"When you smile/ The whole world stops and stares for a while"

I'm blogging while babysitting. That's how determined I am to meet this thirty day goal especially since I am SO close to the end. Thanks sister MR for letting me use your laptop. And don't worry all the kids are in bed! I'm not slacking on the job.

Just a few work stories from the past few weeks:

There is a little girl in the other three's class who I had this summer so I still see her in the hallways. Her mom is several months pregnant so one afternoon I was talking to R and asked if they had picked any names for the baby. When she said no, I started suggesting some names like Flower and Rock, that sort of thing. Then I pretended to get really excited and said she should name the baby Annie! She could tell I was kidding and laughed and told me I was funny (score).

A few days later, she ran up to me in the morning and said "Ms Annie, guess what?! We're going to name the baby Annie". My heart soared with pride, my eyes filled with tears, my mouth dropped open in shock. I choke out, "Really?" barely above a whisper. Only to be told by a three year old, "No. I was just kidding" who then ran away laughing at how she had truly duped me. In my defense, she also tricked her two own teachers with the same joke.

So a few mornings later, her mom was dropping her off and I told the mom how good her daughter got me. And then the mom told me that the little girl had named her Build-a-Bear she had gotten that weekend Annie! Awwwwwww. That means more to me than the baby. :)

And the other cute story: I work all day and stay while the kids take their naps. The afternoon kids are a mixture of 3s and Pre-K. The day before Halloween weekend, the lady I work with and I were joking around with the kids telling them what candy to bring us on Monday after they went trick or treating. Low and behold, one of the 4s brought my co-worker all of his tootsie rolls cause they are her favorite on Monday. He asked me to remind him what my favorite was and that he would bring them to me tomorrow. Now my hopes had already been let down once so they weren't too high. They then deflated in the morning when I saw him walking towards my classroom apparently empty-handed*. Almost all hope was lost until he gave me a big smile and withdrew a plastic bag of several Reese's Peanut Butter Cups because he knew "buttercups" were my favorite. Well you can pretty much assume I almost started to cry right then and there. So sweet.

*It has nothing to do with taking candy from a baby/little kid. I just want to know that they like me, really like me. Even when he gave me the candy, I tried to convince him to take them back because they are delicious but he wouldn't have it. Awwww.

See, that's why you have kids (said in the voice of Phoebe Bouffay-- the episode where Ross's son goes to school with Sting's son. BAM.). Or at least teach them.

And every time I step up in the building/ Everybody's hands go up/ And they stay there!"

Not gonna lie, it's getting a little tough to blog for 30 days. Amazing since I thought "oooh that would make a good blog post" about fifty times when I wasn't writing on here consistently but now that I am... nothing. So this was almost going to be a post about how I have nothing to write about. But then in a flash of genius, I realized that it's Monday!! So that means *drum roll* Music Monday! I present to you five songs I can't get enough of:

1. White Blank Page -Mumford & Sons. The whole album is pretty fantastic. Aside from their single Little Lion Man, this is also my favorite. Oh the emotion, the anger, the rage. And therefore my love.

2. All I Do Is Win -DJ Khaled. While unfortunately this was not UGA's theme song this season (actually it is probably more Auburn's since Newton has "money on [his] mind/ [he] can't ever get enough" HEY-OH!), I still can't get enough. If a rap song is ever stuck in my head, it's a good chance it is this one.

3. Innocent -Taylor Swift. I love this song. It's just so purdy. And it's T-Swifty. Nothing more needs to be said.

4. Just the Way You Are -Glee Cast version. Like I could have a MM without the cast of Glee. Pfft. But I looooove this one. It was so adorable in the episode. Oh Furt.

5. Deck the Rooftop -Glee Cast. Okay I lied, I had them on here twice. But I'm not in as much of a music buying frenzy as I usually am. This is a mashup of Deck the Halls and Up on the Rooftop. Not gonna lie-- the first few listens I thought they were singing "Deck the hallsies up on the rooftop" but far too longer for me to admit I realized it was "Deck the halls/ He's up on the rooftop". Still, it's a toe-tapper.

"So you are now watching the Shaytard vlog/ Just sit back, relax, follow along/ To the things Shay says/ To the things he does/ With his cool family"

Another big factor as to why I didn't blog as much in past months was because I became obsessed video logs aka vlogs. Like people on YouTube who have recorded every day of their lives for the past year or even two years! I know, why would I care what ordinary people do on a day-to-day basis? But it's strangely fascinating. Even if at times even I acknowledge that I can't believe I am watching someone mow their lawn or take their dog on walk. But these people have huge followings on YouTube (well more likely, they had a sketch channel of some sort and then started an additional vlogging channel)! And these are my three favorites. I would say they are in order but I can't because I love all of them for different reasons. Here they are:

1. The Shaytards. No, not tard as in retard but as in unitard/leotard. I don't know why they picked the name, all I know is Shaytard (the dad), Mommytard, Sontard, Princesstard, Babytard, and Rocktard along with Malachitard (their dog) make up the most adorable family. I wish I was related to them. They make me want to travel to Idaho. They've been vlogging EVERY day for the past two years! The audience was there when they announced they were pregnant all the way to the delivery of Rocktard (not the actual, just afterwards). It's like I know them. The true moment I realized I was obsessed was when Mommytard bought two dresses for Princesstard and Babytard and held up each one say who it was for. I immediately thought Oh Babytard is going to like the one for Princesstard way more. And a split second later, the dad said the same thing! And sure enough, Babytard liked the other dress more! I felt so proud of myself. As well as a little worried. My family makes fun of me for liking them so much. But they would too if they just gave them a chance! And I've noticed my mom and sister AE slowing down whenever they are walking past the computer and cute Rocktard is on.

2. CTFxC. Charles and Alli are engaged (their proposal video won the Mashable for Best Video last year and beat A Very Potter Musical) and living in Tallahassee. Alli is a senior at FSU and Charles in a full time Youtuber. They also have two dogs Zoey and Marley. While they are a little heavy on the dog footage, they are still strangely fascinating. I have somewhat of a love/hate relationship with Alli. Sometimes she awesome and sometimes I just want her to shut up. But Charles is awesome. He's the guy every guy wants to be and every girl wants to date. Not speaking for myself of course. Just judging by the comments. Anyyyyway, they are pretty awesome and I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my CTFxC is for Haters hoodie in the mail. I've already got the shirt. Gotta complete the set.

3. Toby Turner. HIGH-LARIOUS. His Laziest vlogs series never fails to make me crack up. It's just him walking around, talking to his audience (audience? what are you doing in an x-ray machine at the airport?) about his day and upcoming things, and he is just so funny. Possibly the funniest of the three I've chosen. But they are all awesome. And you should dundundundunduna subscribe!

PS I just realized I wrote this post whilst wearing my YouTube shirt. Maybe that's where the inspiration came from....

Glory, glory to ol Georgia!

And to heck with Georgia Tech! Goooo Dawgs! Sic 'em! Woof woof!

Please let us win so we are bowl eligible. Please let us win so we are bowl eligible. Please let us win so we are bowl eligible. Please let us win so we are bowl eligible.

Okay. All done! Goooooooo dawgs!

"Just got paid/ Friday night"

For the first time, I took part in a little Black Friday shopping today. I wasn't one of the crazy people awake at midnight or three a.m. Just around lunchtime I headed over to Target, Old Navy, Borders, and Wal-Mart. I know, Wal-Mart. The armpit of the earth. But supposedly they had some good deals. Only got one thing there. Target was the big winner in my book. Tons of deals, no lines. Unlike Borders and Old navy where the line was weaving through the stores. Luckily my coupon for Borders lasts until Sunday so I will be good. So I got several people checked off my list. Hooray!

I also checked out Amazon and got a super good deal. I'm getting a Flip Cam for Christmas from my mom! Yay! And I saved quite a bit thanks to the special deal. I am so excited! I like making home movies so now that may increase.

"One night and one more time/ Thanks for the memories"

I'll admit, Thanksgiving has never been one of the holidays I get into a frenzy about. I know it's one of the big three (along with Easter and Christmas) but it's not one I get all excited about. Probably because I starve myself all day then eat three bites and am super full and sort of want to die. Hopefully that won't happen this year.

This year I am thankful for my family, my friends, my job and the people and kids at work, and the fact that my sister's family who's been in Seattle for the past 2.5 years are moving back to Atlanta as we speak! So hooray for my whole family being back in the southeast! So I am very thankful for that.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

"You don't understand, you're a legend, man!/ ...You're Harry freakin Potter"

I saw the new Harry Potter movie today. I thought it was pretty good. Especially when you consider that I did not really enjoy the 6th movie and it was by the same director. But I really liked it. I thought it was exciting and it never really lagged in any parts. I really enjoyed Emma Watson in this one considering she sometimes overacts especially in eyebrow expressions. Rupert did a good job as well as Daniel. Yay for the trio still getting the job done in their seventh movie together.

I admit I teared up at the end even though I saw it coming thanks to a particular topic trending on Twitter for the last few days. Still, it was so sad.

Unfortunately I had a very animated (and high schooler filled) audience so I missed some of the dialogue thanks to their excessive laughter (seriously "goblin piss" is not that funny). And some of the teenage girls down the row kept whispering but hey, that's the risk you run.

I'm glad they are breaking it up into two because I hated how they cut SO much stuff out of the fourth film because that book (Goblet of Fire) was my favorite. So I'm glad they are sparing no expense for this one. All I know is I am excited to see the final film. It's gonna be epic.

"Together we will fly tonight/ And leave all the rest behind/ I'll wait for you"

As of 4:45 today, I am on Thanksgiving Break from work. Sweet. But I did realize how much I do enjoy my job because I am genuinely going to miss those kiddos for five days. Not like I won't enjoy the vacay but it will just be weird not to hear "Ms Annie..." 78 times a day. But I did get lots of hugs from the kids, some of the parents, and my coworkers today and it made me a little misty-eyed. But you know me so that shouldn't be that surprising by this point.

It's always been a tradition in my family that we start listening to Christmas music during Thanksgiving dinner. Normally I'm not that excited about it. I mean I expect it but I don't necessarily look forward to it. But this year since I am itching to get into the holiday spirit, I am very much looking forward to it! Especially since Glee released a Christmas album and I have been making myself wait until Thanksgiving to buy it. But my will power is starting to dissipate. All I know is I can't wait to finally listen to it as well as The Charlie Brown Christmas cd. And yeah, yeah I might have a little David Archuleta from last year. What? He has the voice of an angel!

Happy Thanksgiving Break to everyone else lucky enough to be done with work and school for the rest of the week!

PS. Seriously can't believe I've stuck with this for 16 days. Oooooh we're halfway there. Oooooh! Living on a prayer.

"I'm craving for you/ I'm missing you like candy"

Oh. What's this? Just a regular old Reese's Peanut Butter Cup? Nothing special, right?

How about you zoom in on that lower right corner? That's right. 1 pound of peanut butter and chocolately deliciousness.

BAM. It's the size of my freaking palm! I saw it at Target and I just couldn't resist. Don't worry, it was a one time thing but I just had to say I've had it. So when you see it at the store next to the Yard O' Licorice and huge Toblerone bar and you think Who would ever buy that? You will know I did. And I never regretted it.

That's a lie. I did when I read the calories on the back. Tiny servings are key, people!

PS. That's two Mandy Moore songs in the past few days. What's wrong with me?

"Hey, hey, HEY!"

Modern Family is the new Arrested Development. I know, I know. That's a strong statement considering AR is in my top 3 tv shows of all time (along with LOST and Friends). I don't know why I didn't get into Modern Family when it started last year (my guess is it conflicted with another show) but I've seen an episode or two this season and thought it was decently funny. Then it took away all the Emmys from Glee so I knew it had to be good. Then it was on sale at Target for 20 and I had to bite. Well I may have watched the entire first season in a very small time frame (hey, they are only 22 minutes long) and I may or may not be obsessed Hint: I am.

It. Is. So. Funny. I crack up multiple times an episode. And I LOVE how all the little things add up by the end of the episode (something AR had down to a science). It's a toss up between Cam and Manny for my favorite character. Cam might possible have the edge. But I really love the whole ensemble and each actor plays their role really well. My only hang-up is Luke because sometimes he's awful at acting but that's the risk you run with child actors (not Manny of course). Speaking of Luke, did you know in real life that kid has been a member of Mensa since he was four?! I know, who would have thought?

But really, it's GOLDEN. And now I must catch up on this season a la Hulu.

"Callin like a collector/ Sorry I cannot answer... And you're not gonna reach my telephone"

Sometimes I realize I am way too dependent on technology... especially my iPhone or just cell phones in general. I especially realize this when I need to tell one of my nieces something and my first thought is "Oh I'll just text them". Yeah, 8 year olds don't have cell phones. But that doesn't mean I don't have this thought once a week: Oh, I should ask SD if I can borrow her American Girl books when I talk to my class about indians next week. Oh it's a 8:30, she's probably asleep. Well I can just text. Wait, she doesn't have a cell phone. Oh well. I can just email her..... Nope. Can't do that either. Ugh. Why can't she just be fifteen already?!

Just kidding, I don't want her to be fifteen. But I do wish she was easier to get in touch with.

"Interjections .../ They're generally set apart from a sentence/ By an exclamation point/ Or a comma when the feeling's not as strong"

Commas. Oh how you are my nemesis.

I feel like I use WAY too many. Sometimes they are all I see on a page when I am editing. A comma here, a comma there, a comma everywhere.

And awesome MS Word makes it so that when you do a quote, it will autocorrect the comma into a period because it thinks it is the end of a sentence as opposed to something being spoken. So point being, I'm inserting a lot more commas into this thing.

I need to poke around MS Word and figure out how to stop the autocorrect cause it will surely drive me insane.

Book update (I KNOW!): I've physically edited the second half of the book. The pages all marked with sharpie and yellow highlighter. Now I'm going back and making all the changes on the word document. It's taking forever but I did make a lot of mistakes so it's okay. I want this thing to be perfect. So all in all, about 25% done with the editing process. That sort of makes me want to cry. But instead I'll just keep highlighting, deleting, and typing so I bump up to 26% by the end of this Starbucks session.

"It's all that I want and it's all that I need/ At Hogwarts, Hogwarts/ I think I'm going back"

Ummmm so who is freaking excited for part one of the last Harry Potter movies to come out?! Me, me, me, ME!!!!!

Oh how that book series affected so many lives and it is far superior to Twilight. I'll admit the last HP movie was a little lacking but this last one looks pretty epic. My brother JP and I have seen the last few movies together so he, my sister-in-law KP, and I are planning on seeing it over Thanksgiving break. Woo!

Although I gotta say, after watching A Very Potter Musical and Sequel, DanRad just doesn't do it for me anymore. Or Rup. Or Emma. It's all about Darren, Joey, and Bonnie. And it will be really hard to see Darco played by a boy and Snape not wearing eyeliner and not have them break into song every few minutes. I know the majority of you have no idea what I am talking about but man on man, AVPM and AVPS are totally awesome.

"Cause you're everywhere to me/ And when I close my eyes it's you I see"

Woah. Almost forgot to do a post today. I literally just had to crawl out of my warm bed to get up and write this. That's how committed I am. And yeah, I was in bed at 10:09, what about it? You know why? Cause kids are exhausting. And they are even more exhausting as you slowly start to realize that children are everywhere.

Seriously. All day at work. My billion nieces and nephew. But those are obvious ones. It's when you're standing in line at Panera and the little boy with his mom in front of you is smiling at you. Or the little girl in her mom's cart at Target who is closer to eye level staring you down in the checkout line. Or the little kid at Yogli Mogli pitching a fit because he wants to seat at the one spot at a table that is sans-chair. His older siblings just tell him to sit in the spot that does have a chair but noooo the little boy has to sit in that exact spot or his world will come crashing down. So you push the extra chair at your table over to the empty spot to remedy the situation. He's happy. I'm happy. Everyone's happy.

Yes, I've also become quite the problem-solver and this job is erasing the lazy right out of me.... for the most part.

And sometimes I forgot I am not at work and start to correct kids I don't know. Whoops. Like at my sister's halloween neighborhood party where I saw a kid chuck a broom at another kid's face and I yelled out, "HEY! How about you don't do that again, sweetie?" in my you're-about-to-get-it voice. Oopsies.

Okay! Off to bed where I am sure I will either dream about an post-apocalyptic world where I am somehow still in charge of my kids and have to keep them alive or dream there are children in my room and I apparently told the parents they could sleep over.

"I wanna be a billionaire so freaking bad/ Buy all of the things I never had"

So I fully admit I'm a little obsessed with Borders these days. I mean, they send me a coupon every week! And now that the holidays are rapidly approaching, they are popping up even more frequently in my inbox. So I print it out and skip on over to Borders to get a brand new shiny book. The only problem is... uhh... sometimes there isn't a particular book that I want. Isn't part of the fun of bookstores browsing? I also fully admit I spend my time in the Young Adult section so it's just interesting what actually makes you pick up a book.

1. The Title: The Mockingbirds, The Summer I Turned Pretty, One Night that Changes Everything, Twenty Boy Summer. These are all titles that prompted me to pick them up, scan the back, become intrigued and later purchase them. But another factor along with the title is...

2. The Cover. I know, I know. Don't judge a book by it's cover but its hard not to. Eye catching ones obviously live up to their purpose, it makes you want to see what it could be about. This is one that prompted me to pick up it cause of the fun cover:

Cute title, pretty cover, not a great book. It was written either in verse or a really long text message alternating between two girls' points of view. Not awful but not exactly a page-turner either. Now this one....

Simple yet intriguing cover. Granted I feel like this one has a bit more clout with the name John Green and the awards and whatnot. I really loved this one. It was one of those boys where I sort of wanted to sob the entire time I read it but I wasn't really sure why. Firefly Lane and The Guernsey Potato Peel Pie Society have also had this effect on me.

And last but not least...

3. The Author. I went in with the intention of buying another book by Lauren Barnholdt because I liked her style and thought she was funny. Then I found two books I've been wanting on the Buy One, Get One 50% Off table (I think my true issue is that in my head I think of it as buy one/get one free. Must correct that) and then I was perusing the shelves on my way towards the checkout when I a name caught my eye: Risa Green. Notes from the Underbelly is quite possibly the funniest book I've ever read. I was laughing so hard that I was physically weak and could not hold up the book. Hilarious. And there she was in the YA section with a new book: The Secret Society of the Pink Crystal Ball! I barely glanced at the blurb before grabbing it and all but running to the cashier. I'm in the middle of that one, let you know how it goes.

See? I go in with good intentions. A coupon for 33% off any one item but then I see books by authors I like, or with pretty covers, or an interesting title and I'm done for.

"Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead"

I’m going to try my hand at book reviews. But I sort of hate book reviews so let’s call these book opinions:

You already know I prefer YA fiction, so let’s start off with the Pretty Little Liars series by Sara Shepard. I once professed my love for a particular ABC Family show, but when I started seeing promos for the new series I scoffed. Seriously? Some girls killed their friend? Aren’t there like fifty teenage horror movies about this? How can this be a series? But then they threw in the song "Secrets" by One Republic and my opinion was swayed from “awful” to “perhaps promising”. Then I watched the pilot and... well... I sorta, kinda liked it. And then I watched every episode that aired after that. Well when the “summer season” ended with a killer cliffhanger, I was really torn. Do I read the books and potentially ruin the series? Or do I wait in agony for however long until the show returns (January!) as well as how many seasons it could possibly last? Obviously I opted for the former.

And lucky for me, good old Borders was capitalizing on the success of the show and offering Buy One, Get One 50% off. So I maybe purchased four at once. Which I realize was a risk in the event I didn’t like the first book, but oh it was worth it (and later, I kicked myself for not buying all eight since I got the last four at full price).

Synopsis thanks to Wikipedia: The series follows the lives of four girls -Aria, Emily, Hanna, and Spencer-whose clique falls apart after the disappearance of their leader, Alison. One year later, they begin receiving various messages from someone using the name "A" who threatens to expose their secrets — including long-hidden ones they thought only Alison knew.

Pros:

-Shepard is amazing at cliffhangers. Even if you thought that particular book was only so-so, the ending (or perhaps lack of) would force you pick up the next one because you just had to know what happens next.

-I thought she did a good job at fleshing out each girl and making her distinct and unique. Sure some of them fell into stereotypical roles but isn’t that expected in high school?

- She also succeeded at making each girl likable. Even though I thought Emily was insufferable throughout the series since she was so wishy-washy at least she usually had good (if not slightly moronic) intentions. But I was Team Aria, Spencer, and Hanna at different points during the series.

Cons:

-I found it hilarious that these girls all chain-smoked in the first four books but she clearly started getting more popular and some parents groups were on her case about it. So evidently the girls apparently all got the patch or some gum cause the frequent mentions disappeared by the fourth or fifth book.

-These girls are all rich. I get it. You don’t have to tell me every designer they are wearing or carrying. She would even tell you who made the coffee table, sofa, even a lamp. Boring.

-Every single outfit a girl wore in the last two books was a “sheath”. Seriously, just say dress!

-It sucked that characters that were HUGE in the first two books (Wren and Mr. Fitts particularly) just disappeared into thin air after the second or third book. I’m guessing she didn’t realize she was going to be able to crank 8 books out of this idea but really, why include them at all? I thought maybe they’d pop up in the last book but nope. She totally Waaaaaaaaaalt-ed them (that’s LOST speak for you noobs).

All in all: B+ for the series. The last book sort of sucked just because the conclusion was something that seemed invented/convenient as opposed to something that actually made sense or had been hinted at all along. However; was it addicting? Yes. Did I stay up til 4 am when I had work the next day to finish a book? Yes. Did I choose to read as opposed to watch TV or YouTube? Yes. And these are great indicators of a good book. And at the very least, watch the show on ABC Family!

"You were all by yourself/ Staring up at a dark grey sky/ ... The moment I saw you cry"

"Sometimes I just get tears in my eyes when people cry in movies." -My seven year old niece MG. Me too, MG, me too. She said this extremely teary-eyed (/apologetic) during Ramona and Beezus. Not going lie--I had only been watching for the last thirty minutes of the movie and I was quite choked up myself.

I'm like MG. If anyone cries in any situation, I get rather choked up. I don't know when I became this way that I tear up during a freaking Johnson & Johnson commercial (They are pledging to their unborn/newborn babies!! It's precious!), but it can get rather embarrassing in public situations like movie theaters.

The movies that without a doubt can make me tear up are:

-The Blind Side. During the scene where Micheal Oher was collecting half-eaten bags of popcorn in the gym, my sister turned to me and said "This is the saddest movie I have ever seen" and we were only like 35 minutes in.

-Remember the Titans. Four words: Left side, strong side. SOB.

-We are Marshall. This wins the award for making me break down in the first ten minutes. Congrats for the additional twenty sobs. And it was Matthew Freaking Mcconaughey! Matthew Fox, sure, but Mcconaughey. I'm such a wuss.

Hmm... I'm seeing a pattern here. Football brings out the tears. Ironic since it's such a manly sport.

But in non-sport related movies:

-Up. Another one where I lost it ten minutes in thanks to the marriage sequence. I also blame this on Michael Giacchino's score. He's also the reason why I cried during more episodes of LOST than I care to admit (75).

- A Walk to Remember and The Notebook. But Nicholas Sparks can make me sob merely through his words so movies derived from his novels shouldn't come as a surprise.

- Titanic. The original tear jerker. Well I'll surely never let go, Jack.

- Marley and Me. Holy crap. You knew the movie wasn't going to (spoiler alert) end well. I mean you saw it coming from a mile away and I still broke down every single time Marley got sick and when the inevitable happened. I also read the book after seeing the movie and cried like a baby too. Really anytime Jennifer Aniston cries. I don't know what it is about her, but I feel for her.

Oh and apparently we can add Ramona and Beezus to the list. Well the last thirty minutes at least.

"I said it's great to be a Georgia Bulldog"

I'm not a fairweathered fan. I'm sticking by my team through thick and thin. Sure we haven't had a great season(s) but we're improving. I'm seeing great things in Murray and AJ Green still has my heart. I have high hopes for the rest for the rest of this season (you know, the last game) and next year. I think Richt is sticking around.

At the end of the day, we put up a good fight against a team that is undefeated and this is arguably our worst season in recent memory. AJ Green was excellent, Chapas made some good catches, always love Durham, and Murray is getting more confidence and better with each game.

Go dawgs!!!! Sic em!

Plus it will eventually be a win when Auburn has to forfeit all their wins thanks to Newton and his daddy. I didn't think I could hate a player more than Tebow but then Newton came into my life. And good to see that he had a few extra hundreds laying around to pay off the refs. Because that one touchdown certainly did not count.

"I'm only fooling myself/ ... But maybe when you smile/ It means you'd stay a while"

You would think being the youngest of five that I would have a tough skin about being teased because I had four siblings to harass me growing up. It's actually quite the opposite-- I can't handle it and hate it when I'm teased/left out of the joke/ whatever. So it's very hard for me to laugh at myself. But I'm getting better at it! Example:

A few weeks ago I was walking into Target behind a woman and couple of teenagers were a ways behind me. I was walking just closely enough behind the woman that the automatic door sensor apparently didn't pick up on my presence (or I'm just that thin. Kidding! I wish). So as I'm walking in, the doors start to close even though hey, I'm walking here. And I think, well they are going to reopen right? As I have this thought, the doors continue to shut and I actually had to pull my head back as not to get my nose pinched in the doors. Awesome. Like I said, there were these teenagers behind me but I had to take a few steps back to activate the sensor. It was rather embarrassing but I just said with a feigned hurt voice "It rejected me." a la Stuart from MadTV. They laughed. I laughed. I grew up a tiny bit. Yeah for improvement!

Almost missed today! 5/5 bloggities. :)

"And I won't forget the men who died/ Who gave that right to me"

Happy Veteran's Day! It seems only appropriate that today I profess my love for the masterpiece that is Band of Brothers. Everyone in my family has ragged on me for not watching this miniseries before. But back when it was actually on tv oh ten years ago, we had to record it on a VHS (old school!) for my brother and I happened to see the one part where a guy is run over by a tank. And I was DONE. Traumatized. Never watching it. Ever.

I don't know what made me come around a few months ago but something did and I watched it and I LOVED it. Not just LOVED it but loved loved loved loved LOVED it. It is SO good. The interviews with the real life older men made me cry every single time. I want meet Dick Winters! But sadly he is no longer accepting fan mail. Sigh. But he is amazing as is every other member of Easy Company and any other man or woman who has donated their services to our country and defended our freedom. Thank you!

Now Hanks and Spielberg teamed up again to document WW2 from the other side of the world for The Pacific. Of course we would cancel our HBO subscription mere weeks before it aired. And just the other day I thought, "Man I wonder when that is going to come out on DVD?" because I'm still so early 2000s where I think it takes almost a year for stuff to pop up on dvd/video (do they even make VHSs anymore? seriously?). But what did I happen to see at Borders when I was shopping the other day (hey neighbor JPT :) )? The Pacific now on dvd? Did I have to resist the urge to buy it right then and there? Yes. Did I risk being late to work to run over to Target to see if it was on sale during the first week of release? Yes, yes I did. Did I miss the first week of release by a day and surely miss out on a sweet deal? Yes, yes I did.

But when I bought my own copy of Band of Brothers a few months ago, I also got Part One of the Pacific as a fun bonus/incentive. Perhaps I shall watch it and judge if I should buy it all. That sounds like a plan. But knowing me, I am going to love it. But I'm okay with that.

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas"

You know how some people hate the Christmas decorations are popping up already? I'm not one of those people. Before Halloween, tacky, but right now, I'm okay with it!

I went shopping at one of those fancy outdoor malls today and they had busted out the decorations. Huge red, shiny ornaments, wreaths everything... love it! My family used to live in Tucker and you knew it was Christmas time when they put the tinsel/light combination decorations in the shape of candles, wreaths, and snowflakes on the telephone poles. And I saw one in a shopping center on my way home from work the other day! Ah, nostalgia.

I think college kind of kills Christmas for you. Because the few weeks before Christmas you are hunched over textbooks, downing coffee, and either taking exam after exam or playing the horrible waiting game until your one. You can't do much with your friends cause you all have exams on different days and obviously you're away from your family. And then even when finals and papers are all done, you are absolutely spent. And then you have to find time in the few days before the actual holiday to shop for your million relatives (if you're like me). Plus these days, you only get like 2 weeks off when I swear my siblings were home for two MONTHS when I was in elementary school. Maybe it was switching from quarters to semesters but still. Of course it would change when I finally get to college. So, yeah, college kind of killed Christmas for me.

And Christmas kind of sucked last year even though I was done with college. Which meant I was unemployed and broke and had no way of buying presents for my family. I felt awful not being able to so I feel like I never really got into the Christmas spirit. But I've got a job this year and I am getting so excited (plus all my family will be here since my sister and her family are moving back to Atlanta after being in Seattle for the last two years! YAY!) but I feel like I need to hold off until at least after Christmas.

And maybe since I already did my lesson plans for December and I know how we are going to have a Jelly Bean Day and decorate christmas cookies and make milk carton gingerbread houses I am already in that state of mind. All I know is, I can't wait to break out the Charlie Brown Christmas cd to listen to while the kids have free time. Woo hoo!

Sort of a random post but I'm a little tired and still wanted to stick to my goal. 3/3!

"We'll be young forever/ You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream"

Oh ye of little faith. You thought I couldn't do it huh? But I'm back, baby!

Like I said, the reason I am not writing as much is because I am literally exhausted at any given point during the day. But I really am enjoying my job. I complain about issues with the kids but I am trying to remember that they are three years old and not little teenagers. Because in between wiping booties, cleaning off boogers, smelling little kid toots ALL day, and telling the kids to stop running/ spitting/ screaming, etc, there are some pretty cute moments that make it worth it.

My job is at a church so the kids have a bible verse to learn every month. And let me tell you, these kids have it down by the second or third day of going over it. Last month's was, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. Deuteronomy 31:6" and some of my kids use it in everyday life. One of the moms told me that there was a scarily decorated house on Halloween and her husband wanted to take at least their older son trick or treating there. One of my threes said she wanted to go too but the mom told her she would be too scared. And the girl busted out, "But mom! Remember! Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid. Deuteronomy 31:6." Real world application people! And yes, she did go to the house but apparently it was really scary and she and the older brother high tailed it out of there. Still, A for effort.

Oh same little girl, different story: Her one year old sister was fussing one morning and she apparently said, "Don't worry mom, I got this. Bring it down, sis. Bring it down" *along with downward hand motions*. At least I'm not screaming at them to shut up, right?

One day I was trying to teach my kids something, probably opposites or rhyming, I don't remember. But whatever it was, they were doing a good job at understanding it. So sometimes I am delirious and enthusiastic and make a BIG deal of them getting stuff right. So I jokingly told them we should just march right next door and put them in the Pre-K cause they are clearly too smart for my little threes class. One little boy said "No! We don't want to! We want to be in your class!" It was very sweet. They also told me today, most of them still want to be in my class when they are twenty-five years old. Awww.

Another little girl constantly tells me that I'm "still her best friend". Even when she told me the very first time, it was "still", but I'll take it.

And last but not least: the other day, a little girl yelled out from her position on the potty, "Ms Annie!" I was literally reaching for the "wipies" as I asked her "What?" and got a very unexpected response: "I just love you so much" she called back. The girl I work with looked at me and said, "Those are the moments that you'll remember forever." And I will. Especially since I wrote it down in this post. :)

Two bonus potty quotes:

Me: Guys, you've really GOT to stop with the spitting. I can't take it anymore.

K (without missing a beat): And the tooting.

One kid's, ahem poopy, is frequently a shade of a unique color.

Me (muttering to myself as I wipe them): What in the world could you possibly have eaten?

Little kid (very matter of fact): Pickles.

"Please don't be in love with someone else/ Please don't have somebody waiting on you"

The book I finished reading today had a kid in it who talked about blogging a lot. This reminded me of my little blog that has pretty much been all but abandoned these last few months. I'm sorry but honestly I am exhausted 24/7. However I am going to try harder to get back into writing on here. I want to make a big gesture and say a post a day for 30 days but I don't know if I can commit that much. But it's my over-the-top-goal. Plus, I am getting back into editing the book so maybe that will help me want to write on here as well.

So as a baby step back into the blogging world, in the final few hours of this Monday, I present a Music Monday! Woo! Woo! Five songs currently on repeat on my iPod:

1. I Was Wrong -Sleeperstar. I'm a music supervisor's dream. I fall for songs all the time cause they are used on these teen shows and they just fit the moment SO perfectly that I become obsessed and practically trip over my feet running to the computer to download it. This was used on the latest episode of The Vampire Diaries. Say what you will, but that show is awesome. And this scene. Sigh. Ian Somerhalder deserves an Emmy. The single tear. The emotional swell in the music. Sigh. I love him. And, you know, the show too. But really him. He may have finally swayed me to Team Damon. I know, I was shocked too.

2. Enchanted -Taylor Swift. I was extremely excited for Taylor's third album and this is the standout favorite in my approximately 100 listens thus far. But I also love Haunted, Better Than Revenge, and Innocent. Pretty much 9-12 on the album are golden.

3. Dancing On My Own -Robyn. Yeaaaahhh.... it might have been used on Gossip Girl. Whoops. I'm a sucker for the CW apparently.

4. The Ballad of You and I -Melee. This was either a Single of the Week on iTunes, a Starbucks pick, or a Discovery Download on the iPhone. Either way, I got it for free and I am LOVING it. It's a band I might be willing to take a risk on and download the entire album. But I freaking love this song this much that it bodes well for the rest of the songs.

5. I am preemptively saying "Teenage Dream" by Glee feat. Darren Criss on tomorrow's episode. I don't listen to them before the episode airs cause that's like reading the ending of the book first. You gotta save the best for last. But based on last week's preview, it's gonna be totally awesome. Speaking of totally awesome, Darren Criss was the star of A Very Potter Musical and Sequel on Youtube. I already professed my love once but the kid kind of blows Daniel Radcliffe out of the water. I luff him. He is amazing and I may have shrieked when I learned via Twitter that he was going to be on Glee. And while I fought liking Teenage Dream by Katy Perry for a long time, I eventually had to give in. And I am rather obsessed but Darren's version might take the cake. We shall see.

Okay, that wasn't so hard. See you tomorrow.... hopefully! :)