My rant against McDonalds

I have a bone to pick with McDonalds. It's not about calories, changing the french fry oil or trying to make me feel guilty when I still order a quarterpounder with cheese when there are good salads on the menu now. It is about their placemat.

I teach English. Every day, almost, I battle 7th graders over silly things like capitalizing proper nouns or spelling words correctly. I even have noticed this year more than ever(or just last year since this is only my 2nd year teaching) that capitalizing the letter i when using it in the first person tense is not happening. Teaching the conventions of our wacky English language is a challenge, let me tell you.

So, about three weeks ago Troy and I were eating at McDonalds when I looked down at the placemat. This is what it said more or less, exactly written this way.

"i like eating at mcdonalds. i can always find something to satisfy my hunger. i like..."

Not one single word was capitalized. Are you kidding me? Doesn't McDonalds know that kids learn from environmental print and that if they see on a placemat at McDonalds that no letters are capitalized, they think that's normal? It's bad enough that I have to fight my students about im-ing versus real English, standards for emails versus essays, but for an actual advertising campaign by one of the biggest worldwide companies to ignore all conventions of the English language is too much. I was livid. My poor husband got the brunt of this rant right there in the restaurant.

So the placemat was bad enough but then I remember the slogan. "im loving it." No caps, no apostrophe. What the heck?!!

Then I was driving down the street and there's Taco Bell with a big ol' sign plastered to their window that says "grilled stuft burrito." My 7th graders will actually think that is how you spell stuffed. Is it that much cooler, Taco Bell, to have stuft than stuffed? Is it worth ruining the minds of our future doctors, lawyers, teachers and leaders?

Okay, so I know this is a little over the top, but seriously. What you see is what you do. Kids have little impressionable minds and this is not the impression we should be giving them.

I will never write my blogs in all lower case or with cheesy abbreviations or no punctuation. I will have mistakes but not intentionally. I am fighting here, people! I am an English teacher to the death...or at least until I can find a part time job that pays well.

Okay, I am done.

I want March to be over

Yesterday Troy and I were eating, no, that's a lie. I was eating (Three of those frozen burritos that are three for a dollar at Wal - Mart. Yes, I said three. And I am going to go buy more today if I can. They are so dang good!!!) and Troy was just sitting there(probably wishing I would cook a real meal) and we were talking. I was thinking about all the things going on this month, showers, weddings, mason's birthday party and the big one - end of the first trimester on the 29th. I looked at Troy and said,"I can't wait for March to be over." It was February 27th when I said that. That is pretty sad. It was mainly because I want to feel better and I am just believing with all my heart that I will once this first phase of the pregnancy is over. Oh, well. I stand by my words. What's amazing is how I keep forgetting about Spring Break. Only 7 teaching days until then. Holy Cow. That is wonderful. I can make it. I can...

The Ick Battle

Some of you may have noticed the lack of posting lately. I know one of my friends REALLY has. :) Well, here is why. I feel so darn ickish all the time and for whatever crazy reason, writing on my blog makes me think about being ickish. Maybe because the last blog was titled Ick. Anyway, I have decided to push through! I may want to hurl at the sight of food while being nauseously hungry every second of every day, but alas, I shall persevere and blog away. I have won this battle but the war of ickness continues. Let's just pray it ends with my first trimester on March 29th.

Ick

That is the best word to describe how I feel. Ick. Not completely sick, just ick. Nothing sounds very yummy to me except for food you buy at restaurants like Spinach dip from Cheddars, Margarita Chicken from Chili's or Fajitas, or Steak. Holy cow. I think I just started drooling. Steak....But what is weird about these foods is that if I were to eat them, then I would, immediately following consumption, never want them again. Like, the other night I was craving pizza. So my sweet husband let me order it. I ate it, loved every second I ate it but now, not so much. Don't want Pizza Hut for a good while. Other pizza is okay but Pizza Hut sounds gross. Really gross. That is so weird. I am having a really hard time finding things I want to eat. Fortunately I feel like I am craving healthier food, like real meals. Not junk food. Anyone who knows me, knows I am a sugar addict. But not any more. I almost want to hurl at the thought of chocolate. I wish I wasn't so dog tired at night so that I would want to cook something real for dinner.

Now that was an exciting blog.

The Most Beautiful Sound in the World

Today I heard the baby's heart beat. It is such an amazing thing to see that little blink on the ultrasound screen and hear the sound of another life beating inside of you. The baby is 6 weeks and 5 days along, and everything looks great. I am due October 11th. 10 days after my birthday. I hope he or she is my birthday present. My grandfather, my dad, and I were all born on October 1st. It would be so cool to have a 4th generation born on that day. Delivering 10 days early wouldn't be a bad deal either.

Amazing

Amazing. That is all I can say about my students yesterday. They were amazing. Of my 130 students who took the test, 75 were still testing at 1:30. After 5 hours of testing they were still going strong. My last student finished at 5pm, an hour after the last bell rings. You should have seen his pencil. It started out the normal length, but by the end of the test, it was no more than a nub. I think I am going to frame it or something. He had a PILE of pencil shavings on his desk from sharpening it again and again. Amazing.

I don't know if they passed but I can honestly say I don't really care. They busted their butt on that test yesterday. They did everything I taught them. They were amazing.

So now we have like four days of movies. Movie days are amazing.

Scary.

Today my 7th graders are taking the writing TAKS test. Scary. I think they are ready. They seem to care. I am unusually not stressed about it. But when I see them not working in about two hours, I am going to start panicking. But surely they will work. They know how important this is. It is out of my hands now. Scary.

The scariest part for me right now is the prompt. Last year we were unbelievably lucky with the prompt, "Write a composition about your favorite memory." It was perfect. This year I know the prompt is going to be something horrific like, "write a composition detailing the pros and cons of the war in Iraq." Or "Write a composition about the importance of finding the cure for aids." In reality those would never be the prompts, but something like "Write a composition about an important decision you have made" could pose an equal threat to a 7th grader's mind. Scary.

They will be fine. They will. They have to be.

From Mason

When I asked Mason if he wanted to put anything on my blog(try explaining a blog to a three year old sometime), he said this. "All I want is someone to play in my room with me. I like to play blocks, wedgits, and I love to color, and write, and paint, and read books and watch a movie. My favorite movie is Toy Story. And playing games is fun. Candyland is my favorite. I want to build a fire with my daddy. That's all. Oh, and I love to drink coke and I love to eat candy. I love playing in my room. I love to play with my farm. And I love to play in mommy and daddy's bed."
When I asked him who he loved and why, he said, "I love daddy because he always bonks his head to make me laugh."
"Where is your favorite place to go?"
"Petco."
Favorite Food - Enchiladas
Favorite Team - Spurs(Troy is grinning somewhere)
What are you scared of? Crocodiles

That was all I could get from him.

a dishy situation

I am having a stand off with my dirty dishes. It started because I was out of dishwasher soap. Yes, I have normal dish soap, but any excuse to not do the dishes works for me. So, right now there are about three meals of dishes stacked in my kitchen. That sounds a lot worse than it actually is. I don't cook either so here lately "meals" consist of pb and J or Spaghettios. But nonetheless, there are quite a few dishes piled up in there. I wonder if Troy would just let me throw them all away and buy new ones...I am just so dog tired at the end of the day. Okay, I am doing them tonight and I am cleaning the whole house tomorrow. I am. I promise...maybe. I mean sleep and rest is important to a pregnant woman...

Mason

It just hit me that I haven't written anything about Mason, my son, in my blog. How sad. So here is a snapshot of the little guy.
He invented his own good night kiss routine for he and I. He holds my face with his chubby hands, kisses me on the lips, the nose and then one hard smack on the forehead. It is adorable.
He has a collection of chapstick that fills an old coffee can. I don't know why he carries them in a coffee can. He just does.
He now chews bread, sandwiches, crackers, etc into the shape of a gun to shoot "monsters and alligators."
He calls me Sugarmuffin, daddy sugarmonkey and himself sugarbear. He has names for almost everyone else as well. The funniest is the cat's - sugarmouse.
Every morning he tells me which car he wants me to drive to work. It is quite funny. I don't listen but he is so adamant..."I love you but, momma, TAKE THE MAXIMA."
He told me the other day that I should come to school with him. He said he would share his naptime cot with me. I almost cried.
He made a "picnic" in our kitchen yesterday which meant dragging every blanket he could find and laying them perfectly on top of each other in the middle of the kitchen floor. When I told him it was time to clean it up, he said, "But I want the new baby to have a picnic." The "picnic" is still there.

I can't believe I get to have another little miracle of heaven. How amazing it is to be a mother. It is so undescribably hard while being so unimaginably wonderful.

Hunger

Hunger has taken over my body. I am always hungry. No, that's a lie. Immediately following a meal I am not hungry. About 15 minutes later I am. And it's not like normal hunger. It's weakening, nausea inducing, painful hungry. My husband would say that this is probably "all in my head" because I know I am pregnant. He means well. But he does not know my stomach. Right now, I am drooling over the thought of my salad that is held hostage in the teacher's lounge. I cannot imagine how I will make it the next 8 minutes of stupid advisory. I even ate breakfast this morning and have thin wheats(no, not wheat thins. Those are for people who don't mind working and can spend money on name brand crackers) on my desks to keep the really bad pain away. But thin wheats can only do so much and, apparently, for me, that isn't much. Okay only five minutes till lunch.

Maybe I am having twins...or maybe I am just Jenny.

Miracle

A miracle happened today in my classroom. Well, actually, I guess it happened yesterday but nonetheless it happened.

I gave my students the 2006 writing TAKS test so I could best determine where we were and what I could expect on the 20th. Today, I ran the scantrons(the best gift God could give to a teacher). Usually the scantron machine sounds like a firing range as each scantron is sucked through because it makes this godawful "errrrk" noise every time a question is missed. Teachers can often be seen by the scantron machine writhing in pain as if the machine was indeed firing shots straight to the heart. That machine holds so much power. It can make us feel like the creator of brilliance or the perfector of stupidity. Today I was the creator of brilliance. Each of my students' scantrons slid through with an eery silence. The only sound on most was the sound of the 100% being printed at the very end. Of the 120 or so students whose scantrons I ran through, only ONE student failed and that was only with a 60. It was a true TAKS miracle.

Maybe I am not a terrible teacher. Maybe they will pass. But even if they don't they are really doing their best. And, as a teacher, nothing makes me happier.

Happy Valentines Day, Sweety!

Happy Valentines Day, Troy! I hope you will check the blog today.

I love you so very much and am so glad that for the last decade you have been the love of my life. You make me happier than I could have ever imagined. I love that you make me laugh, and make me feel silly and smart and beautiful and sexy. I love you. Thank you for being my valentine, sugarmonkey.
Love, Sugarmomma

Tired

I am sitting at my desk at school at 7:15 this morning, only my lamp on and Christian music playing on my CD player. It is very peaceful. I am trying to not think about the 130 students who are about to flow in and out of my room today. I am so tired of it all right now. Tired of teaching, grading, students, TAKS test, being exhausted when I get home. I just want so desperately to stay at home, to just be wife and mom. I am tired of giving Troy and Mason what is left of me at the end of the day. Please, God, help something to happen so can stay home. Please. I am tired.

I do like my job. I do. I like my students (most days) and I like the fact that I have a job that really matters. Teachers are so important to the world today because we are practically raising most kids. I like that I am good at my job. I like my job. But it is not what I want to do right now. I miss my family. I miss my son and now that this new baby is on the way, I have to stay at home. I just have to. Or at least get a part time job. Something. Something has to change.

Fetal Yolk Sack???

Okay, so we had our appt.

When I called to tell my doctor, or the receptionist for my doctor, that I was pregnant, they immediately scheduled me for an appt not a week later. I thought that was a little odd because I knew I couldn't be much further along than 4 weeks but I trusted the Doctor.

This morning I was at the office at 7:45 and waiting. We went in the room and after a rather unpleasant probing experience all we saw was a fetal yolk sack. What is that? Pregnancy is so weird. It makes a normally confident person terrified to ask any questions for fear of looking like an idiot or worse yet, a bad mother. So I didn't ask. We didn't hear a heart beat but everything looked normal and fine, said the nurse. So she rescheduled me for next Wednesday. But I am for sure pregnant. Based on the fetal yolk sack thing....

I am pregnant. I am going to have another baby to hold and love and nurse and teach. I am so excited.

Ellie

My new friend, Sarah, had her first baby today, Elizabeth Claire, or Ellie. Rumor is she is beautiful and perfect. I believe that rumor with my whole heart. Mom is doing well and Aunt Kylah is dying to drive to see her first neice. But has to wait until Thursday, poor thing.

I, of course, being newly pregnant am beyond excited and can't wait until the new baby and mommy head this way for the wedding. I can't wait to meet this fresh bit of heaven.

The beginning of a beautiful thing

Today is my first prenatal check up and I am so excited. I, for whatever reason, don't "feel" pregnant. I don't know why. Maybe I just don't want to get too excited just from peeing on a stick. So hopefully today the doctor will tell me I am pregnant for sure and that everything is wonderful and perfect because I desperately want to start telling people. I am about to die!!! I can't contain the excitement any longer.
See, with Mason everything was a surprise. He was this wonderful surprise that God plucked from heaven to give to us. We were not prepared, no one saw it coming. Everything was so different. THis time around I made the mistake of telling people we were trying. I wouldn't just walk up to people and tell them but if they asked, I gladly gave them information. So people constantly asking, "Are you pregnant yet?" got old pretty fast. I just can't wait to tell all those people that yes, I am pregnant, and yes Mason will finally be an older brother.
I hope the appointment goes well. Only 53 minutes....

Oh, Baby!

Well, it finally happened. After 7 months of trying, 7 months of trying to create what seemed to create itself the first time around, we are pregnant! We will soon be a family of four.
On Wednesday, Mason had pink eye so I stayed home from school. This is the perfect "sick" for a kid to get. Sick enough for me to take off. Not so sick that we are both miserable. It was a supremely beatiful day that tricked me into thinking spring might be upon us. It was a perfect day.
Since my period had been absent for 41 days, I was thinking maybe...but no...too many times this year my hopes had been dashed and I refused to get excited. When Mason and I went grocery shopping, I tossed a pregnancy test in the basket with the thought that I would again be wasting grocery money. Despite all my doubt, when we got home I didn't even put the milk away before I took the test.
I peeled the wrapper from the test, peed on it the exact amount of time it said and placed the test gently on the floor. Then I left. I left the bathroom, walked to the kitchen, looked at the groceries and immediately returned to the test. And there it was. The plus sign. Bright blue and bold. There were no doubts. I was pregnant at last!
Mason was standing right there and when I freaked out he said, "What is it, Momma?"
I replied, "Oh, momma is just excited about something."
And then he floored me when he asked the next question.
"Does it mean you have a baby in your tummy?"
How did he know that? How? I said yes and then he grinned that big toothy grin of his and hugged my neck. We both just sat there next to the potty, celebrating the conception of another blondeheaded Wilde.
Troy was at work while all this excitement was going down so we had to think of a cute way to tell him...Troy came home around 12:30. I acted as normal as I could and then told him Mason had a surprise for him. (Mason always has surprises for us so Troy almost boredly played along.) Then I covered his eyes and Mason handed him a pair of baby socks. Troy looked confused and asked, "What are those for?"
"For the baby." Mason replied.
"What bab--- Is mommy pregnant?!"
"Yes" I answered.
Then he turned around with that little boy grin of his and said, "Really!?" I nodded and we kissed and hugged and then we hugged Mason and then we all kissed again.

Like I said, it was the perfect day.