So as I was trying to finish typing the previous blog on my laptop, I had a helper...

Last Friday was the last school day before Valentine's day, so Tim sent me flowers that were delivered during 2nd period.  They hadn't bloomed yet, so I didn't get to enjoy them until Sunday.

This past weekend, Tim and I went to Sugarland.  We had bought Austin tickets to see Jim Gaffigan for Christmas and the show was Friday night.  He is hilarious and I highly recommend seeing his show if you get a chance.

Saturday, we planned to possibly go to some museums, but ended up staying home and watching Couple's Retreat.  That night, it was Cole's birthday, so we went over to Fifi's house for cake and presents.  It was nice to see everyone, but the best part was watching the old movies from when my dad and aunt (Fifi) were little kids.  They were so cool!

Sunday, Tim and I went back to College Station, because he had made reservations for Valentine's dinner.  He only told me that "it's somewhere we haven't been in awhile".  I had an idea and was right: Café Excell.  The food was great and we were starving by 8:30, so that made it even more delicious.  I had a chicken, garlic, rosemary pasta and Tim had salmon with asparagus and potatoes.  Yum!

Before we went back to College Station on Sunday, we went to the mall in Sugarland to get each other Valentine presents.  We both picked out something from the Fossil store.  I picked out the red "love" bracelet and Tim picked out the sunglasses he's wearing below. 

Other than that, not much is going on.  Tim has some tennis this week, as it is finally starting back up at the Christmas break. 

I'm excited about Saturday, because I will be a chaperone to SFASU with the AVID students.  AVID is an organization for students who will be first generation college-goers in their family.  I have quite a few AVID students and I was actually awarded "AVID Teacher of the Week" today!  So, I'm very excited to go back to Stephen F. Austin, because I haven't been back since I graduated! 

 I will definitely update the blog after this weekend!

I have been a bad blogger lately, but its hard to force myself to use the desktop computer when I have an iPhone. If I could easily blog from my iPhone, that would be amazing!

So, today is a typical Sunday morning. Our routine is to wake up early by the sound of Kye pawing at the door, ready to be fed. So, one of us gets up to feed him and at that point it's hard to go back to sleep. Tim starts a load of laundry as I make some coffee and grab the newspapers. Today's Houston Chronicle is the start of a new section that I'm pretty excited about: The Good Life. It is basically a combination of fashion, travel, home, etc. Sounds like my kind of section!

So, we enjoy our papers and coffee, then make something for breakfast. This morning we had breakfast sandwiches: a biscuit with a poached egg, bacon, and cheese. They are pretty good.

Kye has unfortunately been sick the last two days. Apparently it is not good to feed cats ONLY dry food and tap water. They also have to have some wet food and should be drinking distilled water. Now Kye has what is like a bladder infection. Poor thing. He doesn't act like he's in pain, but he feels like he has to go to the bathroom a million times a day, when really he doesn't. The vet said there's nothing to worry about, and it happens fairly regularly, as the minerals in our tap water are the main cause of the problem. If, however, he becomes totally blocked and can't go to the bathroom at all, then we have a problem. His new diet should resolve this issue, though, and now we know what we should have been doing all along! Luckily, Kye really likes his wet food, as the vet said cats sometimes don't. We also recently grew a plant for Kye. We bought the kit at Target, and its supposed to be something cats like to chew on, and it's definitely true. When we finally gave it to him after letting it grow for awhile, he chewed at it for a long time.

Well, I just thought I would update, seeing as I hadn't in a LONG time. I wish I could get Tim to write more for the blog... He's worse than me!

Well, since the last post we've had Halloween, Tim's birthday, and Thanksgiving!

Our first Halloween in the new house went well. We put up some Halloween lights outside and had about 20 trick-or-treaters. Then, we went to Justin's house for the Halloween party. Tim and I were "hippies" and we had spent the morning of Halloween tye-dyeing our shirts (and Tim even made signs) !

Here are some pictures from Halloween.

Ted, Courtney, Tim, and the Stettlers.

Bryan and Justin.


Tim and I.

Tim's birthday also went well. We spent the morning getting him a new iPhone. Then, that afternoon we went to see his family at his brother's house. His parents were there, so we got to see them, his brother and sister-in-law and our nephews and niece, Calvin, Travis, and Claire. So, we chatted awhile outside and Tim and I played Calving and Travis in basketball. We won, but barely! Then, we all went to eat at a Mexican restaurant, then Tim and I headed back home.

Here are a few pictures and videos.

Tim opening presents.

Kye loves playing with the boxes and wrapping paper!

Tim, Claire and Travis with their rabbit!

Cindy, Claire, Travis, and Calvin with the birthday cake.

Claire!

Singing "Happy Birthday" with Tim's family.



Calvin, Travis, and Claire.

Tim's birthday cake at my parents' house.

As for Thanksgiving, we went to Sugarland to stay with my family. Thanksgiving day we ate at Boppa and Grandfather's, as always. Also, every year they ask us to make a Christmas list and we can never think of what to put, so we don't do it. This year, Boppa asked us for a list again, so Sydney and I decided we should actually make a list. So, Syd, Tim and I spent the night before Thanksgiving searching online for everything we could think of and we each composed a Christmas list with pictures, stores, and prices. It was actually kinda fun to do, so maybe we'll do it every year. Austin, however, didn't participate. He could only think of 4 and a half things that he would want. The half being something he's not sure about! haha So after eating, we went back to my parents and began putting up Christmas stuff. We had to stop, of course, when the Aggie-Longhorn game came on. If you don't know, Tim is an Aggie and my dad is a Longhorn, and this year the Longhorn's won. The day after Thanksgiving Mom had to work bright and early for Black Friday. Dad, Syd, and I put up the lights outside. We ended up covering all the bushes with lights, rather than the trees and it ended up really good. Then, Tim and I went back to College Station on Sunday.

I spend Sunday night putting up most of our Christmas decorations. Things went downhill from there. Monday morning, Tim and I went to school as usual, but before 1st period even started Tim was in so much pain that he had to go home. He made an appointment with the doctor for the next day. I stayed at school Monday, but took a half day on Tuesday so I could take him to the doctor. He right leg was in so much pain that he could barely walk or even stand up. We go to the doctor and he takes X-Rays to find nothing wrong with the actual hip, so he assumes it a nerve problem (which is what we had thought) and prescribes him 3 medicines (something for the nerve, the muscle, and a steroid). Tim and I took the rest of the week off and Wednesday goes by with no results from the medicine and he is still in a huge amount of pain. We decide to make him an appointment with a chiropractor. Thursday morning, we go to the chiropractor and after him moving Tim's leg for less than a minute, he immediately knows what's wrong: a herniated disc. He has a slipped disc that is pressing on his nerve, sending constant pain throughout his right leg. He told us to keep an ice pack on it at all times and to do a leg exercise twice a day for an hour and a half each time. He had us make an appointment for Monday morning to check the progress and said if it gets significantly worse, go to the ER. Luckily, Tim has felt slightly better, so it looks like things are working. Hopefully the next 2 days will go well and we'll have good news on Monday. There are only 2 weeks of school left until Christmas break, but hopefully Tim will make it back to work sometime next week.

I will update later once we go back to the chiropractor on Monday.

As for today, it was supposed to snow, but we only got a few drops, while the rest of Texas (almost) got at least an inch of snow! Not fair!

Here is a picture of our fireplace and Kye with the Christmas tree!

Tim is at darts tonight, as he is every Wednesday, so I thought I'd update the blog!

Work has been about the same as always, nothing too exciting happening. The past couple weekends have been busy. We saw Where the Wild Things Are and also Zombieland.

Where the Wild Things Are was interesting and very strange. I wouldn't say I disliked it, but I wouldn't say that I loved it either. It had some good parts, but was overall less than exciting. Tim described it as "creepy" and Justin said "Maybe it would have been better if I wasn't tired." We had gone to see it after school on a Friday, so the slow parts made us even sleepier!

This past weekend, we went to the Bryan High football game, yawn. Football, to me, is just not entertaining. Unless its a back-and-forth close game, I don't really care to watch and that was definitely the case on Friday. The cold didn't help either. It was comfortable at first, but slowly got colder and colder as the night progressed. My favorite part of the game was watching the drum-line entertain the crowd. I have 3 students in the drum-line and they are awesome.

Then, on Saturday we saw Zombieland with the Stettlers and Garcia. It was great for a zombie movie. It was exactly what I expected: funny, gross and entertaining. Tim definitely liked the movie, but he really likes movies like that; ie Shaun of the Dead.

Saturday, we also went to Lowe's for some tools for the house, but mostly for the yard. We got a blower for the leaves, which is SO much more effective than sweeping, go figure! We also got a tree limb cutter. Its amazing how much better the trees look once they are trimmed. Next, we want to tackle the front walkway. The previous owners did zero lawn work, so the front walkway is just a mess. We don't even know where to start or what to do, but it would just be nice to have a less-ugly entrance.

Yesterday, we took Kye to the vet for his shot updates. He's very laid back, so it didn't bother him to take a trip. Everything went fine, but he has gained a little too much weight since his last visit. The vet said "he just shouldn't gain any more" and the recommended instructions for Kye were "diet and exercise"! haha We already knew Kye was getting a little chubby, so it wasn't a surprise. Kye's dad likes to give him more food than I do, so we got a measuring cup to make sure that he gets the right amount of food and can't cheat for a little extra.

Anyways, I will update again soon. In the mean time, any Halloween costume suggestions would be highly appreciated! We are going to Justin's but have no idea what to wear! Help!

It seems like the only time to update the blog is on weekends, so here we go. I can't believe it's already October and almost Halloween! Before you know it Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here! Can't wait!

So, work has been pretty busy. I am on the iSupport team, which is basically a group of teachers from each department who help out with technology. We, as teachers, are required to do a certain amount of technology training each year, so as a member of the iSupport team, I will train the LOTE (Languages Other Than English) department. This year they are requiring us to have working websites with a certain amount of info (ie Course Outlines, Syllabus, etc...) and the students all received working FirstClass accounts, so there is a lot of technology changes this year. With the students having access to FirstClass, they now have a means of easily emailing teachers and students. When they log on, they have their 7 class folders and in each folder they can find assignments, post questions/comments to the class, turn in assignments, and see a calendar with any tests/etc. that are upcoming. They also have a Student Conference where they can post things to the whole school and have access to any info about clubs/sports/etc. It's a pretty cool thing to have and I have taken full advantage of it. I already post all the notes and assignments we do, I use the calendar, and my students are having fun emailing me back and forth in French. Unfortunately, not all teachers (ahem TIM) haven't been using it!

Also, as part of the tech iSupport team, I received an AirLiner. An Airliner (using Bluetooth) connects to my laptop and I can control the laptop an do other things without having to be sitting next to my computer. Its pretty nice because I can use a Keynote presentation or anything else and be able to add text, draw shapes, pull up a link from the internet, etc. while still walking around class to keep the kids on task.

As for Tim, Varsity tennis is almost over. No playoffs because they'll finish with a losing record in District. The team is inexperienced and young so that bodes well for next year. The JV and Freshman are now in full swing. On Sat. the 17th they traveled to Killeen Harker Heights and Copperas Cove. The Vikings were on the short end of a very long stick. Nine wins to about fifty losses combined between playing the two schools. The JV and Freshman have a lot of improving to do if they want to someday help us on Varsity. There are only three more matches left for the JV and Freshman during the Fall season. One tournament in BCS then one each in Georgetown and Round Rock Westwood.

Kye is enjoying the Fall weather and his spiders. He has taken a liking to the decorative Halloween spiders we put out. He plays with them until they get stuck under something. Then he goes and finds another one. Here's a video of Kye, once he noticed the spiders were out.

Kye is also enjoying our new 40" LCD TV. He really likes the Animal Planet Channel. He even tried to catch some kangeroos as they traveled off the scene. He just didn't understand where they went. He also has an obsession with birds. Anytime they come on screen he really pays attention. We're thinking about getting a DVD of just birds for him--Kye TV. Here is a video of Kye and the new TV.

Right now he is being lazy and laying flat on the floor. He sure looks chubby. He's definitely not a little kitten anymore.

Here are some pictures of Fall/Halloween decor.

Last weekend, we also went to Sugarland for the long Columbus Day weekend. Austin and Sydney had school on Monday, so Mom and us, we went shopping for new bedding for our room. Here is a picture of our new stuff from West Elm and Pottery Barn and another of Kye on the new bedding.

Well, Tim and I just finished making Chi Dogs (Chili-Cheese Hot-Dogs), so we are going to eat dinner! Bye for now!

It's been awhile since our last blog, so a lot has happened. My family came down about a month ago for my birthday. We (teachers) had already started school, so Sydney and Mom helped organize my class a little bit. We also went down to Northgate to find Sydney some TOMS at the vintage clothing store... No such luck. We ate out at Texas Roadhouse and I opened my presents: PB pillows for the couch, a black dress, leopard BCBG shoes, and from Tim, an iPhone and a gift certificate to a spa. Here are some pictures from my birthday weekend:

Syd, Austin, Me, Tim: pancake birthday breakfast.

Syd & I at the Northgate vintage clothing store.

Me, Beazly, and Tim, opening presents.

Syd at Dixie Chicken (Northgate).

The next weekend, Boppa & Grandfather came up to see the house and take us out to lunch for my birthday. We ate at Eccell Steakhouse. The service was a little slow and one of our side dishes was cold, so they didn't charge us for it, but other than that, our steaks were really good and it was good to see them!

Here is me and Kye on that day. (With my new birthday dress that my family got me).

Other than that, we haven't been up to much else. Since school has started back up, that takes up most of our time.

Tim's schedule this year is the same as always:

1st: Freshman Tennis
2nd-5th: Government

7th: Conference

As for me, my schedule is crazy, of course:

1st: Conference

2nd: French 3, French 4, French IB

3rd: French 1

4th: French 1

5th: French 2 pre-AP

6th: French 2

7th: French 1

Seems normal, but 4th period is a class of about 50 students, therefore we did some improvising. We have the 2nd lunch, so Jan Krammer (our German teacher) takes half before lunch and we switch students after lunch. She obviously knows French, otherwise this wouldn't work, but it is a little confusing at times. Also, my 2nd period is a mix of French 3, 4, and IB, and as of right now, we have no books, so that is slightly annoying. I can easily manage and create lessons and work, but it would be nice to have our textbooks. We were supposed to have them before school started, but there was an ordering issue, and it didn't work out. Our IB coordinator placed the new order on Friday, so hopefully we will soon have books!

Tim's classes are fairly normal....HUGE. He has about 30 students per class, which is way too many. It's a senior class, however, so in theory they are more well-behaved and can handle being in large classes.

This past week, our school was doing TAKS benchmark tests from Wednesday-Friday. This was for Freshman-Juniors, because Seniors have already finished with TAKS. I was in my classroom giving the sophomores (last name C's) their benchmark. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised, because they took it pretty seriously. This is the first time we have done this at Bryan High (since I've been here) and considering the students knew that these tests had NO effect on their grade, they actually did good. I expected them to come and goof off, knowing it wouldn't matter, but no!

Tim, on the other hand, didn't have to give the tests, because he teaches a Senior class. They had classes like "normal"... That is, he was moved into a different classroom to teach, and he also had to "babysit" seniors 1st period who didn't have a class to go to.

Overall, the testing went fine. Unfortunately, from having a room full of kids, 10 of which were sick, I also got sick. Yesterday and today, I've felt pretty crappy with a sore throat and congestion. Tim is also feeling under the weather. I wont blame the kids for sure, because we did get our flu shot, so the sickness might be a side effect... Who knows.

In better school news, each week for football season, we have a "spirit day". They range from 50's attire to Crazy Tie to Camo.... And sure enough, Tim was the Camo Day spirit winner.

Here is his picture from Camo Day. (It is hard to tell, but it a full camo suit, complete with leaves.)

Well, I will leave it at that for now. Tim is in Waco for tennis and I'm trying to clean up and do some laundry. I will try to keep up better with blogging... Sorry!