Random Crap

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I just made a major "camera dump" on my 'puter, so I'm warning you now, there are several random, and quite frankly, stupid, posts coming. Thanks to dear 8lb 6oz, newborn infant Jesus, we have a three-day weekend this weekend. Monday is Casimir Pulaski Day here in Chitown. So, that means I'll have lots of time to ramble on and on about crap you really don't care about. Aren't you excited!?

I guess I'll ramble in reverse order. Tuesday night, my Aunt Lu (my mom's one remaining sister) was rushed to the hospital. Long story short, she had another heart attack. They did an angioplasty yesterday afternoon. She'll need to go back in 2 weeks to have several more stents put in, but for now, she'll be released tomorrow. If you're the praying kind, please send one her way.

My aunt had her first major heart attack 22 years ago. She hadn't been feeling well, so her doctor scheduled a stress test. About 10 seconds into it, she collapsed and coded. She literally dropped dead on the treadmill. Thankfully, she was already in the hospital, and they were able to instantly shock her back to life. She ended up having a triple by-pass that night. She's had a few stents put in since then, as well. I really wish she would take better care of herself. But, I don't want to digress into a rant about the subject, so I'm moving on...

Monday, after school, Stud and I made a Sam's Club run. I really went because I needed, ok, wanted, to get a new TV for my kitchen. I'll tell you about that later. What I wanted to tell you about right now is the BIG find I made. As I was strolling down the appliance aisle, trying to figure out where I could put a THIRD kitchen in my house so I could fill it with several of the beautiful items I was looking at, I came upon the crockpot section. Last week I looked at crockpots at Walmart, but they were out of the one I wanted. It's not like I NEED another crockpot, so I figured I check again on my next trip. Well, here they were at Sam's, calling my name. As I was looking at the really pretty, new model on the shelf, I spied this little cutie:
It was just sitting there, all by it's lonesome, the only one of it's kind. It's actually the one I wanted at Walmart! The 'new' model has a rectangular base, and actually has a smaller pot. (6 qt vs. 6 1/2 qt)

Anyway, when I went to take a closer look, I saw this:Ok, big deal, the box is ripped a little. I can deal with that. What I was actually thinking was, "Score! It must be marked down!" It didn't have a price tag on it, so I figured I'd just take it to the register and have them scan it.

Well, I gotta tell ya, I nearly wet myself when the cashier scanned this little puppy! You ready? It was.........................................$7.01!!! Oh, hell YEAH it was! SEVEN DOLLARS?! Hell, I could use it once and throw it away! Ok, I would never do that, but you know what I mean. The whole time I was shopping, I was telling myself all the reasons I did NOT need another crockpot. The main reason being - I already have 7 of them!!!

No, that's NOT a typo. I have my 'main' crockpot that I use all the time. It's almost exactly like this one, except the base matches the decor of my kitchen (basically a Tuscan/olive theme), and the crock is green. However, because I use it so much, the pot has developed hairline cracks all over the place. So far, it hasn't really been an issue, and it doesn't leak or anything, but I figure it's only a matter of time before I can't use it anymore, right?

I have two VERY old crockpot. One was my mom's, and one my ex-brother-in-law gave me when I got married. It had been his from his first marriage. The two are exactly the same. Like I said, they're old. They have non-removable pots, that are tall and narrow, instead of the newer, oval-shaped, wide, squat removable, dishwasher-safe pots.

Pots 4 & 5 are probably technically one item, as they're in my double crockpot. Pot 6 is a Little Dipper, which is more for dips, but still. Crockpot #7 is a small 2 qt. pot that I acquired around the holidays, for $7.99 at Aldi. (another deal I could NOT pass up!)

So, now I've made it abundantly clear that I'm a big, crockpot-addicted loser, huh? Oh well, I don't care. I seriously use all 7 of them, so nah-nee nah-nee, boo boo! I can't wait to use my new one! Oh, and the best part is, it matches all my other 'new toys' in my kitchen that are black and stainless. tee hee!

This yumminess is what I made for dinner tonight. Ok, the photo doesn't look all that yummy, does it? Trust me, it was the bomb!It was a little something I came up with during my Sam's trip. I love their tri-colored 3-cheese tortellini. The real inspiration for this dish was the package of freshly-shelled English peas I picked up. I immediately wanted to put the two of them together, in a delicious, creamy sauce. I was NOT disappointed!

I sauteed some finely diced onions in butter until they were soft and translucent. I seasoned them well with salt and pepper. I added about a cup of half-and-half (I really wanted to use heavy cream, but I was trying to keep the fat down a bit) and an 8oz brick of lite cream cheese that I diced up. I whisked that until the cheese melted. I added a little of the boiling pasta water to thin things out a bit, and stirred in about 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese. I turned it down to a low simmer while the tortellini was cooking. During the last 3 minutes of cooking time on the pasta, I tossed the peas into the water. I used a slotted spoon to remove the pasta and peas from the water, and put them into the saucepan. I added a bit more black pepper (the more the better, as far as I'm concerned!) and another sprinkling of Parmesan, and mixed everything together. I ended up adding about another cup of the hot pasta water, about 1/4 cup at a time, to the saucepan because it was a bit too thick.

I realize this is far from gourmet cooking, but oh my hell, it was good!! I'm already thinking about what I'm going to add/change the next time I make it. Luckily, both the peas and the pasta are sold in 2-packs. Woo hoo! I think I'm going to fry up a little diced bacon or pancetta with the onions next time. I also thought about throwing in some sliced mushrooms. Anyone wanna come over next week for dinner?

Feeling a little down on your luck?

These people probably never will again!

Thanks, Vodka Mom!

What a day!

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I know I haven't really been writing much about school lately. I've been jotting things down to share, and I promise to do that soon. Unfortunately, my computer completely bit the dust, which is part of the reason I haven't been writing much. However, my darling brother bought me a new laptop last night, so I hope to be back on track soon. (He owes me some money, and as luck would have it, he won a $1,000 in some raffle last week. He decided that he would split it 50/50 with me, since he also has been shopping for a laptop for himself, and took it upon himself to go computer shopping for us. He's a hell of a guy, right?) I have no idea what kind of computer he bought, or any details about it. I probably won't even get it from him for several days, and I'll probably have to drive out to his place to get it. I'm not really that excited about it yet, but I'm sure once I get it, I'll be like a kid on Christmas morning.

There was some drama at the Hell-Hole today (involving one of my TN's brothers), that brought the police there, and ended with a student and a parent being taken out in cuffs. And, surprise, surprise, one had nothing to do with the other! I'll come back later with the scary/hilarious details. but for now, Grey's Anatomy is calling my name.

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Thanks, JLo!!

My sweet bloggy friend, JLo, over at Almost Famous just did the sweetest thing! After reading this post, she felt compelled to do something for my babies. Today, I received a package in the mail with this in it:How adorable are these?! Monday morning, there are going to be two boys and two girls that are very happy. My dilemma now is deciding which babies to give these to. I have a pretty good idea already, and now I have a three-day weekend to make my final decision. A million thanks to you, JLo!!

The three-day weekend is thanks to a professional development day tomorrow. The kids are off, and we're supposed to attend one long, boring meeting after another. But, Homey don't play dat! (Holy crap, did I really just type that?!) My report cards are finished, which is what tomorrow is really supposed to be for, and I finished all my DIBELS testing today, so I don't feel the least bit guilty about taking a mental health day tomorrow. Ah, who am I kidding? I NEVER feel guilty about taking mental health days. ;-)

I've had 3 babies transfer out in the past week and a half, a total of 4 since we've come back from break. I'm back down to 20 babies. Now, of course, I just jinxed myself by putting it in black and white, but for now, I'll just enjoy it.

JLo wasn't the only one to bless my babies with gifts this week. I'm pretty sure I didn't post about this, but back before the holidays we had our "Principal for the Day" day at the Hell-Hole. It's something CPS does every year (do other schools do it, too?) We actually (finally!) had someone come who followed through on his promise to support our kids, and help us out. This year, our Principal for the Day was the president of Scholastic Books School and Library Group. He actually spent quite a bit of time chatting with me at our meet-and-greet breakfast, then later came to visit my class, and sat in on our read-aloud. He told me more than once to let him know what I needed/wanted for my class, and I figured I'd catch up with him later in the day to talk. Well, he ended up leaving before I had a chance to speak to him.*

A few weeks later, on our Real Men Read Day, who do you think came to our room to read? You got it, Mr. President! My kids loved it! If you aren't familiar with this program, Scholastic send books to the school for our kids (usually a different book for each grade level) then a male volunteer comes to read the book to the kids. The kids each receive a copy of the book that was read. The book Mr. President read to my babies was a book that my kids were familiar with thanks to one of those Scholastic DVDs I mentioned last week. The kids had a blast listening to Mr. President read, and he got a kick out of the babies, since they knew the story. He actually ended up staying for a while and observed/participated in our center time. The babies were thrilled!! And, I gotta say, he was impressed with how knowledgeable my babies are, as well. We were able to chat a bit during centers and I was able to give him an idea of what kinds of things I could use in my classroom.

Flash forward to yesterday (as this post is 10 times longer than it should be already!) I received two big boxes from Scholastic. One box had a collection of books specifically written for African-American children. The other box held the mother load!! There were 11 (11!!) sets of books and CDs. Each CD came with 5 copies of the book. Our listening center just doubled in size! Today, I received another box that held Scholastic's entire Kindergarten Read-Aloud Library. I noticed on the packing slip that I still have one more box coming. From what I can tell, it's Big Books. (Ok, I know my teacher friends just wet their pants, right?) In all, Mr. President sent me approximately $500 in books for my classroom. Can you believe it? I can't!!

*Ok, I'm really surprised I didn't write about this day, cuz I should have shared this story. Like I said, Mr. President left before I could talk to him again. My real plan was to talk to him about a job. After I dropped my kids off at our prep class, I went to find him, and that's when I heard he had to leave early because he had a meeting. I was feeling sorry for myself, and a little pissed at myself, too, for not at least getting his card. As I was walking back to my room, literally with my head down cuz I was pouting like one of my babies, I looked down at the stairs I was on, and there it was...HIS CARD!! Yes, seriously! I still can't believe it. Is that a sign or what?! I immediately emailed him, but never heard back. When he came to read to my class, I told him this story, and even he was taken aback, and agreed that it was a sign. He said he never got the email, but then he then told me I should call him anytime, since his cell phone number is on the card.

So far, I've resisted calling, but maybe if all my bloggy friends put in a good word/positive thought/prayer for me, I may be able to say I'm an employee of Scholastic Books soon!

Holy crap, is anyone still there?? I can't remember the last time a wrote a post this long. I gave myself a headache just rereading this! Since I don't have to work tomorrow (tee hee!) I'm off to watch the episode of The Bachelor I missed on Monday. Nighty night!

How lucky am I?

I can NOT believe it's happened again! It's a small one this time, but a prize nonetheless!! This email just arrived in my inbox:

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

You registered online for the IMAX Screening of Dolphins and Whales 3D, and have been selected as one of the winners!!

You are the recipient of a FAMILY 4 PACK of tickets to the IMAX screening of Dolphins and Whales 3D

The show is Tuesday, October 7th at 6:15pm.

Please read the following information carefully:
The movie begins at 6:15pm, and we recommend you arrive around 5:45pm
Show will run approximately 45 minutes.
Upon arrival, check in at the WLIT Table to claim your tickets.
The location of the movie is at the Navy Pier IMAX theatre (600 East Grand Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611)
You have a (4) pack of tickets waiting in YOUR name. If you can not make the screening and would like to give the passes to someone else, please photocopy your photo ID and give it to the person going in your place.
These tickets are not redeemable for any other movie, showtime, theater or prize. The tickets have no cash value.
Thanks for listening to WLIT! We hope to see you at the movie!!!

I can't believe it...

OK, it happened again. I was sitting here, doing my sudoku, when the phone rang. I saw from the caller ID that it said "Clearchannel," and I almost didn't answer it. I thought maybe it was some kind of sales call. But, then a half a second later, I thought, "Maybe it's Melissa calling me." I answered and spoke to a lovely girl named Lindsey, who said she was calling me to invite me to join Melissa's Morning Show and Idina Menzel for a live broadcast and breakfast this Wednesday, at the House of Blues. Huh!? Yay! I very vaguely remember entering for a chance to do this, but it was more as a joke than anything else. In order to enter, you had to tell why you are Idina's biggest fan, and why you should be there. I think I wrote something like, "I just want to have breakfast with Melissa!" I never in a million years thought anything would come of it, other than perhaps giving someone at the station a little giggle. I'm thinking my good friend Melissa had a hand in this, so I'm going to call her in a minute to find out.


Just in case you aren't familiar with Idina Menzel, she played Elphaba in Wicked on Broadway. She also has a successful solo career. You can check out her website for more information. To be completely honest, I only know the one song of hers that they play on the Lite, which they did when it was first released. They had another Loyal Listener event then, which you can check out here:

http://www.wlit.com/cc-common/gallery/display.html?album_id=99202

At the time, I remember thinking, yeah, the song is nice, but she sounds a little too "Disney" for me (as in, she should be singing Disney theme songs.) But, I realize that's probably not a fair assessment, since I haven't heard any of her other songs, with the exception of the Wicked stuff, which has that "theater" sound to it. I am, however, VERY impressed with the fact that she's married to Taye Diggs, who's a hottie tottie!!! They've been married since 2003, so good for them!

So, this Wednesday, I'll be getting up at the crack of dawn (you know, the same time I'm usually getting home from working at the bar!!) to get ready for what should be a fun morning. My darling little son will be joining me, so I'm really looking forward to it. I'll just have to be sure I get home in time to take a nap, since we're having another Wednesday night event at the bar - Psychic Night! I'm actually pretty excited about it. Not so much about the psychic part (quite frankly, it freaks me out a little) but because there's been a lot of buzz about it, so we're expecting a big crowd. That means a long, busy night for me. Hopefully, it'll translate into a profitable night, as well.

Marvelous Monday!!

Well, I've had just a glorious day today!!! Take a look:
http://intheloop.ivillage.com/on_demand/watch
(You may have to put in the date - Feb. 11) Just in case you don't have 40+ minutes to sit and watch this whole show, let me just tell you that I came home with $1,213.70 worth of gifts!! I can't even remember what they all are right now, so watch the show to see them.

On the off chance that you want to know what happened at the Hell-Hole today, take a peek at Dori's blog.

Thank goodness we don't have school tomorrow (Happy Birthday, Abe!) cuz it's snowing like crazy right now, and the windchill is below zero. I plan to stay cuddled up on the couch, watching movies and reading all day tomorrow. I may even go back to school Wednesday feeling re-energized! At least I hope so, because we'll be going on a field trip that day, so I need all the energy I can muster!

When the student is ready the teacher will appear. ---Lao Tzu

Let's hope my babies aren't ready until Wednesday!!

What a great way to end the day!

Before I get to my day, let me tell you how it ended. I had an interview with a woman who used to work with our school through a research project she's doing at UIC. We've been trying to set up this interview for months, and we were finally able to set up things for today. All I kept thinking about all day was "Elisa is coming! Yay!" We really hit it off from the minute we met last year, and although she isn't working in our school anymore, we've stayed in touch. She's the sweetest woman you'll ever meet. The interview today was for research she's doing for a grant she's trying to get to study the effects of stress on teachers. (I think that's accurate, sorry Elisa!) I basically got to sit and blow off steam for over an hour, telling her all the things that piss me off and stress me out about my job. It was a bit therapeutic, actually!

Just being able to visit with her was enough for me. However, when it was time for her to get going, she handed me an envelope. Apparently, funding allowed for the teachers being interviewed to receive a $50 stipend. Sweet! What an unexpected bonus!

The funny thing is, I've been walking around without a cent in my purse for two days. Yesterday morning, I pulled into the Dunkin Donuts down the street from my son's school, like I do every morning, to order my coffee. As I was waiting to order, I realized I didn't have any cash. But, I didn't worry because I always have Dunkin Donut gift cards with me. (Everyone in my family gives them to me for every occassion!) Well, lo and behold, when I reached the window, I found out this DD doesn't take them! They don't have the machine to run them through! The man waiting on me is the same man that waits on my every morning (I think he may be the owner) and he was so sweet. He just said, "Don't worry about it, get it next time." What a doll! It would have been very difficult to get through the day at the Hell-Hole without my coffee!

I had intended to stop at the bank yesterday after work, but my son and I had appointments at the dentist. By the time we got out of there, the bank was closed. I ended up borrowing $5 from my son this morning just so I could be sure to stop at DD and pay for yesterday's coffee. Anyway, the point of this saga was, I was going to try and go to the bank today, but thanks to Elisa, I didn't have to. And, I was able to give my son his money back right away, which believe me, was a big deal. Now that he's older, he's very selfish about his money. He never minded when I had to "borrow" money from him before, but now, I almost had to leave him some collateral, for Pete's sake!!

Now besides the money I received for the interview, today, being Tuesday, was an afterschool day, so I was already getting paid to be there. It was a banner day for my pocketbook. Ooo, one more thing. Last week, the board screwed up my check, and only paid me 3/4 of my salary. The rest of what they owed me arrived today! Sheesh, I should have money coming at me like this everyday! Wouldn't that be nice....

On that note, I'm off to eat the onion, swiss and asparagus frittata that I made for dinner. Yum!

Pay me for my work but I don't do it for the money. ---Vanna Bonta

What a perfect quote!

Ooo, I forgot one!! This morning, my ex-husband called to tell me that his job has been screwing up my child support payments (which I told him about months ago!!) and that they were sending me a check for what they owed me. It'll be around $400!! Ok, now I'm getting a little nervous. That's money from too many places all on one day. Does that mean I'm gonna bounce a check soon?

Congratulations! You're the 10th caller!

OK, so it's rest time (as you know, my favorite time of the day!!) and I have my usual radio station playing. You know, the one I complained about the other day because they were playing Christmas music! Anyway, all week I've been letting soft Christmas music play during rest time. I'm only half listening because I was checking and replying to email, but I heard Robin Rock say "(blah, blah, blah)...I'll take the 10th caller." I didn't even hear what the hell she was giving away, but something compelled me to dig around in my purse and find my phone and call. Even as I was dialing, I was telling myself how stupid this was, especially because 90% of the time, I can't even get a signal in my classroom. Yet, I kept dialing. I got a busy signal. You would think that would be enough. But, no, I hung up, then hit redial. Suddenly, I hear ringing, then "Congratulations! You're the 10th caller!" I couldn't believe it!! Now, it wasn't a anything life changing, just a $100 gift card to KMart, but hell, I'll take it! Maybe I'll buy myself something frivolous, like a new Christmas tree.

I have to share with those of you who are not in-the-know, that it seems to my close friends and family that I have a "horseshoe up my ass." I have this bizarre luck when it comes to radio contests. This radio station, in particular, has given me many a prize in the past. A couple of highlights: tickets to see Gloria Estefan, tickets to see Ricky Martin, a family 4-pack of tickets to a Halloween show at Orchestra Hall to see the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a family 4-pack of tickets to see the musical Grease, $100 gift certificate to Gibson's Steakhouse, and the best one - a 7-day, 7-night, all-inclusive trip for 2 to the Bahamas (it was either Club Med, Sandles, Apple, one of those all-inclusive places) worth over $5,600. Sadly, I was never able to take that trip.(I'll explain in a minute.) I also won a couple of other things that were given away by someone other than the radio. One year, I won a contest for teachers sponsored by Pizza Hut, which was a cash prize of $600. There are some other little prizes, but you get the idea. My brother's girlfriend said once that it was karma at work, and that all these things come to me because of the good I do for others. But it still kills her everytime I win. Naturally, she was the very first one I called after I hung up with the radio station.

About the missed trip, believe me, I was sick about it! There are lots of people out there who like to say "Oh, teachers get SO much time off. I'd love to have all summer off, and all the holidays, blah, blah, blah..." What they don't realize is that our vacation time is dictated to us, as opposed to the luxury others have of choosing when they want their vacation. Of course, that trip I won could not be taken during any blackout dates. Those are usually holiday weeks, or long holiday weekends. Gee, when am I off work? Holidays!!

There was no way to take the trip without taking a full week off of work. There are so many things wrong with that. First, we can't take more than 3 sick days off in a row without a doctor's note. And, I would have to burn 5 sick days to take a week off. (When you're a mom, you can't afford to waste sick days because you'll probably need to take them if your baby gets sick and needs you.) The most important thing is that I could never leave my babies for a whole week! Even if it was a class I couldn't stand (never gonna happen!) I'd have to still leave lesson plans and all the materials needed for them for the sub. Unless you are a teacher, you have no idea how much work that involves! It would have been nearly impossible to do that. Unfortunately, the prize voucher expired after our summer vacation started, so that wasn't an option, either. Oh well, one day I'll get to the Bahamas on my own, I hope!

Let's see, what happened at school today? (I mean other than me calling a radio station, and winning a prize!) I started working with the babies yesterday on some Thanksgiving turkey recipes. I've been just cracking up! I'm going to bring them home and scan them so you can see the best ones. They are hilarious! Until I post them, I'm going to keep you in suspense. Suffice it to say, Betty Crocker has nothing to be worried about.

Well, Dori is here now, we're going to have a margarita night since we don't start work until 12:00 tomorrow. Adios!

Children are the bridge to heaven ---Persian Proverb