Monday, May 24, 2021

Hello Monday and hello dear readers! How are you this morning? I am happy to link up with Heather, Tanya, and others right here for Hello Monday!

Let’s go back to Friday! I came home from school, rested a bit, and then got motivated to cook dinner. Our restaurants are getting crazy on Friday and Saturday nights! You can tell that people are just done and want to go out! So, I didn’t want to fight any crowds. We had angel hair with alfredo sauce, grilled chicken, and mushrooms. I heated up Trader Joe’s fried ravioli in the oven with some marinara (this was a new to me product – I do recommend; broil for a couple of minutes at the end or, if you have an air fryer, that would be perfect for this).

After dinner, Tom, Ernie, and I went to the river to put the battery charger on the boat and let Ernie swim. It was a beautiful night and it has felt like summer all weekend long; in fact, it is like we skipped to July. I am hoping for the nice 80s of June before we get to these temps again.

Saturday morning I made myself a simple omelet after my hot coffee and had my Premier Protein vanilla iced coffee alongside of it.

I read a bit before doing some chores. I almost finished this this weekend and I do recommend. It is a bit cheesy and unrealistic, but it is cute.

Next up is one of these summer reads!

In the afternoon, we invited my mom’s cousin’s daughter and her husband to go on a boat ride. We only met at the end of March! You may remember my photos from the beautiful lunch we had. We had a really nice day cruising around and stopping at Captain’s Quarters.

Hollis gave me this marine candle and I love it! She and her husband Greg are lovely people and this was the first time Tom had met them. We both have two boys and have lots in common which is so funny.

We hopped off the boat and hustled to our evening plans. Who am I? It was the first concert of the season. They didn’t have any last year and this year they have a reduced number. Our friends met us and we had food truck food and snacks I brought.

We just barely lasted until sunset. Tom and I were wiped out! I took a shower and watched Veronica Mars with my kids and then went to bed later than normal.

Sunday morning I slept in until almost 8:00!

Then, after my coffee, I made strawberry bread! Hollis had gone to a strawberry patch and gave us a big bag of strawberries. I coincidentally had just saved this recipe on my phone.

Recipe coming this week!

Then, I did lots of cleaning, Home Depot for plants, TJ Maxx (haul post coming this week), and Kroger for just a few things. Mason had friends over on the patio and I made them some snacks.

It was a nice and full weekend! I have one more week. We have 2 days with Group A, 2 days with Group B, and Friday is teacher closing day and graduation. It is surreal, y’all. One one hand I can’t believe I’ve almost made it – we had to pivot so many times. But, on the other hand, it seems like we only just came back to school because we did! I think I have gotten the closure I needed. I think the kids that returned to in-person got some nice closure and will end with happy memories. I do think I will be processing this year for a bit. I have changed. I have learned so much. I apologize if I’m talking too much about school!

And, let’s talk about masks for a moment. Over the last week and a half I have gone maskless in Trader Joe’s, Home Depot, and Fresh Market. I still had to wear one in TJ Maxx and Kroger. It feels so good to be maskless; so tired of my glasses fogging up especially! Now, my family of four are all vaccinated so we may be a different story. I know there are families with kids that aren’t old enough to be vaccinated and if they want to still wear masks that is totally fine. I wish I didn’t have to wear a mask this week to school; it is not ideal in a language class – for me or them. Also, I have lots of fully vaccinated students, but not all, of course.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Amy

Friday, May 21, 2021

Happy Friday! I am happy to link up today with Andrea, etc. right here!

How was your week? MIne was pretty good, but man, am I ready for next Friday afternoon! Freedom!

My oldest/first niece graduated from University of Kentucky nursing program last weekend. She has had her first job lined up for a few months and I am so proud of her!

I can now show you my mother’s day gift for my mom because I gave it to her last weekend. This set of bracelets and…

this personalized pillow from Etsy. These are my mom’s grandchildren in birth order. I did the same for Tom’s mom, but with a candle instead of the bracelets.

My mom’s best friend got this succulent for a thank you gift for coming to Jack’s play.

Sunday afternoon after I had already done my Hello Monday post, Tom and I went to an art fair! It felt so good and so normal!

The tap on the right says “mimosa”!

I think it is a mimosa style beer or flavor of beer and it was yummy! We also bought gourmet popcorn but left without any art.

I have been reading this when I have a chance and I really like it.

This Facebook memory of baby Ernie popped up. We brought him home in March and I so enjoyed my first summer with my boy!

I took a mask-less trip to Trader Joe’s this week!

And my final favorite for the week was this sweet message from a kid!

What were your favorites this week?

Hope you had many!

Amy

Thursday, May 20, 2021

I love black and olive green together! I threw this on for Saturday errands recently.

These are my Target shorts I have talked about. They have pockets and I love the material. I “collect” black tops with interesting details. They work with other solids and they work with my patterned pants and skirts. This is a knit boho top from Old Navy from last year. My camo purse strap works well with this color combo, I think.

I have another pair of drawstring olive shorts. I love this style. They can be dressed up slightly or dressed down.

I wear this color combo in the fall, too. I have these olive Matilda Janes from consignment that are easy to throw on with a black top.

I have my black patent Birks on in the photos, but I also think cognac makes this combo look more modern.

These easy combos make dressing effortless.

Do you like black and olive green?

Amy

Wednesday, May 18, 2021

Happy Wednesday, all! I am linking up today with The Style Six here to show you my outfits since last Wednesday.

Last Thursday I wore this blush t-shirt tank dress, this Chico’s kimono (super sale of $5.99 at the end of winter), and my faux Birkenstocks from Amazon.

Thursday night I wore this to Senior Awards night.

Friday I wore my new Amazon skirt – you have probably seen it making the rounds for the last couple of years. I chose the palm print edition. It was so staticky! I did the lotion trick and a science teacher had spray starch (the science teachers have everything and some really weird things – just ask!) and those both helped! What is going on with my shirt and sweater? I will not wear that with it again!

Monday I wore this which felt very spring of 2019. This is my Old Navy butterfly blouse from that spring, my consignment Matilda Jane’s, consignment real Birkenstocks, and a consignment sweater from Banana Republic. That spring I had four blouses I loved from Old Navy – butterflies and florals and I loved them and wore them out!

I kind of cheated on Tuesday with this dress again from a couple of weeks ago. When I wore this before, it was ripped so I had to get it fixed at my tailor. So, it is kinda new and improved now! Lol!

And, that is it for the week. By the way, the shoes above are Soda from Amazon. I had never worn them to school even though I have had them for at least two years. They were comfortable for all day on my feet, so I was very happy.

What have you been wearing?

Do we still have energy to get dressed?

Thanks for reading!

Amy

Teaching In Person and Virtually During a Pandemic Edition

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

I chose last Thursday to document; I figured I had better hurry before school ends. I find these interesting, plus I thought it might be something I would want to remember.

The last time I did this was early 2021 when I was still teaching virtually from home.

You may find my day more boring than watching paint dry!

I am getting up later and later and leaving later and later. I get up between 5:00 and 5:45, depending on how tired I am. I start my day with two cups of coffee at home and some quiet time/blog reading time. It only ends up being 1.5 cups of coffee because I dump the mug out when it starts to get cold!

I only breakfast prepped for two days so I had to make my to-go breakfast burrito on a low carb wrap. I still had a bit of baked potato, which I added to one egg and some light Trader Joe’s shredded Mexican blend.

I shower at night but also take a super quick shower in the morning most days. Then I have a very basic makeup routine because of the mask and curl my hair.

Hair and makeup done.

Then, I go to my closet and get dressed from my outfit staging area. I have pre-planned outfits and just choose one most days.

I was leaving for school at 6:45 but as you can see I was leaving at 7:01.

Happy signs of life in a school bus in the distance. My kids never got to ride one but I rode one and have so many memories! Jack and Mason were in walking distance (spitting distance, really) of their elementary, middle, and high school!

I enter the designated door and scan my badge in. This door is super far from my classroom and a new Covid thing. I finally arrive in my room and take my outfit photo first thing before I forget.

Then, I have to do my attendance and my health screener. I have about 30 minutes to make sure everything is ready for my virtual class that starts at 7:40.

I eat my breakfast burrito after heating it up in my classroom microwave.

After I make sure everything is ready I put my mask back on and go in the hall to say hi to my department colleagues. We have six Spanish teachers, one French, and one Japanese. We all have first period planning and all teach virtually that period. No kids are in our hallway to speak of because none of us have live students until second period. We are lucky to have our own little language wing.

I finish virtual class and run to the restroom. I am trying to drink more water and you know what that means!

My first in person class. I took a picture when heads were down for privacy. There is another student by the window and more on the other side. This is on a Group B day. Group A comes Monday and Tuesday and Group B comes Thursday and Friday.

Each period I have to take attendance for in person students for that day and for the students who are at home because they go different days and for virtual students. Yeah, it’s not hard at all to keep track of all that!

I always start with the day and the date and then I do announcements and plans on the next slides. This slide looks kinda boring.

I teach second, third, fourth, and half of fifth period and then have lunch. My lunch on this day and the whole week was vegetable soup. Erica and Elizabeth and I have the same lunch and they come in and use my microwave and we chat and eat for our twenty minute lunch. The other department members have different lunches this year.

I teach the second half of fifth, sixth, and seventh and then the bell rings! Erica, Elizabeth and I have started walking after school on Mondays and Thursdays. This is when I got home from school with my walking clothes on. I have been loving my two pocket biker shorts for this.

I had about two hours at home to sit for a bit, make dinner, eat a quick dinner, and then I left for the junior and senior awards ceremony. I am the World Language Department chair and had to present the departmental award to the best senior language student. It was easy this year – we have a senior taking Spanish 3, French 3, and Japanese 3. I don’t think we have ever had that happen before!

It was super weird because of how spaced out we were. Also, the students were spaced out and everyone was masked up. It was good that we got to do this, though!

It ended at 7:45 and I got to see some old students and chat with some in the parking lot. I got home around 8:00, took my shower, and watched a bit of telly.

The day was pretty typical, but I haven’t had any evening school events for a long, long time!

I didn’t do a great job with taking photos, but it will do, and this will be a good reminder of how the last eight weeks of the 2020-2021 school year played out!

If you are still awake, thanks for reading!

Amy

Monday, May 17, 2021

Hello all and hello Monday! I am happy today to link up with Heather, Tanya, and more right here!

I have two more weeks of school and 8 more unique outfits to create. I am at the point where I would like to repeat pieces! Lol!

I am so ready to be done, but you guys, I may cry on the last day I see each group of students. I see Group A on Mondays and Tuesday and Group B on Thursday and Friday, except our last week we only go Monday through Thursday, so it will be Monday and Tuesday and then Wednesday and Thursday with no Wednesday asynchronous day. That was a run-on sentence and I’m too tired to fix it! I teach my virtual kids during my planning periods., but I am so tired of teaching on a screen!

I have had so much fun getting to know these kids! We have had some great discussions. Teenagers are really great people, you know? We found that we have basically zero behavior problems from the kids that chose to come back in person.

Friday after school I finished this…

I really liked it and couldn’t put it down as evidenced by the fact that I read it from Wednesday to Friday in pieces after school and in the evenings on a very busy week.

Tom and I had a date night because the kids went to see one of the three Shakespeare in the Parking Lot plays – Much Ado about Nothing.

We tried a new place that has this mural on the outside.

I tried this and it was good.

We shared their pulled pork nachos as our dinner and also got vegetable skewers because they were out of salad!

We got ice cream after because Tom loves getting ice cream and we rarely do it. I am happy with a kid size scoop and always do that. We went to Graeter’s – if you know you know. It is really good ice cream from Cincinnati, Ohio, I think.

Saturday morning I started this book.

Ernie’s spot.

I ran to Kroger to get just a few items and I made portable snack/charcuterie boxes. I did Babybel cheese, spicy pickles, grapes, Club minis – so cute!, and 3 types of cheese cubes.

It was time for the family to see Jack in Comedy of Errors at the Shakespeare in the Parking Lot Festival. He had one of the principal roles and was so good. I know I am biased, but this kid can act. He has great stage presence, great enunciation, great voice projection, and comedic timing.

They set the play in modern times at a music festival but still used the Shakespeare dialogue with a few changes to some lines. And now, Mason has been bitten by the acting bug and did two plays in college. We will see where this takes them but it scares Tom and I because we are pretty practical people!

Jack is sad because he has been part of this youth community theatre for 3 years and this was his final play.

Jack’s fans – back, my mom, front left, my mom’s best friend, and front right, Tom’s mom.

Tom’s mom and Dad with both kids.

After the play we crossed the street to an italian restaurant and had a nice meal with lots of leftovers.

So, the play was outside and it was really hot. They asked that people still wear masks. I have been talking a lot about this with my friends and students. When and how will fully vaccinated people get to stop wearing masks?

Love this, Tanya! I will know start shopping at Walmart.

I was super careful for a year! I was one of the most careful of people I know, but it is time. If you are fully vaccinated, you do not need the mask. If someone wants to wear one, that is totally fine! You choose to not get vaccinated, you wear a mask.

Jack and Mason stayed to watch the last of the Shakespeare plays, Hamlet. Tom and I got home around 6:30 after saying bye to our family that came.

It was such a nice night so we put the bedroom tv on the patio again. I read my book mostly while Tom watched Alias.

Ernie was our only kid at home!

Enjoying the lights – we were both so tired!

Sunday morning meal prep for the week – I made homemade light egg mcmuffins and cauliflower fried rice with ground turkey for my breakfasts and lunches this week.

Then, I did school work, walked, and read!

How was your weekend?

What was the highlight?

Amy

Friday, May 14, 2021

Happy Friday! It’s that time again; linking up with Andrea, etc. right here.

Here are some of my favorites from the week. I hope you had many, too!

After a dreary weekend, we have had some gorgeous sun! I met my friend Victoria at River House and we had a cocktail overlooking the river.

I had sangria.

They give you complimentary cornbread in a little skillet.

This is brie; I don’t like nuts so I asked for the almonds on the side. I love peanuts and pistachios but that is it!

It was great to enjoy some sun and catch up.

I have been enjoying low carb tortilla breakfast burritos this week. This time I added a bit of leftover baked potato – cut a bit of it into diced potatoes. It also has one egg and a very tiny amount of Trader Joe’s light shredded Mexican blend cheese.

I had a library pick up and I browsed the new release shelf while I was there; I can’t believe I found this! I had requested it but I was way down on the wait list. The Reese Witherspoon book picks seem to all be quite good. I cannot put this down – The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave. I have been sitting outside in the afternoons and even after dinner. Told you I am a fair weather reader!

I have two brands that I think are pretty dependable on Amazon – Amazon Essentials and Daily Ritual. I got a two pack of t-shirts to wear under kimonos. These are very lightweight and a really nice material but a bit clingy so I may not be able to wear them with all of my kimonos.

And, this Daily Ritual is not clingy and it is the best material! I want more! It is a very thick material. I bought the pink and it is a gorgeous color.

You know how you always need just basic t-shirts for summer? You all have any recommendations? I think for what I am looking for this may be my holy grail.

Melanie Shankle of Big Mama blog and Big Boo podcast never steers me wrong with her recommendations. I ordered this Old Spice Timber for me and I love it. It isn’t super masculine, but a nice smell.

This is what it looks like. I think my Dad used this when I was little – not this scent but I feel like he had a blue Old Spice deoderant. So, it is a bit sweet and nostalgic for me.

What a random Friday Favorites! I don’t have much this week.

What were your favorites? I would love to hear!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Amy

Thursday, May 13, 2021

Sounds appealing, right? We all want MORE WEEKEND!

I may be too late this week for this blog post, but put it in your backpocket for next week, ok?

I don’t know why, but I am kind of obsessed with productivity. Are you like that? I want to get stuff done, but then I take my down time very seriously…

I had a really great Saturday morning on the Saturday before Mother’s Day and I realized why…

I had done the major errands during the week and I woke up Saturday free as a bird! I actually felt like I was forgetting something!

Working moms, but also stay at home moms, might dread Saturdays because it is traditionally the day we have to get all of those annoying errands done, right?

Wouldn’t you rather be doing this?

You might just be able to…

-If you have young kids, set out a forgotten toy or toys the night before where they will see them upon waking or set out the breakfast and tell them to take care of themselves! lol!

-Tell your husband you want to start a “tradition” of him taking the kids out for breakfast or to a park for a “breakfast picnic”. Maybe he won’t get the subterfuge?

-See what you can outsource – order it instead of running to a store, delegate to a kid or to spouse.

-Pick one weekday to bundle your errands. Since I have Wednesday as my work from home day I do this during my lunch break. Yesterday I picked up a repair from the tailor and my groceries which are in the same shopping center.

-I have decided that if I can do my big grocery run during the week it makes me happier. I like going in to the weekend with fresh groceries.

-This does require some planning and of course there may be a few things you need, but I have decided if I can do grocery pick up for the bulk of it I don’t mind running in for a few things and in fact, it can be enjoyable.

-Pick one weekday to do the cleaning so that Saturdays are not all about that life. When I was totally virtual, I did my cleaning on Friday after my last class so I could go into the weekend with an already clean house.

-Pick one day to do your laundry. I have been doing mine on Wednesday mornings.

Why are we such a society obsessed with productivity? I thought we learned our lesson in 2020?

I think you all will appreciate this…

I told my students I would do a “life lessons” session for them because they were interested in this. We don’t really do a good job with this in high schools of 2021, in my opinion. So, I asked them to submit questions about college, finances, and other general questions. These were anonymous and I am using this to prepare my power point.

One of my sweet teens asked, “How do you achieve a healthy work/life balance?”

You all, I love teenagers! They are so smart and so aware. I have really enjoyed reading their questions and they are so excited to talk about this. Yes, I teach Spanish, but our principal told us to not try to make up for lost time, to pick the most essential standards for our courses, and to help the students with what they needed to close out the year. So, I am squeezing this in while they are preparing their final presentations.

I think the secret to achieving a healthy work/life balance is using your time efficiently – bundling errands, outsourcing, etc., knowing yourself and when and how you work best, compartmentalizing work and trying to keep home and work separate, and taking time to re-charge your batteries and do things that fill your cup.

What are your best tips for less errands and more weekend?

Thanks for listening to my Thursday Thoughts,

Amy

Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Happy Hump Day! I am linking up with The Style Six right here today!

Quick notes if you are new here…

I am a high school Spanish teacher. I am challenging myself to wear a unique outfit for each of my 32 days of in person instruction to end out the year. I started April 5 and finish May 28. We work from home on Wednesdays, so that is how I got 32 days!

My classroom was a refrigerator, but it has gotten much better and I can wear more on-season outfits now!

Wearing in my hair…a mask!

I started walking two days a week with some co-workers. I forgot my hairband one day so I made do with my mask; it has elastic ear straps. It worked great! Did I look weird? Probably!

Blue swing dress, Amazon kimono, new white knock off Birks from Amazon here. I just did not want to spend on real ones and these are super comfortable and pretty darn well made! I closed my eyes so head is cropped!

Bonus weekend outfit…

This is what I wore to see the outdoor play of my son last weekend.

Another swing dress with another kimono. This time I did wear capri leggings under – mainly because the dress is on the shorter side.

What is up with my eyes? Is it sheer exhaustion and a sign that I am done with school? Maybe! Long orange skirt – given to me by a colleague who did not want it, black tank, and another kimono.

White linen Old Navy pants (very old), navy t-shirt, and another kimono! I wore the red Saltwater sandals. The necklace is a hand me down from another friend.

Do you have a favorite outfit of mine this week?

Yes, I do love a kimono!

What have you been wearing?

Amy

Tuesday, May 11, 2021

I have been enjoying this simple and low calorie mug cake for my after dinner treat lately and I thought I would share! You may have heard of it? This would be a great recipe for your kids, too!

You need:

a mug

Pam spray

2 cake mixes – angel food and another one – I have only used chocolate because I like chocolate cake!

water

fat free whip cream (optional)

Mix your two cake mixes in a big bowl or a baggie. You are just using the cake mix powder as is – you are not adding anything at all! I just used a baggie and I wrote the recipe on the bag to make it easier until I had it memorized. This makes a lot and you will have mug cakes for days!

Each time you want a mug cake, spray a mug with Pam,

Put 3 Tablespoons mix and 2 Tablespoons water in your mug and stir really well with a fork,

Then, microwave for 50-60 seconds. You can turn it out on a plate or eat from the mug!

Have you tried this? Let me know if you try it!

Amy