Wednesday, August 28. 2024

We’ve made it to Wednesday!

Maybe a glass of wine tonight as my reward?

Well, I got over the Tuesday hump with my long day of school and then Meet the Teacher night. I hope the rest of the week is downhill. And, we have a 3 day Labor Day weekend to look forward to! My twins turn 22 next week so I really need to push them to tell me what they want to do, when they can celebrate, etc. Maybe we will celebrate early but I have to do something on the actual day, you know?

Thank you to Joyce for the fun questions and link up she provides!

What is one cliche you think is nonsense? What’s one you think holds truth? 

I hate “it is what it is” and I was surprised to find it on one list I consulted! It means nothing! I wouldn’t have thought it was a cliche, but just a dumb saying.

I personally love to use “a couple sandwiches short of a picnic”!

My Dad was a big fan of sayings and I find myself using his in my teaching and it makes me happy. I am a lot like him (I hope in all the best ways) and I feel like I am honoring him when I use his favorites. He also loved to “collect” funny names so when I hear a funny name at school it makes me chuckle.

2. What’s the last thing you broke and how did it happen? 

My heart when I went back to school?

I broke my paper towel holder in the kitchen. I put a new roll on and the thing that holds the loose part down just snapped right off. I am still using it. I hate replacing things like that and will use them until I can’t use them anymore. They just don’t make things like they used to. They want our money! I will show them!

3. Are you a fan of s’mores? Have you had a s’more this summer? Last thing you ate that you wanted to ask for ‘s’more of’? 

I love s’mores! I made an “indoor s’more” about a week ago. This is where you lay down two graham crackers with a marshmallow on one side and chocolate on the other and microwave it. Yum!

My cousin Kelly made s’mores bars out of Golden Grahams and OMG were they amazing. Golden Grahams were my favorite childhood cereal. For some reason I think that’s hilarious. My mom only bought those and Honey Nut Cheerios I think? It was so fun to go to other kids’ houses and sleep over so you could see what cereals they had. I remember I liked the type of baggies my neighbor friend’s mom bought more than the baggies my mom bought. I was a weird kid.

4. A mode of transportation you’ve never tried? Will you someday? 

I’ve never been on one of those things where someone bicycles you around. I’ve never been in a helicopter, either. Not too excited about either.

I love train travel! I wish the US had more trains. It’s so sad that we don’t.

5. Believe it or not, next week’s Hodgepodge lands in a brand new month. What’s your happiest memory from the month we’re bidding adieu? 

I guess I would just say normal dinners where all four of us were present and also when we were able to watch the last show we watched together Decameron. I don’t take those normal times for granted.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

We are having a hot week this week! It really makes me appreciate last week even though the “fake fall” made my body give me fall allergy symptoms!

I drove (instead of walked to work) this week because I was still feeling under the weather and got in my car after school to 105 on the dashboard.

What would you say to one of the hodgepodge questions today?

Amy

Tuesday, August 27, 2024

I guess this blog topic is fitting for today because it’s a long day. I get home around 3:45 and will leave again around 5:45 for our Meet The Teacher night. We run through our schedule and parents sit in our room for 10 minutes and then a bell rings and they move on. So, it will last about 70 minutes (we have a 7 period day) with a 5 minute passing period. I am not a math teacher but it would be 70×35 minutes!

I am still figuring out my morning routine, to be honest. Every August I have a mini meltdown (Tom knows this and expects it. He has done this with me for 26 of my 31 years!) where I don’t feel like I am doing anything efficiently in my life. I think I can still keep doing all the chores that I did all summer, plus cook, plus all the new school responsibilities. Can anyone relate?

Add a puppy to the mix and it’s been a bit chaotic. But, just look at that face!

So, the puppy sleeps with us, but if he has trouble getting back to sleep anywhere from midnight until 3:00 am I guess, we take him out to the dining room corner where the crate is. He doesn’t resist his crate at all. Some nights Mason takes him around midnight. My theory is that Eddie Otis can’t handle his 50 something parents’ bathroom visits and thinks it’s time to get up. TMI, possibly.

So, Tom’s alarm goes off at 4:30 am and I usually hear it. He goes to the gym at 5 am. I have been getting up anywhere between 5 and 6 depending on how my night went.

I want to go to the gym, too, but for now, I am walking to school and Eddie Otis is my first priority.

I go open the crate for EO or we get out of bed together and then he is so hungry! We bought a slow feeder mat to slow him down because he was inhaling his food.

He eats anywhere between 5 and 6 and on weekends he can wait a bit later. While he eats I start coffee, piddle around the kitchen, and just start to wake up.

He takes almost 15 minutes to eat now, which is great.

5:30-6:15 – We head out to the patio. I light a candle, do my devotional, and EO sniffs around the yard. We are lucky to have a fence and a driveway gate.

I learned many years ago that I am a happier person if I have a couple of hours to myself before work. So, that means getting up early!

6:15 – Tom returns from the gym and he and Eddie take a walk around the elementary playground behind our house.

6:15 – 7:15 – Amy continues reading blogs and often does household orders, grocery orders, stuff like that, too. EO is ready to just chill on the patio with me while Tom gets ready.

7:15 – Tom is done-ish (what on Earth takes men so long?) I go in and pack some stuff for Tom to take to work and I gather up my food stuffs I am taking that day.

7:30- Tom leaves for work and I start getting ready. EO is now able to sit quietly outside the bedroom hallway/bathroom area and wait for me.

8:00- Amy leaves for work. I crate EO if Mason isn’t up. Mason sets his alarm for this time everyday but somedays sleeps a bit later. He lets EO back out as soon as he can.

8:15 – Amy arrives at work. Why did I switch to the third person? Amy is me. I am Amy. Some days I leave a note for things I need kids to do that day.

8:15-9:31 – Amy (I have to continue now) talked to co-workers, eats breakfast, makes sure all plans are good to go for the day, gets ready for the next day, grades papers, reads emails, etc.

9:31-11:45 – Teach 2.5 classes

11:45 – lunch

12:09-3:20 – has 3.5 more classes.

This was only meant to be a morning routine post, but I just kept going!

Are you still working to adjust your morning routine? What do you find helpful?

Amy

Monday, August 26, 2024

How was your weekend? Mine had a theme which you will find out in a minute. Can you believe it’s the last week of August? I really think August is my least favorite month – it’s hard, it’s stressful, and usually the weather is my least favorite.

I am dreading this week, to be honest. I have a 5 day week plus a long day with our Meet the Teacher night on Tuesday. On top of that, we are already doing state testing so classes will be all out of whack. Yup, let’s test the kids constantly! When I have a week like this I try to take it one day at a time.

So, our weather last week was amazing! We had a taste of…

fall! Sweatshirts and even pants a couple of days in the morning were required. I spent more time outside and I guess I sort of forgot that I get sick every September with allergy symptoms. So, I woke up Friday morning not feeling great and that theme continues.

Eye patches really feel good on your sinuses, by the way. Maybe the good thing is that I will come out looking so much younger for the eye patch treatment?

Friday night I wanted soup and we ordered Panera for Tom and I cause the kids were off working or playing. Meh. We really aren’t fans. I got French onion soup and a half of a grain/greens thing.

I didn’t sleep well Thursday night and again didn’t sleep well Friday night.

I woke up Saturday and felt better, but just really tired. I picked up this from the library. I like being able to simply check things out that I don’t want to buy. I did a Target return and a Trader Joe’s run.

A couple of Target books that looked good so I can request them…

I felt up to keeping my plan to meet my friend Elizabeth for breakfast. We had a nice time catching up and I need to do this more!

The rest of the day I napped and watched Hotel Portofino in the basement and then read outside. It was just what I needed.

Tom took me to Harry’s for dinner where he got his favorite salmon spinach salad and I got…

salmon and potato croquettes. I hadn’t eaten anything else all day so I was hungry.

I went to bed after a shower and slept really well and late. I didn’t get up until 7 on Sunday!

Sorry for my Debbie Downer Hello Monday post!

I hope you had a good one!

Amy

Friday, August 23, 2024

Ahhhh, Friday! I can’t believe we have been in school since August 8th. In some ways I now feel like I never had a summer because it seems so far away. I’m back in the ol’ routine, you know?

Friday is always a fun post of things that brought me joy during the week. Even if you don’t blog, do you snap happy photos during the week to look back on at week’s end? I’m linking up with Andrea and Erika today!

First, I tried a new creamer and really liked it.

Planet Oat Coffee Cake flavor. This has worked well with my Nespresso Vertuo this week.

Doesn’t that look good? Starbucks who?

Next, I have been struggling with tangles in my hair. I find them so annoying and painful to get out. My hair is really fine, but I have a lot of it. Shay recommended this and it really works and smells great! I bought the small bottle from Amazon to see what I thought. It’s pretty amazing!

I placed a big Impress press on nail order because they offered me 35% off. I wanted to try this new shape. It’s so pretty but too long for me and I am finding it hard to type!

I took this picture because it made me happy seeing Eddie Otis get a nice belly rub and Tom having a belly to rub. Eddie Otis wants to touch us or be touched most of the time. He turns 6 months old tomorrow!

That face! Did you notice he got a collar upgrade? His royal blue one was too small so he has Ernie’s old green one now. Our boy may look even better in green with his eyes.

Sorry; I’m that obnoxious parent that keeps showing pictures of her kid.

I made a good dinner this week and it’s a keeper. The recipe says they are wraps but I turned it into a bowl and added coleslaw mix and shredded carrots. This was easy enough for a quick week night meal. The family loved the meal, too. I served it over the Trader Joe’s frozen jasmine rice.

Ahhh…. such a good book! This is tied for favorite book of the summer along with Jenny James is not a Disaster by Debbie Johnson.

Both of the books are deeper than you would think and have a message of starting over. They send the message that it’s not too late to have a next act in life. At least that is what I got out of them.

So, I have been a high school Spanish teacher for 30 years. This is year 31. I started at one school for 4 years, and went to another for 2 years, but now have been at my current school for 25 this year. It’s hard to believe this is possible on one hand, but on the other hand, this old gal is tired. This old gal has conjugated a lot of verbs, you know? I love to conjugate!

I had a goal. My goal was to stay put and get to teach siblings and just become a part of the woodwork, I guess. I have had some really heartfelt moments this summer in seeing my students go out and live their lives and feeling that I may have had a small impact?

I have had so many former students in Spain! I currently have four former students leaving for Spain in September! You guys! This feels like my life’s work. So, three girls are going to Spain for an entire year to be teachers – all unrelated; they just all happen to be doing this after graduating from college. One girl came over to talk about it this summer and you might remember me mentioning it. The other two are going to come soon to practice and brush up on their Spanish if we can work out a date. The little brother of one of the girls is doing study abroad at the same time his sister will be there. I taught both of them! I couldn’t be more excited to live vicariously through these kids! I talk about this with my current students and I am hoping to manage a Facetime during class.

I also had two dear sweet and good student brothers that I taught just get back from Mexico and I messaged and asked if they thought about me and my Spanish songs while they were there. Ha!

How do I know all of this? Social media. Instagram. It would be really hard to keep up with former students without it. So for this reason, I will forever be a fan.

Ok, look at this…

It’s not Spain, but it’s close. I taught all three siblings of this family and the three siblings are having a European adventure together. I would say they are 28, 25, and 22 now. They are precious! And, their Spanish will help them navigate, for sure.

And, you can read my comment below:

The oldest (who is taking the photo) is a talented photographer and has dabbled with photography since high school. Am I their crazy former Spanish teacher that they are reluctantly responding to? Probably. Most of the things I post on IG are tailored to former students, but you are welcome to follow me at amscott2.

I tried once to list all the siblings I have taught and the list is too long. I have taught one set of four siblings, many with three siblings, and it’s just been such a cool connection.

Well, I got deep on this Friday! It was just on my heart how blessed I am to have had this experience in my career and it’s definitely a favorite!

I hope you had many this week, too!

Happy Friday!

Amy

And Deep Thoughts by Amy…

Thursday, August 22, 2024

It’s Thursday and time to link up with the fashionable Kellyann and Jill!

Right now as I look in my closet, I am yearning for more neutrals. Some of my stuff seems too colorful, too bold, and after a few years of most of my summer clothes it just doesn’t feel like Current Amy. I’m a Surfer Nephew and a Coastal Aunt now, remember? Nah, but do you ever go through stages where you aren’t comfortable with your style?

I loved wearing graphic tees this summer and I started the school year wearing a lot of my graphic tees with skirts. I found some at Old Navy that are shorter than a classic tee and they work really well with skirts, I think. I am also not opposed to cutting the bottom off of the standard tee shirt. I need to do that with a couple of mine.

Other things affecting my style:

I want to cut my hair. It’s driving me crazy. Do you consider your hair part of your style? I do!

I am not as interested in spray tan and stopped my membership. The last spray I got I looked burgundy. My legs were burgundy. That’s good because I just don’t have time to go get it done in this season. I bought Loving Tan mousse and plan to lightly apply some to my legs and arms for the next couple of months. I have done it twice with great results. It looks really natural. I apply it with rubber gloves.

Anyway, some of these thoughts come with me being over summer. The heat and the mosquitoes can go bye bye. The last few days have been in the 70s and there is a touch of fall in the air!

Let’s go back to last week…

This is a crinkle black skirt and I think I’m donating it because I have a slim black skirt that is much more flattering.

So, those were all school looks.

Saturday:

I think I basically wore the same thing Sunday with a different tee shirt!

Monday:

Tuesday:

I made myself put on jeans for the first time and I was happy that they fit.

I also took walking selfies on the way to work:

Weirdo. I sent them to Tom.

Meh. I don’t love anything I wore over the last week, really. See what I mean?

What about you? What have you been wearing lately?

Amy

Wednesday, August 21, 2024

It’s a two post day because I also wanted to link up with Joyce!

1. What’s the last thing you completely overreacted to? 

What don’t I overreact to? Just kidding. I have really worked on that. I was probably upset that we (my husband) forgot to put the trash on the street the night before trash day. I have given over the trash and recycling part of my brain space to him and he needs to worry about it. Not me! He always thinks he will be up before the trash truck comes and do it in the morning, but sometimes he misses it and I just think it’s something so easy to do the night before.

I guess I overreact the most to things that people make harder than they need to be?

2. Your top five snacks? 

String cheese, popcorn, all cheese I guess, all chips I guess, and any kind of dip! I am definitely a more savory/salty snacker.

3. What smell always brings back some type of memory? Elaborate. 

Gosh, I am really big on smells so it’s hard to answer this. I have all kinds of memories when I smell certain things.

4. What’s something you learned from the last book you read? 

The last couple of books I have read have been about new chapters/new beginnings for people. You can start over. You can make a happier life. You just have to be open to the things that life brings to you.

5. What’s the next thing on your to-buy list? Will you make that purchase before the end of the year? 

I just can’t stop thinking about sneakers. I am wearing them more and I feel like I need more.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

There has been a touch of fall in the air lately and I love it!

What about you?

Amy

Wednesday, August 21, 2024

What is your trip planning style? Or, are you the one in the family that does the planning? Tom will give me ideas of destinations and what he has usually seen on tv about it. He is a big channel flipper and watches a lot of “educational tv”. He has also discovered Instagram Reels and sends me a lot of them on the daily.

We never plan too far in advance. I don’t know. I think it would be great, but that’s not usually our style.

If you are doing air travel, I think stalking ticket prices for a bit is a good idea. I use an incognito browser to do this so that the internet doesn’t mess with me and know that I am looking for specific tickets.

After getting tickets, it’s important to secure your lodgings.

Then, I start trying to plan out the days with a few things that are more “set in stone” and then just list things I can do that day if time permits.

I need to get better about looking at things geographically to see what makes sense to bundle or couple with something else.

On our UK trip last year, I usually had one reservation per day and that gave each day a bit of structure. But, it was also the holidays so I was worried about being able to eat at certain places or do certain things.

I like to check out library books – especially Rick Steves books – and read all about what there is to do. I also read things online and look at Instagram and Pinterest. I also check out blog posts that may involved my destination.

I create a Google doc with all the details and take that with me. This doc gets edited so many times before it is all said and done.

It is really important to be to not be too over-scheduled or militant and leave room for spontaneity or just relaxing and people watching.

I actually love the planning process! It’s so fun!

One of my favorite things about travel is doing normal daily life things like using public transportation and checking out grocery stores. I think this is why I love, love, love Airbnb. You feel more like a resident than a tourist.

What about you?

Amy

Tuesday, August 20, 2024

Deep Thoughts by Amy…

Grab a coffee!

or maybe something stronger?

I have two male teachers on either side of my classroom. I have made some observations as of late. My blog title means “Act like a Man”. One of the teachers had to miss school last week for one day (he is a veteran and has to do medical tests when the VA hospital says so) and he just said it matter of factly. There was no “I hate to miss already” or “I feel guilty”. He just stated it with no emotion.

I also notice that my two male teacher next door neighbors make decisions about things at school and don’t question themselves. The women tend to need to bounce decisions off of each other to make sure they are doing the right thing/the best thing for that situation. The men don’t seem to need that as much.

When I have to miss, I feel guilty. I ask myself if I really have to be off that day. I overthink it. Why do I do this? I will say that since the pandemic I have gotten better about this and I take days when I need to, knowing that I have days for a reason. For the first 27 years, I came to school when I shouldn’t have and rarely missed.

I walked in with a female teacher the other day and she literally had nothing to carry except her keys. I complimented her on not being weighed down. She said that she brings all her lunches on Mondays and has a computer at home and at school so really doesn’t need to cart anything. How liberating! I am in a profession where martyrs are celebrated. Who can stay the latest and literally roll the student work out to their car at the end of the day to at least look like they continue working from home. We must stop this kind of behavior!

I do feel like I am almost ingrained to not trust my judgement and to second guess even the most minute of decisions. Is this how females were conditioned during my formative years?

I once read a parenting book about “parenting like a man” and it made so much sense. They can be more in the moment and worry less about all the things that have to be done.

Back to teaching, sometimes I think it’s harder to be a female high school teacher. There are some male teachers at my school that would even scare me! Ha!

I am trying to make a pledge to myself to stop this behavior. “What Would a Man Do in this Situation?” will be my motto.

Do you have thoughts on this topic?

Amy

Monday, August 19, 2024

Well, that weekend went by so quickly, didn’t it? I am linking up with Sarah and Holly for maybe one of the shortest posts and least amount of photos I have ever had for a Hello Monday!

Thursday after school and I decided to relax…

I put on pants and a long sleeve to combat the horrible mosquitoes we are having. Tom bought me every product he could find!

Kids made dinner and it was stir fry with Spam!

Friday after school I talked Erica into going to the bar at Grassa Gramma. Isn’t it cool?

We had some beautiful cocktails – mine was something with blood orange – and these amazing crispy Tuscan potatoes…

I went home and crashed!

Saturday morning called for a nice Eddie Otis walk…

I made some egg bites from Olivia Snyder’s recipe if you used to read her blog and still follow her on IG…

I finished this book. I guess it was my least favorite of all Emily Giffin books and I had some problems with some of it. If you’ve read it, what do you think?

Tom and I checked out a cute little market and the taproom next door.

And, ended up at Waldo’s for lunch…

For dinner, we went to a Mexican restaurant to hear my friend play guitar and sing.

I started and couldn’t put this down!

And, Sunday I got to read in the rain for a bit…I spent most of my day on my patio and it was divine. I did return books at the library and go to Trader Joe’s, too. In the late afternoon our friends came over to see how big our boy Eddie Otis has gotten.

And, that’s it!

What was the highlight of your weekend?

Amy

Friday, August 16, 2024

Well, I knew this Friday – the first Friday of a five day week of school – would mean more! Ahhhhhh……I still don’t get paid until August 30th, but we are getting closer. I received five paychecks on June 18th and August 30th will be my first paycheck of this year. It’s a good thing I have a Sugar Daddy – I mean Tom. I also have half of that money saved. I had as frugal of a summer as I could.

It’s time to link up with Andrea and Erika for Friday Favorites.

Here are some things I want to share from my week…

New favorite book of the summer! I picked it up on a whim from the library shelf and yes, I did judge a book by its cover and I’m happy to say so! Cute cover, right? It reminded me a bit of the book Float Plan by Trish Doller which was a summer fave a few years ago. I will admit that I like a romance but with depth. The depth of this book surprised me and I have already recommended it to a couple of friends.

And, in the irony that is life…all of my anticipated summer reads came in the day school started! Ha! But, that’s ok. I will not give up everything I enjoy just because I am a full time employee again. There! I said it! And, it’s still technically summer until Labor Day and then we still have summer weather for quite a bit around here.

Have you read this? This was my next up book and so far I’m enjoying it.

Have you done anything for your future self this week? I made 6 Amy McMuffins and 8 breakfast burritos before school started and Present Amy really loves what Past Amy did. Lol!

Tell me that doesn’t look good! I eat it around 8:30 in my classroom. I don’t have any students until 9:30. Read about my schedule here and read about the Future Self theory here.

Hot pink nails are still going strong. I placed a big Impress press on nails order with a great 35% off discount code they sent me. I like petite or short length nails (still have to cut and file a bit) and this time I am trying the more oval shape that is popular.

We had spaghetti one night for dinner and then salmon, broccoli, and potatoes one night. Sheet pans are really easy, y’all. I love my two half sheets and my one quarter sheet and could really use more. All of this was done on the oven’s air fryer setting. Jack cut up all the taters and broccoli and helped me make this. I get home around 3:45 and start cooking at pretty much 5:00 on the dot.

I also made some chicken sausage, okra, and more taters on a sheet pan this week.

I ordered Tom a fun gift from Universal Yums. I picked Greece and it is a box of snacks and desserts from that country. Everyone has enjoyed tasting the items.

Stopped to take a selfie while walking to work… We’ve had some beautiful mornings.

Big boy watching mama blog…

I don’t set an alarm anymore! I have a puppy! So, I get up whenever puppy stirs and depending on where he has slept. Yesterday it was 5:00 and I do really enjoy watching the sun come up. It also feels nice to have more time at home before work. It’s all good. I cleaned out my candle collection this summer and saved this wonderful early fall scent.

A little more sun and my messy table with puppy stuff on it…

Well, tell me if you think this is bad or good…

I have not gone anywhere this week except to work and home and I’ve walked all but Tuesday. Is this good or boring? I think I will need to get out one day a week after work but for this first week, I think it was ok.

Tell me a favorite of yours this week?

Cheers to the weekend,

Amy