Time keeps rolling by...

I actually gave my post a title today, yay me! Again, the blog maintenance is not up to par, but what can I say. I've been committed to other things, though, like working out a lot and doing lots of work after hours, so I have good excuses.

My mom bought the "10 minute trainer" series - the one advertised on TV with Tony Horton. Man, it's kick a**. It's rough, though, I admit, but so worth it and enjoyable for only 10 minutes! It comes with a meal planner and all, and the suggestions are pretty feasible too. A little low on calories, but it's not an actual diet - instead it's a way to kick-start your metabolism so that you lose weight in 10 days flat. Also, they suggest that you combine two or three ten-minute workouts per day for maximum results, which I've been doing. Half an hour is really nothing at all when you're used to working out for an hour plus each time. So it's pretty fun stuff, and really effective. Just did 30 minutes now, actually, and was sweating like crazy.

In other news... busy with work! Pumpkins, Halloween, Dental Hygiene... all the fun things associated with being a K teacher. I'm loving it, truly. I *wish* and *hope* I will be there until the end of the year, by some small miracle. We shall see.

Pat and I have started watched Smallville, finally. We only have about 10 seasons to get through. No problem. It's got a certain charm to it despite it's over-the-top cheese. Also, the main character is not too hard to stare at, either. I just can't wait until the newer seasons when his hair is a little less shaggy.

Scrap wise, I've been buying and downloading lots of digi stuff, but don't have too much to show for it in the last week or so. I do have a layout to share from a few weeks ago. So enjoy!

A new post is in store I think. I haven't been a good blogger. I've been very busy working, and also, I'm wary of certain people stumbling upon my blog. It's not that I find I share a lot of super personal info, but you just never know, especially now that I'm a teacher. So for those reasons, I haven't been very motivated. But with the long weekend here and some extra time on my hands for once, I'm finally in the mood. Also, I apoligize for not leaving comments on blogs as of late. I will try to catch up. I am still your fan :) , but I am just lazy.

Here are some random things on my mind (because lists are just that much easier):

1. I am beginning to really love Fall. I never used to like it, mainly because I always felt it was sort of robbing Summer, my favorite season, from me. Now I find I love the crisp weather and putting on big cozy sweaters. I love the colors of the leaves. I'm beginning to notice a lot more little wonders about the season now that I'm around five year-olds all day. Everything is just that much more fascinating.

2. I went apple picking with my class this past week. I have to confess that I haven't been apple picking since I was a little girl. How sad is that? Despite a slightly chaotic bus ride and very hyper, excited children, we had a great time. I was completely exhausted by the end of the day, however, but in a good way.

3. We're having our Thanksgiving dinner tonight. My mom as made three desserts: cheese cake, apple pie, and pumpkin pie. Is that not completely exaggerated, and yet completely amazing? Yes, I know.

4. I wish I could be more involved in the whole cooking process, especially for holidays, but my mom has a way of taking charge of the entire kitchen and all aspects of preparation. Most of it gets done before I can even offer help. It can be frustrating at times. I know she means well, and she is an amazing cook/event organizer, but it leaves me sometimes feeling incompetent. I want to cook more, but I feel more like a spectator than anything else.

5. I love going in the sauna at the gym, especially when they put eucalyptus into the vapor - totally relaxing/rejuvenating experience.

6. I made apple sauce with my class yesterday - brought in the crock pot and had them chop pieces of apple and dump them in. Everyone kept walking by my class and wondering what that amazing smell was. It tasted pretty good, I must say, and it was very simple to do. I think we have exhausted all possible apple activities by now though... A new theme is in order for next week!

7. Pat got me flowers "just because" last week, and it happened to coincide with a day that I really, really needed them (I was worn down by my work load AND coming on my period, hence extremely over-emotional). Yup, I've got me a romantic one and it feels good.

8. Very minimal scrapbooking has been happening. My table is a disaster area. I started a mini-album about Pat's stopover in Paris, but so far only have a cover page. I seem to be lacking inspiration. I think Julie and I, maybe Alex too if she wants, might do some scrapping tomorrow. That is, if I don't give into my urge to take a drive down to Plattsburgh, which is growing ever-so-steadily at the back of my mind.

9. I miss writing. I need to do more of it. As in, more detailed than the million post-it notes left on various places of my desk, or those wonderful little nuggets directed to parents in students' agendas (the likes of: "Please send in more underwear for you child because he/she had an accident at lunch time today"). You know, real, heart-felt writing. For now blogging is quasi-filling the need.

10. I am so happy that I can just relax today after working for 12 days straight (a week of teaching, then biblio weekend, then another week of teaching). I sometimes seem to forget what it feels like to have a whole entire day free.

Okay, well, 10 seems like a good number, so I shall stop here. I need to do a bit of prep for my class. But first, as routine dictates, I should share a little sumpin' sumpin', so here's a digi page that I did a little while ago about Pat's roommate's kitty. Enjoy and have a great Thanksgiving weekend. Cheers maties.

So, um... my blogging is getting a little sad, no? Since I have a bit of time before bed (and the coffee that I drank earlier seems to be keeping me awake) I figured I might as well grace you all with an update. I feel like I have so much time on my hands because I didn't work this weekend (yay, two days off in a row!).

I went to pick up Patrick at the airport on Thursday evening. I felt like a giddy 18 year old again to see him after our two-week hiatus. He made it back safely and very successfully, as he is now a meta-coach! I'm really proud of him for this huge accomplishment, especially considering how grueling the studying/training was. He had 12 hour days plus homework that had to be accomplished with group members after hours, and all this while staying in a hostel with people partying at all hours of the night. Needless to say, he was very drained by the end, and with all his travels, but it was so worth it.

We had a nice, relaxing weekend together. We went out for supper, went grocery shopping, cooked waffles and lasagna, finally watched the finale of True Blood (talk about a cliff-hanger), looked at tons of photos from the trip, and played Boggle, among other things. It feels good to get back into "our" groove.

While Pat was away, I had ambitious dreams of scrappin' up a storm, but sadly only produced four pages in total (2 digital, 2 paper). Now I'll at least have some more motivation to scrap with all of Pat's photos from the trip. He got some great shots, and everything has such a gorgeous backdrop in Europe, you really can't seem to go wrong even with a point & shoot. I will have to get on that shortly, in between forcing myself to go to the gym in the evenings and prepping for my class.

Speaking of which, I'm loving my job. Really, even the prep I do at home is still enjoyable, like ordering Scholastics, making worksheets, charts and vocabulary words of all sorts, and experimenting with different art activities. I can't complain. I can only cross my fingers that my contract will last longer than it's supposed to... maybe by some miracle...

Anyways, now I really should get to bed. But first, one of those layouts I was talking about. Goodnight!

Patrick is safe and sound in Sweden. He emailed me the other day, thankfully, to give me a little update. I am starting to miss him a lot. I think the weekend will be the hardest, as it is normally the time that we spend together the most. However, I thought I would read some of his e-journal, if you will (his growing collection of thoughts) to make me feel closer, and it's comforting. I stumbled upon this gem:

When someone does something you appreciate, never lose the opportunity to let them know. It may seem awkward at first, but it is awkwardness that can be guided to comfort. Sometimes the alternative of not facing the awkwardness can lead to great sorrow, or regret, when that someone is no longer around.

Just a little reminder to appreciate those you love, and let them know, in the moment when they are close to you. Sometimes I forget to truly embrace what I have. Sometimes I am so caught up in the daily grind and all the crap going on that I actually vent for half an hour before remember to even hold Patrick's hand or notice that he's cut his hair or really look into his eyes. Sometimes I am going through the motions, my own emotions, totally in my own little bubble, and that is so not cool. I need to just let it go and shift gears, and listen to his insight. How can gossip or negativity ever be worth more than that? It can't. And so, if the distance between us at the moment has lead to this feeling, then it makes me think that I needed this little refresher.

Love you my lover like no other...

I'm feeling very tired and low-key right now. I went to the gym earlier, and it seems to have zapped all my energy. I think it's because I'm still in the process of getting over my cold. Also, Patrick left for Sweden today, so I'm feeling a little down about our two week separation (sniff, sniff), but trying not to let it get to me too much. It is all for the best, of course, and it will be a wonderful opportunity for him. I'm just going to miss him a lot, and his extremely long red-eye flight over the Atlantic ocean makes me a bit uneasy as I slip under the covers tonight. I'll be glad to get an email or Skype message from him sometime tomorrow, although he will be six hours ahead of me! I can't wait to hear all about his experience :)

It's been a while since I've uploaded anything scrap related, so here is the mini album that I made after my friend Tania's wedding. It was very fun, quick and fairly easy to make. I just realized there are a LOT of photos, oops! I'm too lazy to make them into some cutesy collage, so you'll have to just tough it out. It just took me about 5 years to upload, so now I'm off to bed.

Yes, yes, I'm still alive! I think this is possibly the longest that I've gone without updating my blog, but there is due cause. I have been insanely busy over the past few weeks because I just got my first teaching contract in a kindergarten classroom! I don't know how long it will be for (fingers crossed) because I'm replacing somebody on maternity leave who could technically come back at any time given two weeks notice, but hopefully I'll be there until December. And, with all the H1N1 business going on, it looks like most teachers will be able to stop working the moment they find out they're pregnant, so there should be plenty of jobs to go around once I need a new contract in the winter. All in all, it's a good year to be starting to work.

So I have been setting up my class (decorating, cleaning, cutting, pasting, coloring, printing, laminating, etc, etc) and I had lots of help from my mom and Pat during the four ped days before the kids actually got to school. Some evenings we stayed there until 8pm. Luckily the secretary is the sweetest woman on the planet and was always there to lock up after us and one of my colleagues who was doing the same thing. It's been quite the experience, I have to say, but a good one. I never imagined that there would be SO MUCH to do, but there is, and once you start to tackle one thing after another, it does feel rather rewarding. It's oddly satisfying to cut laminated posters for your bulletin boards, haha.

I met most of my students and their parents this week, and I am quite lucky to be working with a nice group. I am very excited to be starting the year with my very own class. All summer I kept hoping and wishing for Kindergarten, and I guess the universe answered my call... now here I am singing songs and playing playdough and teaching the ABCs... Fun times!

In other news, Patrick is going to Sweden this week for business. He leaves on Wednesday, and he'll be gone for two weeks!! I think I'll be getting a lot of prep done during the time that he's away. Anyways, I have to help him get packed and ready today and tomorrow, and then I think it will feel more "real", because at the moment, it feels a bit distant and hypothetical, I'm not sure why.

Okay, well, time to go make some coffee and eat my cereal. I have some scrap-related photos to share but am too lazy right now to get them off my flash card and go through them all, so hopefully in the next little while I will get around to that. Have a great weekend!

This past weekend was a lot of fun. We finally met Cam and got to catch up with Alana. We had a nice supper on Friday night and got to hang out on the deck outside for hours and hours because the weather was perfect, finally. Cam is super nice and down to earth. He was really great with my grandmother as well, which was really cute to watch. So my cousin has done quite well for herself indeed. Your mama would be so proud Alana. The rest of the weekend was spent chilling and catching up. We were outside most of the time, lounging in bathing suits, swimming, drinking pina coladas, drinking, and so forth. Good times indeed. Here are some pictures... Patrick was there (just not in these pics) but my brother wasn't, since he was off on a canoe-camping trip that he had planned well in advance. He was disappointed he couldn't be a part of it all, but Cam did sign some things for him and promised to send him some t-shirts.