Mirrors for my Dance Room

Hi blog followers. I realize that I havent posted since tue beginning of the school year, but that's because I have had an insane year! I coach cheerleading an it's football season, so that takes up most of my time. And I'm teaching 10th grade English, which I love, but it takes so much time. AND I'm teaching ELD, which takes endless energy. And then, I'm teaching 1 section of a brand new dance class. It's SO MUCH fun, but so much work!

Anyway, the point of this post is to beg. Unfortunately the state of public eduarion is that we don't get any money for anything. I started the dance class on the grass. 2 girls were stung by bees. I was given an empty room, so I'm trying to turn it into a "dance studio". I got some posters from dance stores to put on the walls and bought some shelves and a speaker. Now I need mirror but have exactly $zero to pay for it. I've set up a way to allow anyone to help out. Pretty please? With sugar on top and some low-income-dancers? :)

Www.donorschoose.org/MrsBrownell

Thank you in advance! Spread the word!!! These are amazing kids who deserve te chance to dance dance dance!!!

Welcome back to School....

So apparently, I don't post when I'm in school. 

School started last week.  :/ I'm super tired, and a little overwhelmed.  I'm teaching 1-10th Grade English class, 2-ELD 3 classes, 1-Dance class, and 1-Cheer class.  I feel a little spoiled with my schedule, and I ACTUALLY HAVE A CONFERENCE PERIOD this year! yipee!  I have accomplished SO MUCH during my first few conference periods. It's amazing.

The first few days of school kind of suck.  I don't know anyone's name, so when they act like butt-heads, I have to point and or just let it slide.  Once I learn everyone's name, it'll be a lot easier.  Can't wait!

Here's a little taste of the first day of school:

Swastika or field hockey sticks.  You tell me?

End of Summer Village Party!

I've blogged about the Village Parties before.  They are beyond amazing.  It's like going to a club, but in my complex and the food is free.  Best. Club. Ever.

This time, the passed appetizers were AMAZING. They were doing "deconstructed" versions of all sorts of foods.  And everything was on sticks.  It was so cute and so clever.  At one point I was literally hunting down one of the waiters for the corn dog.  That makes me sound like a crazy person, but OMG it was ridiculously amazing.

On the left is a deconstructed "chicken and waffle."  These were Andrew's favorite, though he looks pre-ty happy with the corn dog on the right!

Here Andrew models a "Potato Tornado" (fried potato on a stick) and a "pastrami sandwhich (complete with mustard and pastrami) yummmm!

He clearly enjoyed the food.

Then we began the dancing.  I like to think of myself as a dance machine.  When I was in my early 20s I hated going dancing at a club.  I grew up dancing, so I felt weird without choreography.  Though, I would have probably felt weirder WITH choreography at a club. ha.  It took me a while to grow into my dance-machine-status, but now I'm on the dance floor until the very last song (with the exception of running off for corn-dogs).

haha. It looks like he dances like a zombie.
They  totally fill the floor  with smoke!

Obligatory sweaty dance picture

I clearly learned 2 VERY IMPORTANT lessons tonight.  1. I take a lot of pictures of my husband and of food and 2. if we take a picture together, it should CLEARLY be taken BEFORE the dancing!!!!

Becoming a Lady Who Lunches..

Though my lunches are rapidly coming to an end.  Summer is almost over BOOOOOOOOO!

Because my mom is an aide at a school, we get to hang during the summers.  Monday I had to head out to Laguna Beach to pick up Andrew's new glasses ('cause that's how we roll - eye doctors on the beach!), so I invited my mom for a day at the beach.

We decided to hit up Crystal Cove in Newport/Laguna area.  There are times when I COULDN'T LOVE So Cal more, and today was one of those days!  The area down on the beach is so cute - there are a bunch of little 1920's cottages that you can rent and there is one restaurant- The Beachcomber.  The day was fab and delish!

Welcome to the Club

Much to his chagrin, the husband has officially joined the coolest club around - the 4 eyes club!  I have been a faithful member of said club for over a decade.  I've worn glasses for so long and so regularly that I think I look weird without them (16 year old me would be MORTIFIED at that thought!!!).  I think Andrew looks very cute (always), but it's going to take me a minute to get used to it.  Getting old sucks!

Recycling in California

Andrew and I have been recycling plastic water bottles for about a year.  I even have a separate trash can for them.  The husband is like a giant fish tank that cannot never be filled.  He will literally drink 5 bottles of water every night.  Why not drink out of the sink, like a normal person, you ask?  Well, because Andrew says the water tastes funny.  We used to have filtered water in our fridge, but now our fridge doesn't have one, so it's just FILLED with bottled water.  Since we are paying a few cents for every bottle that we buy, we decided to start recycling them.  We've done it a few times, but every time we get like $5.00......so it was SO not worth it!  This time, Andrew said he wanted to wait until we had a bunch, and oh boy did we.....

Good thing the seats go down in the Prius!

We seriously looked like hobos carrying all of our bags downstairs.  I've been BEGGING to take them for WEEKS.  I was losing my mind with all these bags in the office closet.  Losing. My.  Mind.

So after all the work of collecting, bagging, storing, and taking it to the recycling plant, we made $19.37.  Worth it?

At least he's a cute hobo!

PS - At the recycling place TWO DIFFERENT Mexican men (that were there recycling) asked us if we were selling our dog?  Is this something normal that people do?  "I'm going to recycle today and maybe make some extra money by selling the family pet???"

Las Vegas Bachelorette Party

Not mine.  I've been married for years.  This was for a girl that I have literally known 20 years.  It BLOWS my mind to be able to say that about anyone, but it's true.  20 years.  Insane.  We used to dance together when we were little and she has a sister my sister's age, and another sister that is my brother's age (we used to always secretly hope that the 2 youngest would get married so we could be in-laws!).  So, Jessica is headed down the aisle, and we were headed to Vegas.

I've been to Vegas DOZENS of times.  It's only a 3.5ish hour drive from So Cal and husband is a poker player.  I've gone with just Andrew, I've gone with other couples, I've gone with friends.....but I have NEVER gone with just girls.  I was a little nervous since the only time I have been without Andrew was for a convention for work (with my sister) like 5 years ago.  I'm not much of a "girls-girl" so I was interested to see how it would go with them.  I love 4 of them (the bride, her 2 sisters, and my sister), but didn't know the other 3.  Also, I was the oldest and the only married one.....so I was worried about being fat and old.  Normal girl concerns........But, it went GREAT!

I'm not sure what's up with the demon eyes.  

I was told by my dear sister that I didn't have anything "Vegas-appropriate" to wear.  I'm a teacher, I wear teacher clothes.  On the weekends I wear knee-length skirts & dresses.  So I was on the hunt for something kind of whore-ish.  I think I succeeded (and then proceeded to spend quite a bit of time pulling down the skirt.....)

The outfit was Jenna approved  though she was upset that I was wearing wedge heels instead of spiky heels.  I figured if my legs (which haven't seen the light of day in a skirt in YEARS) were going to be out, then my feet were going to be comfortable!  The craziest part of it is that my skirt was not even CLOSE to the shortest in our group!!!!

We spent time at the pool at the Venetian, time at Tao Beach Club dancing, A LOT of time getting ready, eating, hanging out, going to dinner, drinking, and then dancing at The Bank at the Bellagio.  We even had table-service at The Bank.  I was a dance machine, until I had to start playing mom to all the drunk youngin's.

The ONLY negative was the incredible lack of sleep. They all drove out Friday, but Jenna didn't want to take the day off of work. So, we drove out Saturday morning (got up at 6:30 am). We didn't go to bed until 4:30 am the next morning (after a full day of drinking, and a full night of drinking and dancing).  Jenna took a nap, but I'm not a good nap person.  THEN, I got up at 7 am to start the drive home (I didn't want to sit in traffic.  Last time Jenna went it took her 7 hours to get home and I was unwilling to do that!).  So I slept about 2.5 hours in 36 hours. The drive home seemed to take forever since I was SO tired!  I took a 1 hour nap when I got home, but Andrew was actually home for once, so I didn't want to waste that time together!  I finally went to bed at 11 pm last night and woke up at 9 am totally rested.  phew!

It was my shortest trip to Vegas (a little less than 24 hours), my first trip with just girls and my first trip dressed like I'm 21.  For that many firsts, it had to be a good time! :)

Obligatory Sweaty club picture

 *All my pictures suck.  The pictures on one of the girls' camera are WAY better, but I'm impatient and didn't wait....

Working a Food Bank

I grew up in a family that volunteers for everything.  From working grad-night, volunteering at various events, working carnivals, volunteering time, to even dressing up as Clifford the Big Red Dog.  I have done them all.  Even the husband has been gently nudged (or forced...) to join in the family volunteering.  My parents are the kind of people that still are actively involved in the boy scout troop that my brother "graduated" from 4 years ago.  They're sort of crazy people.

My mom has been trying to get me to join the same charity group as her for years.  I'm just too busy during the school year, but Andrew has been working so much, that I think another activity would be good...so I've been seriously pondering it and am attending some of their events.

Thursday night my mom and I went to a food bank to sort food.

It was pretty much back breaking work, but I got to hang out with my mom, catch up with a HS friend, AND help out people that need the help.  I'm just one step closer to being a woman who lunches and does philanthropy work.  I'm becoming my mother....

AntiGravity Yoga

Last week I took this class with my friend, Megan.

I'm pretty sure I looked exactly like these ladies....
and not at all awkward or man-ish...

This was TOTALLY my favorite pose.  It felt so good.  I kept
 putting my hands on the floor though, cause my brain kept freaking out.
  I don't think it enjoyed being upside quite as much as I did....

Obviously those last 2 pictures aren't my own, I couldn't exactly get a self portrait while we were doing it.  And, let's be honest, I didn't look ANYTHING like those women.  I'm sure I was all red-faced with messy hair and sweatpants.  Luckily I had to take off my glasses to do these poses, so I literally couldn't see what I looked like.  phew!

Here's what the studio looks like:

Best use of a giant warehouse!

At first I was more than a little nervous about the putting-my-whole-body-weight-in-a-fabric-hammock-then-hanging-upside-down business, but they assured me that I would be fine.  Megan had taken the class 3 times before and also assured me that I would not be on my face at anytime during the class.  I trusted them (and rightly so, there was never any floor-to-face-time....)

So it's like yoga in a hammock.  It was a pretty good yoga like workout, with some minor cardio at the end.  I was REALLY feeling it for the next few days.  The ONLY thing that I didn't like was the bruised-like-feeling on my pelvis for the next few days (from, you know, the just my pelvis holding up my whole body business...) But it was a super fun class to take with a friend! :)

How's your Day?

Cause here's how my Tuesday ended:

She's OK, but fell straight on her back from about 7 feet up.  She complained of back pain, and you don't mess with back pain....

How to Store my DVDs

It has literally been years since we purchased a DVD, but Andrew used to be a crazy person that bought every movie that he ever liked.  The challenge was finding a place to keep all the DVDs.  Problem solved with our mildly obsessive same-furniture-in-every-room habit.

Notice the dog bed --- it's so fancy

We keep the dog's leash in the striped box on the shelf.  If I even look at it.....Maximus goes crazy!!!!

Precious Little Package

BEST NEWS EVER!  Ok, maybe not the best, but really good news! I got the best package in the mail.  I posted a week ago about my closet/shoe box debacle.  I was literally thinking of purging some shoes (since I clearly know that I won't stop buying shoes....), and was very concerned

So, anyhow, I got this box today (ordered from some sort of organizing website) and

THEY HAD THE OLD STYLE!!!  YIPPPEEEEEE!!! Now I have 6 more, but am actually thinking of ordering more.  Is 6 boxes enough for all of eternity?  I can't decide how many more to buy.  Oh 1st world problems....

Cheer Fundraiser

The money thing for the whole state of California is actually beginning to cause me to lose sleep.  I am lucky enough, that money isn't a regular concern at home.  We live comfortably and I don't really stress about day-to-day expenses.  My cheer team's finances, on the other hand, is going to literally kill me.

The ACLU recently settled a case in CA where they stipulated that schools can no longer charge for an activity or sport.  They can merely request donations.  Now, this lawsuit began when 2 cheer parents from a low income school sued about a decade ago.  The idea was that by asking for donations, sports would be opened up to all kids.  Sounds like a great plan.  BUT, what they forgot about is the fact that the low income kids won't make the donations (not because they don't want to, but rather that they can't), so it just TOTALLY screws the low-income kids out of everything kids at other schools have.  This year my kids didn't get to go to cheer camp, don't have uniforms, briefs, heck they don't even have cheer shoes.  Now my low-income kids are going to feel even worse when we play against a team with decked-out cheerleaders who aren't affected by this new law (since their parents will glady make the "donations")  It's just really widened the chasm.....

Now, I know this sounds like I'm just sitting around whining about my poor, poor students.  Well, I agree, that is what I'm doing.  Although I do this while we do a ton of fundraising.  We've made about $10,000 just this summer alone.  The unfortunate thing about that is that that just barely paid off what we spent last year.  Apparently I would make a horrible accountant.  Actually it's because the girls all signed a contract promising to pay last year, but then several got wind of this new law and decided they didn't have to pay.  But, they had already gone to camp, ridden the buses, competed, etc.  The money was already spent and now they don't have to pay it back.  I think this is actually just teaching the kids a HORRIBLE lesson.  You can get stuff for free........

We have done tons of car washes, sold candy, sold cookie dough, sold snacks at school, sold newspaper subscriptions, sold pies, run a firework booth.....I'm out of ideas!  We have asked literally every business in Westminster for donations, but we get the "in this economy...." kind of reaction.  I have had a family member offer to buy poms for my girls, and that seriously took off a lot of pressure.  My sister and I are going to make bows this weekend, but that's another cost for me.  And remember, I VOLUNTEER to coach.  It costs me THOUSANDS of dollars every year to volunteer.  What the heck???  We have to pay for buses to and from football & basketball games (it's district policy that they can't get themselves there, but then ZERO funds are provided to cover the thousands of dollars that we have to pay for the school buses...arg!).  This whole thing may drive me over the edge!

I mean, what kind of world do we live in where a teacher, who already doesn't make that much money, is sent one of these every summer?  I mean, ya, we get the summers off, but we surely don't get paid for them!

Yes, teachers buy MOST of the stuff your kids use in the classroom......

Anyway, if anyone actually does read this and
1. knows a company that is just SEARCHING for something to donate to (for the tax write-off)
2. knows a really rich person who is just SEARCHING for something to donate to (for the tax write-off)
3. Knows of an amazing fundraiser that I haven't thought of yet....
please let me know!!!!!

Go to www.westminstercheer.shutterfly.com to see their adorable faces!

I'm not above working, begging, pleading, and am getting close to being ready for stealing.  OK, not yet, but almost. Help!

(and for those of you that are sick of hearing me whine, sorry!!!!! and, thank you for listening!) :)

What Do Teachers Do During the Summer?

Well, bake of course.  Yesterday I didn't have any set plans, so I decided to bake for all the boys I know (Husband, Red 5 boys, and my bff who was getting home after an extended trip).....

Since I don't do things half-way, I basically made ALL the desserts.

I told Andrew what each one was, but then remembered that they're boys, so there were probably not questions-  just crumbs and grunting....

Chocolate chip cookies, brownies, snickerdoodles, & oatmeal chocolate chip w/ candied pecans

Funfetti Cupcakes (I even left some un-frosted, like husband likes it)

Delivered like a pro

Crisis of EPIC Proportions!

And the title doesn't exaggerate AT ALL.  A few days ago I posted a picture of my shoes.  I have like 60+ pairs, which means 60+ boxes they are in.  I buy them at Bed, Bath, & Beyond and they fit my shoes perfectly.  Every time I go, I buy a few more than I actually need.  Now, I guess I've bought a lot of shoes in the last year or two, because I was only had 3 more in stock pile (and I JUST bought 2 new pairs of shoes).  To Bed, Bath & Beyond I headed to buy more.  Now, from reading the title and knowing I'm sort of insane, I'm sure you can guess where I am going with this.

THEY CHANGED THE SHAPE OF THE BOXES.

Old box on the left....new one on the right.  They don't even stack together!

Old box on the right, new box on the left.

 aaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!

The change may seem minute for the untrained-crazy-person-eyes, but for me it's an emergency!  As I was telling this story to Andrew, his immediate reaction was "you're NOT buying all new boxes!"  He knows the crazy look in my eye.  I went to several BB&B desperately hoping that they would have a few old ones sitting around, but alas, they do not.  I told the guy that I guess I had to stop buying shoes.  He looked at me like I was insane and said "that seems a little drastic."  I could also start purging old ones.  arg. I just ordered some off of Amazon and am HOPING that they are the old style.  I guess this will curb the shoe buying, since I only have ONE precious box left.  I'm going to be VERY choosy.

*I realize that this is not that serious.......but rather just annoying.