is:

finish tiling the freaking downstairs shower. (seriously, guise, we're on year 3 here)
get the upstairs shower fixed
paint our bedroom
organize the office
clean out the lobby
pay down as MUCH DEBT AS POSSIBLE
basement storage part 2
hang the mirror in the guest room
patio by the house
remove rock from the front of house
patios in the front
touch up dead grass
paint the front door
fix Boo's door latch
paint hallway
organize master bedroom
shelving for kitchen cabinets
organize Nick's closet

18 goals. 17 house-related, that's an average of 2-3 per month.

g is for... gross

Which is how I feel today. I went to work this morning, despite feeling like I was hit by a truck and like there is a spikey ball in my throat, but I didn't even last one class.

So pawned my students off on another teacher and came home. Boo is still at daycare, he's probably safer there than here.

Now excuse me, I'm going to take a nap.

F is for... Family

A few thoughts on what it means to be "family"

1. One thing that has always bothered me is when people say "Oh, you've started a family." To imply that N and I weren't a family until Boo was born? Was I not a family when I was single? This has always eaten at me a little bit.

2. When people with large families are scolded or asked "wow, are they all yours?" We as a society are so judgmental about how other people live their lives and it bothers me. My friend has seven children, and as far as I can tell she is a wonderful mother to every last one of them and no one is left out or asked to raise one of the other children. While seven children is NOT for me, I'm happy that she has the large family she's always wanted, and to be honest, seeing her so happy made me realize I was finally ready to have a kid of my own.

3. While I love seeing how much fun my friend's big family has, we are not big family people. I think we will stop at two kids, MAYBE three. There, know no one has any reason to ask us this question anymore.

4. My extended family, and N's, is huge. I loved the huge holiday gatherings as a kid, and now that our family has split up into new generations, I miss it. Probably because I'm an only child with one parent so our gatherings are small. But we still have a great time.

5. I think we sometimes do ourselves a disservice by having different words for friends and family. Our close friends are often more family to us than some of our own family members. Sometimes, I think these words should be used interchangeably.

6. I love the movie "Dan in Real Life" and I want my family to be that fun together.

Aerobics on the front lawn of the family summer home. How much fun is that?



Don't forget to give me a good question to answer here!

E is for... Education

I'm not gonna lie, I'm whipping this post out in less than 15 minutes before I hit the road for work, people. Bear with me.

I struggled coming up with an E, until a friend suggested education. Which is perfect since I'm you know, a teacher...

But this post isn't about me teaching (I'm saving that for another letter, I'll let you guess which one.)

This is about my education.

My bachelor's degree is in vocal performance with a minor in education. How useful is that? Um, it's not, FYI.

Back in 2004, I was prepping myself to apply to graduate school in social work. The plan was I was going to go to Loyola Chicago, because a: I'd always wanted to live in Chicago and b: they had a dual master's degree in social work and child development. Perfect, since I wanted to be a school social worker.

As I was applying and trying to pass a pre-requisite statistics class,  (HARD) I started finding these programs that let you get your teaching license on the way to a master's degree. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to go back to teaching. So on a bit of a whim, I applied to St. Mary's University Minneapolis for their teaching certification program. I got accepted immediately, and as a bonus, all my pre-reqs were covered by my undergraduate degrees. I knew I was on the right track.

After getting my teaching license in elementary education and middle school English, I got my first teaching job. As a part of that job I had to teach one section of intervention reading. Within 3 weeks of class, I loved it. I signed up for and started graduate level reading classes that same semester, and completed my reading license in 2 years. (I have taught reading-only ever since, under a variance). I am currently teaching reading intervention.

After completing my reading license, I decided to pursue my master's degree in Literacy education. I am currently in my second semester of this, and should be finished by next December. Ask me how much fun it is to take grad classes with a newborn. Oy.

I'm considering continuing on for a doctorate, to open up the possibility of higher-ed teaching, but we'll have to see. 

D is for Day.

As in "the day I forgot to blog a letter"

yep. I was wiped last night and have no excuse. So today I'm going to ask you to do the blogging for me.

Ask me questions. Anything you want to know about us? I reserve the right to privacy, but if it's reasonable, I'll answer it, either for another letter or under Q for question.

So go.

All three of you who read this, that is...