100th Post Part II

And it continues...

26. The worst part of my tennis game is the toss of my serve. 

27. I wish I was Australian and could say "Sorry Mate" like Patrick Rafter when this happens.

28. I am not naturally athletic. I have to work really hard at it.

29. I played little league softball and almost got somebody out once.

30. I hate using the flash on my camera.

31. I almost refuse to take pictures inside because I don't know enough about lighting.

32. For every decent picture you see on the blog, I have taken 20 others that had to be deleted.

33. I still haven't figured out how to organize digital photos. I have them on iPhoto, smugmug, and Snapfish and haven't printed hardly any of them in years.

34. I have picture frames displayed in my house that have been empty for 6 months.

35. I haven't cleaned a bathroom in 6 months. It is now Andrew's chore.  Yes, he is that wonderful.

36. I cleaned other people's bathrooms when we first got married. I hope to never to that again.

37. I am for hire for almost anything other than that (house-sitting, dog-sitting, standardized testing).

38. Extra jobs are the only way I get to go shopping because I budget nearly every penny we make.

39. I plan how our money will be spent years before we make it.

40. I just might spend a little too much time planning, thinking and worrying about money.

41. I like to invite people over for the company and because it makes me clean my house.

42. I love when people call me Martha Stewart. Feel free to drop that in a comment sometime.

43. While in college, I allowed myself one piece of 50 cent pumpkin bread from the UT Bakery every Friday.  I have the recipe for it, but it just isn't the same.

44. I only allow myself a latte (made in my Bialetti Mukka Cappuccino Maker, not Starbucks, remember the limited budget) once a week because I don't want to get addicted to caffeine.

45. I allow myself one Bojangles Cajun filet biscuit each week.

46. I like to test my will power.

45. I just read that some people build their identity on things like self-discipline rather than on God. Oops.

46. I get up at 5:15 for my devotional every weekday morning because it is the only way I have ever been consistent with it.

47. Another form of finding my identity in self-discipline? Goodness. I just can't get ahead.

48. When the vocalists in the band at church started rotating and I began singing in the congregation, Andrew told me, "Hey, we sing melody out here."

49. I have sung harmony so long that I have a hard time even hearing the melody anymore.

50. Mischa, the sound guy at church, wouldn't believe this, but I sing REALLY, REALLY loud in the car.

100th Post Part I

Many bloggers list 100 interesting things about themselves in honor of their 100th post.  I won't even pretend to be that interesting, so I am just listing things.  Not interesting things, just things.  And not all at once - this will be a four part series with the fourth post as my 100th.  I'm sure I will regret being such an open book later, but here it goes...  

1. I still sleep with my baby blanket - even when traveling - even on the plane to Paris.

2. Andrew carries me to bed almost every night because I try to stay up until he is ready to go to bed.

3. I fall asleep within seconds as my head hits the pillow every night.

4. I am writing this on the first night I have had trouble sleeping in nearly 10 years.

5. In middle school I had trouble sleeping and would wake my parents up at 2:00 in the morning just to make sure they knew I wasn't asleep.

6. Even though my dad would come sleep on my floor, I don't think this problem was solved until I pulled the old baby blanket out of retirement.

7. I prefer 2nd place over 1st place because you get most of the praise and glory without all the pressure.

8. Example 1: I sing backup, not solos.

9. Example 2: I played number two on the high school tennis team.

10: Example 3: I graduated number 3 in my class.  I didn't want to be Valedictorian or Salutatorian because they had to give speeches, but ironically, I ended up with the title of "Class Speaker."

11. My high school graduation was one of the worst days of my life because I cried while giving a speech in front of thousands of people at Thompson-Boling Arena.

12. My life has been pretty smooth-sailing because I can call graduation one of the worst days of my life.

13. I am not good at relaxing.

14. I am really good at stressing out.

15. I hate feeling like a day has been wasted.

16. I write new to-do lists daily. 

17. I list more tasks than could possibly be done in one day.

18. I can't resist chocolate raspberry truffle from Bruster's.

19. Or any kind of bread from anywhere.

20. I get myself so worked up in dreams that sometimes I wake up crying.

21. I dream about my future children.

22. And snakes.

23. More so the snakes than the children.

24. After training for the half-marathon, I wonder if my knees and hips will ever be the same.

25. I officially gave up on running only to decide two months later to run another half-marathon.

Vocabulary Lesson

I did a little role reversal with one of my classes on Friday and let them teach me some new vocabulary. (Only school-appropriate vocabulary of course!)  I'm not sure if they are trying to make me cool - wait, I mean fly - or if they just need some fodder to make fun of me in the hallways.  Either way, it made for an interesting class.  Here are my new favorite words:

• coolin - a verb that replaces the now uncool "chillin"
• chillax - a verb that combines the words chill and relax
• nest - a noun denoting your home, a synonym for your crib
• bird - a noun that means your mother (obviously, if your home is your nest, your mother is your bird - quite logical really)
• jockin - I remember liking this word, but I have since forgotten the definition.  Looks like I'm going to need a review tomorrow.
• uber nast - an adjective indicating that something is really fly (as in Mrs. McAffry is going to be uber nast if she learns how to use all of these words.)

At the end of class, I gave them their homework assignment: to chillax in their nest with their bird.  Apparently it is totally unfly to use too many words in one sentence.  I'm learning a lot this semester - and not only new vocabulary words.  It took a little longer to get these relationships off the ground, but we are making progress!  

Poor Milly

Wait a minute...what is dat up dere?

Yes, poor Milly, you will be ingesting this arsenal of medicine.

Our almost 6-year-old Yorkipoo has had horrible skin allergies since she was about 2-years-old. Every few months we take a trip to the vet to stock up on medicine for her.  This usually includes steroids, antibiotics, flea medicine, ear medicine, allergy shots, medicated shampoo, and gel caps to squeeze on the latest hypoallergenic food available.  We, ummm I'm sorry, Andrew takes her to the groomer every other week to try to keep her in good shape.  We, okay usually Andrew, also gives her baths about once a week.  My goal tomorrow is to make an Excel spreadsheet to chart all the medicine she is on.  It gets so complicated.  Prednisone twice a day, then once a day, then every other day for 21 days. 1/4 tablet of Simplicef once a day.  Baths twice a week.  Ears every other day.  Allergy shots once a week.  Flea medicine every three weeks.  Heartworm once a month.  I hope I, okay, okay, Andrew, can stay on top of all this!  Thanks honey!

All those wondering why we don't have kids yet, we can barely keep up with taking care of our 7 pound dog!  By the way, after just one day of steroids she already feels about a pound heavier.  I hate the way she acts when she is on them.  She has big bug eyes, is bloated and lethargic.  We are doing everything we can to get her back to normal - even depleting our almost complete Christmas budget!  

If you don't quite get the Christmas gift you were expecting, just know this sweet thing is getting better!  Isn't she worth it? 

Roofball!

Per Barty's request...

Notes from English Class

But Mrs. McAffry, we're teenagers and everybody knows you can't trust teenagers. 

• This was the comment when I told my sophomores they had 25 minutes to discuss The Grapes of Wrath completely on their own.  I wasn't sure I could sit silently at my desk without making any comments, but I did it.  They wowed me as always with their interpretations.  

Mrs. McAffry, my brother got out of jail today!

• My first comment: Congratulations!
• My second comment: Should I be worried?
• My third comment: Do I need to put an extra lock on my doors?

Class, what is an example of informal diction?  Response: What's crackin'?

• I always stand at the door to greet my students as they enter my class, and the day after they taught me this new phrase, I tested it out.  They all did a double take and gave me some pretty funny looks as their totally uncool English teacher asked each of her 32 students "What's crackin'?"  After about the fifteenth time, I began hoping it wasn't anything offensive.  

My life went downhill at six.

• If this kid leaves my classroom in December still thinking there is no hope, I will have failed.  

Labor Day Weekend

Continuing all the spoiling that has been happening in the last few weeks, my great-grandmother treated Andrew and me and the rest of the family to dinner at Oak Ridge's Flatwater Grill.  The problem is that it was for her birthday.  Her birthday.  Her treat.  Papaw Johnny decided that's the way this family would be handling things from now on.  On your birthday, you take everybody else out to eat.  Hey, you get to pick the restaurant, so it's only fair.  Thanks Mama Ese!  I definitely recommend the fried shrimp and the birthday brownie dessert.  

MaryAnn, Papaw Johnny, Carl (yes, he is really that tall), Mama Ese, and Mary Lou.

I'm still trying to talk her into going to Europe with me next Summer.  She just has to see Paris.

The whole crew minus photographer Carl.

Dad giving me the cold shoulder after I told him I didn't particularly enjoy The Shack.  Sorry, Dad.

After peeling myself out of bed Saturday morning, Rachel and I hit the pavement for our weekly long run.  We were doing another 6-miler.  No problem, right?  We both did it on our own last week.  Well, around mile four I began having trouble breathing.  Rachel said it kind of sounded like an asthma thing - shallow breathing.  So, we stopped, I sat for a minute, then we started walking, and I thought I was ready to start running again.  Not even 10 yards later, we were forced to stop again, but for a different reason.  

Let me try to set the scene.  We are running on Cumberland right under the overpass.  Just as we stepped on the railroad tracks, I heard a train.  Not in an off in the distance kind of way, but in a step-on-it, you-are-about-to-be-hit-by-a-train kind of way.  I'm ashamed to say my first reaction was, "Oh S***!"  I scared Rachel to death, and her more appropriate reaction was "Jesus!"  (At least one of us was calling on the giver of life in this life threatening moment.)  

It turns out that the train was just behind us on the bridge, but for a few moments, I thought my life was over.  Mix that with the shallow breathing incident, sunny 85 degree weather, and my body just couldn't take anymore.  We doubled over in laughter for a few seconds, then everything started spinning, then it went black, and I went to my knees on the sidewalk of Kingston Pike (a.k.a. Knoxville's most traveled road).  Needless to say, this was all quite embarrassing, but Rachel did tell me later it looked like I was praying.  Maybe repenting for my earlier reaction.  My favorite running partner then sprinted to the nearest gas station and brought back an cup of ice cold refreshing water.  So I ruined our long run because we had to walk the lasts two miles (Sorry Rachel), but at least we have Labor Day to make up for it.  So much for sleeping in!  I'm getting out before the heat tomorrow!  Check my training stats on the left to see if I make it!