Ten on Tuesday

1. What are your designated chores in your home?
I do 90% of the cooking, 80% of the dishes, 100% of the laundry, and I'd say 75% of the cleaning up and putting away of things.

2. What is your least favorite chore to do around the house?
I HATE doing dishes and cleaning the bathroom.

3. What was your designated chore growing up?
I was responsible for doing dishes and my brother and I would take turns emptying the clean dishes.  I also had to clean my room

4. Did you get paid to do chores or was your allowance connected to you completing your chores?
My allowance was connected to finishing my chores.

5. If you had a bit of extra money, would you hire a cleaning person or would you save the money for something else?
If we could afford a cleaning lady I would so totally do it!!

6. What chores will you make your kids do around the house?
They already pick up their rooms and the messes they make in the family room.  My son is old enough that he can feed the cat and the dog so that's one of his chores.  I know my husband can't wait until he's  old enough to mow the lawn.  I'm ready for them to be able to help with dishes or do dishes.

7. How frequently do you do laundry? Wash your sheets? Dust?
I do the laundry once a week.  It takes me about 4-5 loads to wash every one's clothes then I also do the towels/sheets once a week too and that is usually 2-3 loads.  I dust when I can't stand the dust any longer or my children leave hand prints in things.

8. Do you have a designated “chore day” during the week?
No, not really.  I just do things as they need them or the day before someone is supposed to come over.

9. What is your favorite chore–if such a thing exists?
I actually don't mind doing laundry. 

10. Do you do anything to help pass the time while doing chores (music, TV, etc.)?
I should.  I have found that when I put on my iPod and listen to music it makes cleaning much more bearable but I just forget to do that most days.

Ten on Tuesday

1. What did you do this weekend?
We mostly worked on fixing things around the house.  We also went and had dinner at my Mom's house Sunday night then I watched the Oscars alone (James had zero interest in it).

2. Do you prefer short fingernails or long fingernails?
I like my nails when they are long but for folding origami and my general crafting I need to keep them short.

3. What is your favorite use for Pinterest?
I love finding good household tips and I have found a few great ones.  It also gives me great business ideas.  I also use it to promote my Etsy items as well.  It's just all around awesome if you ask me!

4. Do you sleep with your mouth open?
I try not to but if I wind up on my back it usually ends up open.

5. Where did you have the best pizza you’ve ever eaten?
Honestly my favorite pizza ever is the Gourmet Vegetarian from Papa Murphy's Pizza.  It's got a white sauce and all the veggies you could ever want like mushrooms, artichoke hearts, tomatoes and spinach just to name a few.  OK well now I want one.....



6. What do you eat for breakfast on weekdays?
Pretty much every day I have an English muffin with a poached egg, cheese and turkey sausage.

7. Do you watch awards shows? Why or why not?
Yes, I do.  I love to see who wins and see if my taste is a winner!

8. Can you whistle? Snap? Curl your tongue? Bend down and touch your palms to the ground?
Yes, I can whistle but not all that well.  Yes, I can snap and pretty well too.  Yes, I can curl my tongue. And finally no, I can not bend over and touch my palms to the ground nor do I really care.

9. What email service do you use?
Gmail.  I used Road Runner email forever until we decided to stop paying Time Warner out the nose for cable and internet.  After we got rid of Road Runner I decided to go with Gmail so that if/when we change internet service providers again I won't have to worry about switching all my email over again.

10. What is your favorite outdoor activity?
Going to the beach and being able to get in the ocean and just float around past the breakers and then play in the waves.

Ten on Tuesday

0.01×10^2. What was your best/worst day in math class?
Best day was in Jr high when I got moved up from the low math class the normal or middle math class. I've always been terrible at math and since I could remember in school I was always in the low math group.  So when I got moved up it was pretty cool!
Worst day .... there are so many.  My learning disability made math hard and I had so many teachers who didn't care or just thought I was dumb.  One particular incident I remember was freshman year in high school in algebra I.  Mrs. Mosley was my teacher and I didn't understand anything so I just faked my way through and when she discovered I hadn't done my homework she called me out in front of the class by saying I couldn't afford not to do my homework with my low test grades.  I was almost painfully shy so that was awful.  I just gave up right then and there on her and math.  I barley squeaked by with a D in class.  I honestly don't know how I passed it at all!!!!

20×10^-1. Who was your favorite/least favorite math teacher? Why?
Well I think my least favorite math teacher should be obvious.  Yes, it's Mrs. Mosley and I went on to have her for algebra II as well.  Honestly all I remember doing to "teach" was sit at the damn overhead and do math problems while half the class slept.  And lets just say she wasn't nice to most people as I recall. The only reason I made it through algebra II was because of a friend of mine let me cheat off him all the time.  A shout out to Jesse Olley where ever he may be!! Thank you for letting me cheat off you!!
My favorite math teacher is a tie.  My sixth grade teacher was awesome all around.  She made me feel smart and normal, where many teachers had not because of my learning disability.  I think she and my special ed. teachers really helped to catch me up in 6th grade so that when I got to 7th grade in Jr high I was doing well.  But I also really remember liking Ms. Bell in Jr. high.  She was the one who thought I needed to be moved up in math.  And I even remember doing homework in her class because I actually understood it.

3×10^0. Is it okay to be bad at math if English is more your thing?
Of course!  English was way more my thing. I never struggled as much with English but I think because I loved to read so much.

0.4×10^1. How does this video make you feel?
Oh man at first I thought it was real!! And I was totally face palming but once I kept watching I just started laughing and think it's hysterical!

500×10^-2. What do you like/not like about math?
There is not much I like about math at all.  In fact I try to avoid it as much as possible.  I DO NOT understand doing sudoku for fun.  It's not fun it's torture.  I guess I would have have to say I like getting the answer right when I do have to do math.

0.006×10^3. What makes someone a nerd?
Well first of all I <3 nerds!  I am married to a big ol nerd.  I am a nerd in several ways too.  To me a nerd is someone who is smart/intellectual and somewhat socially inept.

7×10^0. Who is the nerdiest person you know?
James my hubby.  He loves math & computers.  He thinks it's fun to do math just for fun!  He's smart and watches random science fiction shows like Red Dwarf and loves them.

80×10^-1. What is the nerdiest thing you’ve ever done?
I've seen the original Star Wars movies (A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi) more times than I can count.  If I had to guess I would say I've seen each at least a few hundred times.  If I could get the time and money to go I would totally go to a Star Wars convention.

0.9×10^1. Do you think GraphJam is funny?
Totally think it's funny!

10×10^1. Have you ever used math outside of school?
Yes, I teach & have kids so I have to do math every single day weather it's teaching my students or working on homework with my son.

My week in Instagrams

I love Instagram.  It is far and away my new favorite app.  I use it almost everyday which gave me the idea to do my week in review using .......  wait for it .....  Instagram!

Monday

I took Marley to the park.  It was so cold that for most of the 2 hours we were there we were the only ones.  We had a good time though and she loves to swing!

Tuesday

Tuesday was Valentine's day.  My hubby had to work that night but he still brought me home some beautiful roses and we got to go out to lunch together.  The roses were such nice quality that they are still in the vase in my kitchen looking great!

Wednesday

Winter in southeastern NC is very indecisive!!  It was pretty darn cold Monday but by Wednesday it was in the upper 60's and nice enough to open the doors and windows for a bit in the afternoon.  My daughter Marley was enjoying the afternoon breeze so much she decided to have her snack and read a bit in front of the open front door!

Thursday

I had the lovely misfortune to get sick Thursday morning.  It was either a stomach bug or I had bad popcorn at the movies the night before.  But I threw up so much that I busted a bunch of blood vessles around my eyes.  I was trying to get a good picture but not sure I really captured how awful it looked!

Friday

I was feeling better by Friday so I went back to work and then joined my district leader for ONE and a few other ONE members for a screening of a documentary called Women in War Zones.  It was a very powerful film that left an impression on me.  Please take a minute to check out the websites for both Women in War Zones and ONE.org.  They are both well worth your time.

Ten on Tuesday

1. How do you feel about Valentine’s Day?
I think it's gotten a bit out of hand and very commercial but I like the idea of it.  I like telling my husband I love him and having a good excuse to go on a date.

2. Are you in love?
Oh yes!

3. What is your favorite love song?
In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel.  It is in fact the song James and I chose to dance to at our wedding since we didn't really have a song. 

4. Did your parents do anything for you on Valentine’s Day when you were a child?
They did.  I always remember getting a card, a little box of candy and some little gift.

5. What is your love language? (Click here if you want to take the quiz.)
OK I did the quiz and it's Acts of Service.  I really don't know much about it at all.

6. How do you celebrate Valentine’s Day? Gifts? Dinner?
James and I usually go out to dinner and he gets me a card and some flowers.  We have exchanged gifts in the past but we won't be doing gifts for each other this year.  We tired to line a babysitter but our sitter was out of town last weekend as well as my mom so we are just going to go to lunch together because both kids will be in school.

7. What is your favorite flower?
Roses are nice but my favorite are gerbera daisies.

8. What is your favorite love story? (Book and/or movie.)
Say Anything...
I love that movie so much! 

9. What is the most romantic thing someone has ever done for you? Or you have done for someone?
One year for Valentine's day way before we had kids, James printed out over 100 little strips of paper that said I Love You and placed them all over our old condo.  I came home from grad school to little I Love Yous all over the house.  It was so sweet and I was so touched.

10. How did you meet your spouse/significant other?
Honestly, we met on AOL.  You know way back in the 90's when most everyone was using AOL dial up!  Anyway we both were on AOL and I was living in Wilmington and he lived in a town about an hour and a half away but he was thinking of moving here.  Anyway he IM'd me to chat about Wilmington but I think it was just to flirt.  But we kept in touch through email and IM.  Then one day as were bitching about hating our retail jobs we discovered that we worked in different retails stores but ones in the same shopping center.  So we decided to meet.  I worked in the Cafe in Barnes & Noble and he come over one day on his lunch break at Walmart.  The plan was to talk a few minutes during a 15 min. break for me.  Well we sat down to talk and almost an hour later we were still talking!  We then went out on a date and we've been together ever since!

Ten on Tuesday

1. How do you feel about Groundhog’s Day?
Ehh... It's kinda fun for kids and the movie rocks but other than that it's pretty stupid.

2. What color are your fingernails right now? (Bonus points if you include a picture.)
Non-polished.  I just can't keep polish on my nails without chipping for more than 2 days so I just don't wear it.

3. Do you like riddles?
Nope.  When I can't solve them I just feel stupid.

4. When you were 10, how old did you think “old” was? At your current age, how old do you think “old” is?
People my grandparents age which would have been 60's.  I think 70's is getting pretty old now!

5. Do you wish on stars?
If I ever saw a shooting star I would.  But I've only ever seen one in my whole life.

6. Do you recycle?
Yes, we do. 

7. On a scale from 1-10, how good of a cook are you?
7 or 8.  But we are talking a non professional scale here.


8. Do you color your hair? Professionally or at home?
I don't color my hair anymore.  I used to before kids but it got expensive and well I don't have gray hair so there isn't a need to.

9. One a scale from 1-10, how do you rate your manners?
8.  I'm not prefect but I try.

10. Who are the last 5 people you have texted?
1. James (hubby)
2. Brittney (babysitter)
3. Kimmie (cousin)
4.  Ivy (friend)
5. Carole (mom)

Ten on Tuesday

1. What’s your variety of apple?
Honeycrisp but since it's only available in the fall I also like granny smith.  I am not a fan of red apples.  I just haven't found one I like.  I really like crisp crunchy apples.

2. Do you prefer Long-English or Field cucumbers?
I don't really have a preference.  I like all cucumbers.

3. Tomatoes – Delicious or disgusting?
DELICIOUS!!  I love tomatoes.  We always have grape tomatoes in our house.  The kids and I eat them like well grapes!

4. What’s one fruit or vegetable that you can’t stand and why is that?
I really just don't like sugar snap peas.  I like all other kinds of peas but just not that one.

5. What’s your favourite way to prepare veggies? (Grilled, boiled, roasted, sautéed, etc.)
I like them most anyway they can be cooked.  But my least favorite is boiled.  I steam them most often because it's the easiest.

6. Sweet potato pie: Love it or hate it?
Ehh.  I don't love it and I don't hate it.  But you have to understand I'm not southern.  Yes,  I live in the south but I was born in Colorado and lived there for a bit and my parents lived most of their lives there.  So I didn't grow up eating sweet potato pie.  In fact I don't think I had it for the first time until I was an adult.  I do like my mother-in-law's though.

7. What’s your favourite “style” of French fry? Wedges, shoelace, curly, crinkle-cut or other?
I'm not picky about fries.  I will eat them any way. 

8. What’s your favourite fruit-pie filling?
Cherry or strawberry rhubarb.

9. When you were a kid did your parents make you sit at the table until all your veggies were eaten off your plate?
No, I don't think so.  I think we always had to try it and eat a bite or two.

10. Do you drink veggie & fruit juice blends (such as V8, etc.) or make them yourself?
Sometimes.  I really like V8 I just don't buy it often.  

Fun with Instagram

I know I have posted about the fact that I love the Instagram app for my iPhone.  But I seriously do love it.  I find myself taking pictures of everyday things but it makes them new to me.  So here is a selection of the last week or so.  It also gives you snapshot of what I did for the last week.

 

 

 

Handful of stars for a baby mobile for my good friend Meg.

Two weeks ago my friends and I hosted a baby shower for a good friend and I of course wanted to make her a mobile but seeing as she is having a boy the flower mobile was out.  So I had been forming a star mobile in my head and so I cut up all the paper for it.  I made some of the smaller stars so she could see what it would look like.  I took the bigger sheets of paper to the shower and had all the guests write blessings for the baby on them.  I thought it was a nice way to put some good energy into the mobile.

My scrapbooking table at my weekend scrapping getaway!

Last weekend I went to a beach retreat scrapbooking weekend with two of my very best friends.  We spent all weekend scrapbooking and just having good girl time.  We did leave the hotel on Saturday night to go out to a nice dinner.

My awesome friends & fellow scrapbookers!

My lovely friend Meg & Me.

I have been trying to make myself go to bed earlier and when I do I am rewarded with this view from my bed.  I just love my star lantern,

The view of my star light from my bed.

I had started this star mobile almost a month ago and just had not had the time to finish it.  I decided I wanted to get it done so I could see what the finished mobile would look like.  I think it came out fantastic!!  It's much bigger than I had initially envisioned but I really liked it!  It was almost 3 1/2 feet long!

Brand new Star Mobile prototype!

I am alive!

There isn't a Ten on Tuesday today so I figured I would just sort of free form write.

My craft/art items are now available to be purchased in TWO places locally.  This excites me!!!  So if your in the Wilmington area you can see or purchase my stuff in Carolina Beach at Island Time Drop-n-Play or in Wilmington at Rockin Roller Salon and Boutique.

I went back to my teaching job last week after a very long break in December.  It was nice to be off but it was also nice to get back and see me students .... that is until Friday.  I can't and won't go into detail but one of my students cussed me out.  Fun times.  I understand my students have special needs but still....

My mom and step dad had us over to their house on Saturday to play Settlers of Catan.  It's the second time we've played it and it's a lot of fun.  I would never have thought I would like it but I do.  Now I just have to beat my mom.

My son lost another tooth the other day.  I must say he is a real baby about pulling teeth and it drives me nuts.  But I got to play tooth fair of course.

My daughter had her second dentist appointment yesterday.  I didn't get to go to the first because I was working and I major mommy guilt over it.  But I got to take her this time and I was so impressed with how good she did.  She sat so still and cooperated so well.  The hygienist kept telling me how awesome she was doing. She looked like such a big girl.

Ten on Tuesday

1. What did you get for Christmas?
I got lots of great stuff!  Most notably a gift certificate for a hair cut, a new pot and a Cricket cutting machine.

2. Have you taken down your Christmas decorations?
All but the tree and the outside lights.

3. What did you do for New Years Eve?
Not much.  James and I watched Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2 then had some champagne and watched the ball drop.  It was nice though.

4. Do you like accents?
I do except when James uses them in store on strangers because he thinks it's funny.

5. What kind of television do you have?
The one in the living room is a Sony Vizio. The rest of the TVs I have no clue.  I only know that one because I'm sitting in front of it.

6. Did you make any changes at the beginning of 2012?
Sort of.  I decided I was going to try and be more proactive with my Etsy business this year.  And I'm off to a good start ....  stay tuned!

7. What’s the last book you read and do you recommend it?
I think it was Mocking Jay the last book in the Hunger Games Trilogy.  I loved them so much that I've had a hard time picking up a new book and getting into it.  But I am in the middle of My Booky Wook by Russel Brand and it's just started to get good!
Oh and yes I would totally recommend Mocking Jay and all the Hunger Game books!  They are really, really good!

8. Do you stay current on celebrity gossip?
No,  I used to but I stopped getting Us magazine so I lost my easy access to celebrity gossip.

9. Do you know the words to Bohemian Rhapsody? Gangstas Paradise? Fresh Prince of Bel-Air?
I know all the words to Bohemian Rhapsody and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and could sing them on command without the song playing.  I could sing Gangstas Paradise if the song was on meaning I know it but not that well.

10. What is your favorite education television show?
If we are talking kids educational TV shows then it would be Sesame Street.  I grew up watching it and it's not annoying like a lot of the other kids TV shows I am forced to watch.