Maybe I need a purple stripe?

So, I'm contemplating a new hair color. I've been doing my own coloring for the last 6 months or so. I love going to see Alicia over at the Garden Day Spa, but it's $75 a pop each time I see her, and that doesn't include the tip. I've been making do with Nice 'n Easy Gray Coverage from Wal-Mart which runs me about $9. But after looking at my goth wig from Halloween which was black with purple stripes it kinda makes me wonder. I don't know if I could do the bangs though. I haven't had bangs since high school. OK, no, no purple stripes for me. But, maybe it's time for a new color.

Welcome to H E double hockey sticks

This week is one of my least favorite weeks in the whole entire world. This is the dreaded SEP week, Parent Teacher Conference week, or as I like to call it: Beat Up The Teacher Week.
Why do I hate thee? Let me count the ways?
1. Two late nights of 7 p.m.
2. Tactfully telling parents that little Johnny or Susie can't seem to stay in their seats or need seatbelts or duct tape restraints.

Truth be told, my SEPS having been going great. I'm about halfway finished with no real breaks in sight to get any planning done. Having 28 students has really cut down on the amount of time I spend in planning and helping my students. A class of 14 sounds perfect right about now!

It can't be ALL bad, can it?

I admit it, I'm addicted to sugar. I've been trying to kick the habit. I've been avoiding refined sugar but I last about 5 or 6 days and then it's all over. I decided after the most recent birthday (my 33rd to be exact), that I should probably cut sugar out of my diet. I went 10 whole days and then I fell off the wagon. Well, it was more like I dove off the wagon. You know how in the WWE the wrestlers stand on the ropes and then jump on the other guy with absolute glee? Sometimes they even smash the poor guy with a chair? I was the wrestler gleefully jumping off the ropes with the chair. More likely, I'm the poor guy getting whacked over the head with the chair.So, what lessons have I learned from this last month or so of cutting out the sugar?
1. no more headaches
2. no pms or cramps( I know it sounds weird, but it's true)
3. major crankiness about what I get to eat
4. my students keep tabs on my sugar intake(It's my own fault, I keep track of my days of sugar sobriety on the board. The morning they came in to find a 0 on the board with a frowny face by it, was super disappointing to them, I'm sure. They were like, "Miss D, what happened?" I used the WWE metaphor with them, they totally got it.)
Life's short, I need to figure out how to eat in moderation.
That's all I got tonight. Well, that and I need to cut down on my high school choir concert intake. 2 in less than a week, kind of a record for me. I can only imagine what's going to happen when my Laurels have all of their holiday choir concerts in December. Maybe I'll need to fortify myself with some chocolate....

If I can one more thing, I think I'll throw up

In the interest of building up my food storage I've been a canning machine lately. Thanks in part to my garden(which I had at a friend's house) and generous donations from others, I've canned approximately 50 quarts of tomatoes, 10 quarts of salsa, 10 quarts of pears, 30 quarts of applesauce, and dehydrated a bushel of pears. I do love how my house smells, but so help me! If I have to can one more thing in the next week, I'll toss my cookies(metaphorically speaking). And speaking of things that I do that just seem to bring more work and effort into my life, I'm in the process of applying for the Ph.D program at BYU. I know, I must be a glutton for punishment. But, it kinda feels right to apply for the Ph.D. program. Can you imagine me being Dr. Dyer? Almost makes me shiver in my boots. Can't imagine what it'll do for the rest of you!
By the by, Al came home last night after going to a birthday party with a strange story to tell. She slaved over a german chocolate cake yesterday in honor of this girl's birthday. Someone walked off with the cake last night at the party. Can you believe it? Technically, I could press charges against the alleged thief, since the cake was on my plate. I told Al that she get in touch with the alleged thief and give him two options:
1. He purchases from Parson's Bakery a German Chocolate Cake, in the box, with the sales clerk's initials over the tape, showing it hasn't been tampered with.
OR
2. She presses charges.
Whaddya think? I figure, either way, something good will happen here. : )

Quest for exercise

Yes, I am now on a quest for exercise. I'm not talking about exercising more, heaven forbid. OK, maybe a tad more. Truth is, I hate exercising. But I'm pretty faithful to lifting. Thank the stars above for BodyPump class at Gold's otherwise I would never lift.
I hate to lift on my own. The class is choreographed AND with music, and the instructors come around and fix your form. BUT I digress... I REALLY hate cardio. I loathe it. I detest it. I...you get the picture. I was yapping with Ali the other day about my cardio loathing problem. My new slogan in life is "I'm tired of doing things I don't want to do." Whenever I say this Ali and Sarah roll their eyes, look at each other and say, "When has Mer EVER done something she doesn't wanna do?"
I eat my vegetables, clean my bathroom, pay my bills, and go to the dentist, so I've been known to do things I don't wanna do. But my goal is to find some form of cardio exercise that I don't MIND, not ENJOY. Because really? I'm not shooting that high. I'll settle for cardio I don't particularly mind, but am not holding out for cardio that I enjoy. I'm a realist. I don't think that type of cardio exists for me.
So, here's my short list of things I'm gonna try:
1. Cycling
2. Swimming

Here's what I've tried that really doesn't do it for me:
1. Hiking ( I know, I live out here in Utah and I don't really love to hike)
2. Running(I did run the 5 Mile Canyonlands Run in March and well... you know)
3. Rock climbing
4. Cross Country Skiing( I REALLY hated this, just ask Ali & Sarah)

I gotta find a job with less stress...

OK, it's not a good sign when you come home from work and want to sink into a coma. And then, you figure out it takes 3 hours for you to relax after coming home from work. Anyone else have this problem? So after I finally get my heartbeat down after 3 hours, I start to correct the huge pile of papers I brought home with me. In the meantime, I'm worrying about how I'm going to get my students to actually listen to me while I give instructions. Is there another job I could do that pays comparably? And utilizes my educational background? Is this too much to ask? (sigh)

I love Skype!

I don't know how many people use webcams regularly, but I am becoming one of them. My family lives approximately 2,000 miles away from me and I don't get to see them all that often. Yes, I do live away from my family for a reason, but I am also missing out on watching my nieces and nephew grow up. My folks introduced me to Skype recently. Mom has an iMac with a camera built into her screen, but all I have is my laptop with a built in microphone...no camera. I'd been looking around for an affordable webcam, with the cheapest being about $30, with fairly good ones around $50. Being the poor school teacher that I am, I was looking for the best bargain I could find. By happenstance one Saturday morning on my way to DI, I stopped by Yours Mine and Ours here in Bountiful for their %50 off sale. Lo and behold, there was a brand new webcam, still in the box, for the low low price of $5.50. I figured that was a rock bottom price, the software was still in the box, and I could afford to spend $5.50 to find out if it worked. Imagine my surprise when I got up to the counter and discovered that it was only $2.75 with the %50 off.
End of story? I have a $3 webcam that works AND I get to see my family more often. Who knew?
I had a pretty horrible day on Thursday. I cut my finger on the paper slicer at work, broke a friend's spiral binder, skinned another finger, and was still nursing a sore scalp from where my hair got wrapped around the wheels of the shop cart while I was changing my oil. It had been a long day and I was SUPER frustrated. I headed back to school around 6 p.m. ( 8 p.m. Eastern) and spent another couple of hours of preparing my classroom. Imagine my relief at being able to chat with my parents, sister-in-law, Owen(my 4 year old nephew), Aspen(my 7 year old niece), and Paytyn(my 3 month old and 15 lb niece). It was like a balm for my soul. And they got to see my classroom. Owen thinks Auntie Mer's classroom is an awesome place because she has a sandbox! That kid would stay for hours to play if he could.

Summer 2008 Home Improvement

Like a crazy person, I decided that this was the summer that I was going to remodel my condo. It started off with little thoughts of, "Hey, the wall color isn't really my favorite," and "My kitchen cabinets would look so much better if they weren't brown." But I really jumped into the deep end when I came to grips with how disgusting my carpet was. Sure I vacuum it every now and again. But after I accidentally kicked over that can of polyurethane a few years ago in the dining room, I realized that no amount of carpet cleaning could make crunchy carpet soft again.
I was initially going to put in laminate flooring. I figured being a single gal with zero home improvement skills, that was all I could handle. I talked to a few folks, got some information, and then was quoted a lovely price of $8/foot for laminate, including installation. GAG!!! $3,200 was not in my budget. I'd have to sell a kidney or something to afford that. Jesse and I were yapping one day about my home improvement ideas. He was like, "Mer, you could totally put hardwood floors in there...and I'll help you do it. " DING!!!! Kids, we have a winner!
It took us 3 days but the floors are in and they are BEAUTIFUL!!! I now know how to run a saw, use an air compressor, nail gun, and staple gun. Jesse gave up 3 days to come and help me put these floors in, and all I had to do was feed him. Sounds like a great deal to me.