Friday, March 7, 2025

It’s Friday! It’s link up with Andrea and Erika day.

The week has gone by pretty quickly for me. Of course, it’s only Thursday morning as I write this post – lol.

Tom and I had talked about this and he surprised me by going ahead and getting it while I was out of town last weekend. It’s amazing! Eddie Otis sheds more than our other labs did. I mean – it costs almost as much as my first car, but what doesn’t these days?

Yes, I am at the age where I am excited about a vacuum. Once you go cordless, you can never go back to a corded version!

Monday was nice and sunny and Eddie Otis somehow knows it’s time to go get his margarita toy around 4:00. #advancedpuppy #likemotherlikeson

Eddie Otis loves to grab a kitchen towel. He kind of sneaks up and very gently pulls it off of the counter.

After school with the dogs out – wearing my new Target flip flops. They are great quality! The white version is tempting me, too. They also have them in black.

The mystery of the photos on the piano is solved. Niece Mia found them in a desk drawer and placed them side by side and didn’t tell anyone.

I don’t think I have ever worn out/used up a tube of lipstick until now. Revlon’s Goldpearl Plum is a great color.

I am almost finished with this memoir and I am really enjoying it.

And, I am about halfway through this and I’m really enjoy it, too.

During the week I only have tiny pockets of reading time, but it’s still better than nothing! I am hoping to have some good reading time this weekend.

I was finally able to plan dinners again and cooked the following this week…

Sunday – spaghetti and Texas Toast

Monday – salmon, frozen green beans, sauteed Yukon gold potatoes

Tuesday – jambalaya and spoon bread for Mardi Gras

Wednesday – fish sticks, mac and cheese, peas

Thursday – hot dogs and baked beans and a bagged salad

Nothing too fancy or too homemade, but it’s been over a month since I’ve been able to do this. People have been feeding us or we have been relying too heavily on take out, Door Dash, and I knew it had to stop.

My kids and I found a show that I think is pretty funny! A former Harvard professor gets stuck teaching an AP Biology class and doesn’t want to be there. It’s been awhile since we have had a show we enjoy together.

I started the Meghan Markle series on Netflix. I don’t know if I can do it. Even if I didn’t already have an opinion of her, she just comes off so pretentious. And, I love Ain’t Too Proud to Meg on IG and apparently Meghan is getting a lot of haters that say she is copying off of Meg.

Meg is very gracious and says that she doesn’t have a trademark on the rainbow fruit platter and isn’t the first to do it!

Anyway, I will probably watch more of the series.

I did something crazy this week. I have been having foot trouble/shoe trouble. I took two pairs of sneakers to Spain and was not very comfortable. I chose fashion over comfort in my choices of Adidas Sambas and Vejas. I have been struggling with my shoe size – am I an 8 or an 8.5. Something has been feeling off and I don’t realize it until after it’s too late to return the shoe.

I went into a locally owned athletic shoe store – Swag’s if you are local – and got fitted. The salesperson had me walk with my pant legs pulled up both forward and back again to him, had me place my feet on a mat that makes an imprint of your foot, and then had me try on a few sizes and a few brands. I decided not to pick based on brand or coolness. I tried on Brooks, New Balance, On Cloud, and Hoka. He also had me put on compression socks. I’m in a wide. He said that my left foot was measuring wide but my right wasn’t really – lol. I put more pressure on my left foot when I stand. So true and that’s also how I held my babies – on my left hip while putting more pressure on my left foot, I guess. I have had to go to the chiropractor for that side of my body in the past. One time when my twins were 2, I bent over to pick one up and my back just locked up.

So, here is what felt the best – not necessarily what I liked the best…

I wore them out of the store!

If you haven’t had your foot properly fitted, I highly recommend doing it. They felt so good I wore them the rest of the day.

Eddie Otis hopped up on the ottoman to watch Real Housewives with me.

Tom sent me an email Wednesday from his company congratulating him on 12 years with them. So, I picked up a little Oreo cake from Kroger. Remember that I just said I want to celebrate big and small?

The cake was $6 and it was delicious if you have a Kroger!

And, I had already planned to make one of his favorite meals so that was his celebratory dinner – lol.

It snowed Wednesday evening!

I love this little tradition…

I have each kid write on and decorate a shamrock for my little corner of the school. Each of the four leaves has a statement: “Tengo suerte porque…” which means “I am lucky because…” and they list four things in their life that make them feel lucky. I also talked about having a gratitude practice and how it makes me feel. We went around the room and each shared one statement before hanging them up.

It’s funny because this year’s students really love taking a couple of minutes to color or draw something. Some years the kids have not enjoyed it as much. This year I’m getting a lot of “Oh, do we get to color something today?” when I have the markers out.

Yes, I will miss aspects of teaching and I am now starting to savor the good things even more.

Anyway, I hope you also had some favorites this week!

Amy

21 thoughts on “Friday Faves”

  1. I love it that you take a picture of your lipstick while your students are working! Ha ha!

    I like your new trainers! Hey, it’s New Balance – kid approved definitely! I bought pink adidas campus, every Swedish teenager has a pair of campus, and now I do too! 😀

    I love your shamrock idea! Swedes have no idea who St. Patrick is/was, but I teach it as part of ELA. Where did you get the template? My 9th grade loves it when we take a break and listen to a podcast and I let them color… Sweet kids! Will you sub do you think?

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    1. That’s my study hall! I also took out a book to read for fun that day. I can’t do that every day, but sometimes! I think the Campus look more cushiony than the Sambas.
      I drew the shamrock myself. I am not sure about subbing – maybe?

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      1. My state retirement system (Florida) has a rule that once you start drawing the pension, you *can’t* do any paying work for an FRS employer for six months. (It used to be 1 year, but they backed up on that recently.)

        Definitely take some time completely away before you make any decisions. (Also, subbing is a completely different beast from regular classroom teaching!)

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      2. We have to wait 3 months which I want to do anyway!
        I think subbing might bore me. I also think I want out of the school environment. We shall see.

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  2. Ha just with my 3 boys I always got mixed reviews about more “art” style projects– one LOVED it, one HATED it and one really just shrugged and couldn’t have cared less. I love that shamrock idea though. Yay for having some comfy shoes! I really would love to have my feet fitted again (like I remember doing every time I went shoe shopping as a kid!) but I don’t know of any stores around here that even have “shoe people” anymore.

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  3. I have a Revlon lipstick that is about out! It’s been giving me the sads every time I twist it up and only see a small amount :(. Hopefully they still make the color and I can get a replacement so my “crisis” will be averted!! I’m not into pop culture very much though I do see headlines when I read the news on the Daily Mail website. Lots of Meghan articles but they don’t tempt me…That’s great that you found a pair of comfy shoes. I like how neutral they are in appearance.

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  4. Hooray for comfortable shoes! A few years ago, I went to the podiatrist for bad back pain that ran all the way up to my neck. Turns out I needed orthotics, which only seem to fit inside the most unglamorous shoes. But that’s okay—nothing beats being pain-free. Plus, I can get away with wearing better-looking shoes when I go out. I only wear the comfy ones for work!

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  5. I totally agree with getting professionally fitted sneakers! It makes such a difference. Yeah, you end up buying shoes that don’t look the prettiest but they feel incredible. The older we get the more attention our feet need. I won’t buy flip flops that aren’t made by Vionic because I need the heel support. Sneakers and flip flops are the shoes I must invest in – ha!

    My husband loves mac and cheese and fish sticks – his dream dinner – lol!!

    Have the very best weekend Amy!

    xo,

    Kellyann

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  6. Meg is so gracious! And Eddie O so cute! You will love that Dyson. It’s the first purchase we made the first weekend in the new house 7 yrs ago and it’s still my fav. Have a relaxing weekend!

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  7. Meg is so gracious! And Eddie O so cute! You will love that Dyson. It’s the first purchase we made the first weekend in the new house 7 yrs ago and it’s still my fav. Have a relaxing weekend!

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  8. Your meal plan is looking great and yummy! I have to say always love reading your teaching stories- it is so refreshing to read someone’s words who obviously loves teaching and is great at it- too many sour professionals out there! Happy Friday!

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  9. Look at you meal planning again! I love the shoes and glad you found a comfy pair. I am glad the mystery of the photos placed on the piano has been solved. That was a sweet gesture by your niece. You students are lucky because they have you as a teacher! Happy Friday friend!

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    1. I felt ridiculous when I re-read I meal planned frozen fish sticks!
      Hardly counts!
      We did eat home food Sunday through Thursday nights so that is something.
      You are sweet to say that – some days I am losing my patience as a teacher. It’s hard to be on everyday when you don’t feel on!

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  10. Dyson vacuums are fantastic, we have had one for years and it still does the job.
    Eddie Otis is so cute and only a little bit cheeky.
    I am glad you solved the mystery of the photos.
    I love your meal plan, especially the hot dogs. Yum!
    I had a look at the Meghan Markle series too and I just can’t.

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  11. We have an older model of the Dyson. It’s so nice to just go and not worry about a cord. You influenced me to make a quiche so now we have dinner tonight, too! Love when that happens. I do splurge a lot on shoes…number one requirement…comfort! Love the shamrock wall.
    https://marshainthemiddle.com

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  12. Thanks for telling us about Meg on Instagram. I looked her up and she has fun content! I’m also not a fan of Meghan Markle. Maybe I need to give her a chance. That’s interesting about your shoe size. I have one thigh that is slightly bigger than my other! The New Balance you got look similar to the Hokas I have that are so comfortable!!

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  13. I was just thinking about watching MM show — I hadn’t really heard about it until seeing people talk about her correcting Mindy Kaling.
    Congrats to Tom! The cake and the simple dinner – I’m sure he loved that. Swags ! Legendary . We always get travs mom a Swags gift card. Our nephew worked there In high school. I think trav did too!
    The shamrocks are so cute. I had my students color a bouquet on Valentine’s Day and then they had to write a few sentences describing their bouquet. I was shocked how much the loved coloring. Have a great weekend!

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