Goodbye summer time sweat!

(via...Just Another Mom?)

Dear Summer,
You are beautiful, yet fleeting. I've enjoyed the past two(ish) months with you. I have never been as lazy as I have been with you. You've given me too much time on my hands (aka blog addiction), the chance to sleep late (everyday), and the ability to nap (even though I had 8 hours of sleep the previous night.) You are beautiful, yet cruel. After today, our last day together, you are flinging me back into the real world, once again, of early mornings and long nights, stress (and the stress eating that usually accompanies it), and I must return to being a productive individual. I shall miss you, sweet Summertime, but will greet you again in 180ish days!

(But, I won't be too devastated. With your absence, my lover, aka college football season, returns! Hotty Toddy!)




Until we meet again, Summer, my darling, I bid thee a fond farewell!



X0X0,
~B

Bonjour!

(Just a little FYI: Today's blog is literally taken from an email I sent all of my gal-pal's this weekend. So, if they're reading this and are thinking "Hmmm...this sounds familiar", it's because you've read it already!)

Bonjour, mes amis!
(For those of you that didn't take french in high school, like moi, supposedly that means "hello, my friends!")

I am in a France-state-of-mind, people! I've decided that someway or somehow, I am going to move to a tiny village in the South of France, find a hot french husband, adopt a cute dog-friend, learn how to wear a scarf like all the french women, drink tons of french wine, eat an abundance of french cheeses with nice fresh baguettes, and make friends with charming french people pantomiming our conversations because they don't speak english and I don't speak a lick of french. (Except for a certain word that I learned from this tutorial on youtube. Although I have to make sure I use the right voice inflection so I don't offend my new french friends.)




I know. It sounds adventurous, doesn't it? Maybe a little too adventurous for a mademoiselle like moi??? You're probably all wondering what inspired this new life plan? Well, mes amis, it's because of this brillante (that's 'brilliant' in french!) little blog about a woman living out my new life dream:

(Go ahead...click on it! It'll take you straight to her blog. Yeah, that's right. I put the link in a picture. I'm fancy like that.)

I have been living vicariously through Sara this whole weekend, laughing out loud at her stories, and seriously craving some wine and cheese. I hope y'all enjoy it like I have! It's just too MERVEILLEUX not to share (According to google, that's 'marvellous'.)


From reading Sara's blog, I think I would fit in perfectly in Provence! Provence is located in the south of France...and I'm from the south. So, technically, I'd still be a southerner and supposedly their accents are so thick it's hard to understand them. Nothing new here!


I wonder if there's a french word for y'all?



Annnnnnnnnd, according to Sara, the French southerners are always late for everything.
SO AM I!
Punctuality is not my strong suit.
(Side note: our new sign in time at work is 7:00 in the AM...I don't know how I'm going to do it!)

The more I read her blog, the more I'm convinced I belong in France living the fabulous life. (Shhh...don't tell, but I've even looked at teaching at international schools in France, well, Paris, actually, but I think I could handle Paris!)

I hope y'all venture over to Le Petite Village and enjoy witty Sara's writings! And if I were y'all, I'd make sure I had some of this:

(rosé wine...the signature wine in Provence!)

~and~

Le fromage!

Now I can answer that snarky question thrown my way when I may, or may not be, in the best of tempers:
"Would you like some cheese with that whine???"

Why, yes. Yes, I would!


Mes amis, au revior!
~B

Love. This.

I found these words to be so powerful, I saved it and made it my desktop background.


See what I mean?

XoXo, my loves!
~B

Fruit of my Labor

Hello peeps!
The sneak preview on Tuesday was a SMASHING success. I'm pretty sure the whole county showed up to take a look at the latest and greatest school in our system. I also met some adorable future kindergartners that I am praying wind up on my class list. Tuesday evening definitely made me excited for the upcoming school year.

As promised, here are a few pictures of my new classroom:

I still have one more thing to put on the wall, my lily pad counting line to go under my lily pad number line. (Lots of lily pads, I know. But soooo cute.) I'm waiting on it to come in the mail. And, of course, as the year progresses, I'll have lots of student work to display and anchor charts that my class and I make together to hang on the walls.

So, there ya go, the fruit of my hard work from the last week. Hopefully, I won't have to move again for a good, long time.

Can I just mention really quickly my summer obsession?

I am, literally, obsessed with this show.
I believe that inside me, lives the soul of a dancer, but the outside me, is just a clumsy dancing fool. My favorite dancers this season are:

Melanie Moore
(How can you not love a fellow Georgia gal that rocks an adorable pixie cut???) She is hands down the best female dancer on this show. She's just UH-mazing. She got to dance with my love-uh, Pasha, last night. I was a little worried because it was the waltz and it's my least favorite ballroom dance, but it was STUNNING! She's going to be in the finale, I'm sure of it.

~and~

Marko Germar.
He's seriously the best male dancer of this season.
Also, he's from Guam! Who's from Guam!? I've never met a Guamanian. Love it!
And also? He's humble. Last night he kicked some major butt in a latin-dance-I-don't-know-the-name-of with the all-star Chelsea Hightower and the judges completely sang his praises and he left the stage with tears in his eyes! SO SWEET! I also think he'll be with Melanie in the finale.

Here they are doing a lyrical hip-hop routine as partners. The story of the dance is so sweet and I remember feeling a rush of emotion the night they performed it...



Well, that's all for today folks. I'm off to go do some dancing in my bedroom where no one can see me!

Xoxo, my loves.
~B

Truths for Mature Humans

Word.

Xoxo, my loves.
~B

Summer, summer, summer timeeeeeeee.....

...is quickly drawing to a close for me. And this is how I feel:

People think being a teacher is loaded with lots of perks. Like, for example,
two months off in the most sweltering of months where one can
sleep in late...

(I do this one really well!)

~OR~

getting to lounge by the pool while working on your tan...


(Oh, yeah...I forgot: I don't tan. I burn. REALLY bad. Ouch. )


Thank God for this:


And there's the perk of being generally stress-free after a chaotic year of educating America's youth.


And for most, that's all true. Except when the month of July rolls around and subconsciously or not, you begin the count down of how many days of sweet freedom you have left until you return to school. For me, the countdown began when I started to see all of the back-to-school supplies out in Wal-Mart.


A mixture of both excitment and dread hit me like a ton of bricks. (I'm pretty sure excitement won out.) Why? BECAUSE I'M MOVING TO A BRAND-SPANKING NEW SCHOOL!

And I get to teach my beloved Kindergarten again!!!

My beautiful, state-of-the-art new school is having a community preview this coming Tuesday and ,of course, I volunteered to have my room ready because I wanted to get that sucker DONE! So, for the past four days, I have been working tirelessly in my new classroom unpacking, organizing, moving furniture, hanging up posters and alphabets, etc. and it's about 80% done. I'm going to head over there in the next hour to slave away some more. When it's all finished, I'll take some pictures and post them up here so y'all can see the fruit of my labor!

I really am so excited to work at my new school. Everyone I've met feels the same and they're all just so nice! Now, I can't wait to meet all of my sweet little kindergarten friends!

(Did I mention we're having The Varsity truck at our Sneak Preview on Tuesday? I love that place!)

Well, I'm off, my friends!

XoXo, my loves!
~B

Eeek!

Yeah. Hmm. I kind of suck at blogging?
And my little bloggy plant is so dead and brown.
And when you have a dead plant...

You've got to throw it out.

And get something new and pretty and pink instead!
(And who doesn't LOVE hydrangeas!?!)


(I love, love, love them.)


So, people...


Shall we?






Xoxo, my loves.
-B

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

Hello, y'all!
This is my first ever "WILW" post and I would like to dedicate this post to two amazing co-workers: Melissa W. for her strength in facing the unknown, and Jennifer S., for her inspiring display of true friendship and dedication.


What I'm Loving Wednesday...
This Wednesday just further proved why I'm in love with all of my co-workers. I happen to work at a school where all of the faculty and staff are truly a family. Today, I saw over 50 people and 700 students rally around one of our own 4th grade teachers, Melissa W. Melissa, along with her older sister, were both recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Melissa is an amazing teacher that truly loves her students and she's probably one of the nicest, most genuine people ever. If you ever need anything, have a question, or just want to chat, she's there. She also has the most adorable little son, Jackson, and I can tell that she's a fantastic mother because her son is the sweetest boy I've ever met. He's truly a reflection of his momma.

Her team member and best friend, Jennifer S., immediately went into action when the news got out that Melissa was diagnosed with breast cancer and started forming a plan for our school family to show support for Melissa. The plan was that on her last day with us (today), we'd all wear a pink t-shirt with the Super Man logo that had a "W" in the middle with the phrase "Ward off Cancer" (a play off her last name) above it. Her students would even wear pink to show their support for their teacher. We also wanted to raise money to by her a Kindle because she loves to read and didn't want to lug around tons of books to her chemo treatment. In true OHES fashion, we raised more than enough and were able to get her a nice PINK leather case, an amazon gift card, and a few other items for her. But yesterday, Jennifer took it a step further and had her hair stylist add a HOT PINK stripe in her hair.

Seeing that hot pink stripe in her blonde hair inspired a trend that took off like a wild fire in our school. Another teacher had a tube of temporary hot pink hair color and volunteered her services as an impromptu hair stylist this morning. Just about every faculty member got a streak of pink in their hair, including moi! The icing on the cake was when Mr. H, one of our three male teachers that just happens to be a little bald on top, decided that since he lacked the hair required for a pink stripe, he'd color his beard. The final product was simply amazing!

Melissa's husband was in on the action and persuaded her that Dr. G, our principal, had given him the okay to take her out to a nice breakfast and come in an hour late. This way, everyone would be in their pink shirts and she'd walk in to the surprise! This afternoon, we gathered for a "faculty meeting" and presented Melissa with her gifts and sweet words and well wishes were said. Afterward, we all joined hands and said a prayer for her surgery to go well tomorrow. I could truly feel the power of our prayer and the well-wishes in that room. If love could ever be tangible, it was this afternoon. It was all very emotional and I can promise you that there wasn't a dry eye in the place. With our watery eyes and sniffling noses, we all went out to the atrium and took a group shot. Pictured below, is my amazing work family! Melissa is in the center with a dark pink shirt and I'm behind her to the left. If you look closely, you can see all of our streaks of pink hair!


I would like to ask if you would please keep Melissa and her family in your thoughts and prayers. I know they are in mine!

Today has truly been an inspirational, bittersweet, and loving day. I got to witness a true display of friendship, a community of people coming together to support one of our own, and one woman's strength and bravery as she begins her journey in her fight against breast cancer. Melissa, please know that your OHES family will be with you every step of the way!

And, that my dear readers, is what I'm loving this Wednesday.


XOXO, my loves!
B

I love NBC Thursday Nights....

"Calzones are a terrible idea. They're pizza...just harder to eat!"
--Leslie Knope

Every episdoe of Parks and Rec that I watch, I become more convinced that Leslie Knope and I may share several of the same personality traits as well as at least a 1/4 of a brain.

Also, Ron Swanson in braids and a kimono with the middle of his mustache missing????
Yeeeeeee haaaaw!

Now, off to watch tonight's 30 Rock. Quotes of the night so far (and in the first 5 minutes to boot)....
Candaian bell hop: "And may I ask, what's so wrong aboot being from Canada?"
Jack: "If Canada is so nice and friendly, why does most of our meth come from YOUR Asian drug rings?"
Avery: "Are we not even making our own meth!?! What is happening to American manufacturing!?!?!"

HA!


{And yes, I realize I haven't updated in a million and one years. I will update soon...ish.}


XOXO, my loves!
B

I think my plants are a little parched...

Wowza. It feels like it's been ages since I've updated and to all of my nine followers (WOW! Nine people actually read my blog and follow it! I'm so honored. Thank you!), I sincerely apologize for the lack of action. This post is going to be a little "sprinkling" so to speak because this week has been super crazy and I'm fairly certain my brain is about to go on strike. So, without further ado, I'm going to post the most adorable thing I've seen in a very long time. My heart simply melts whenever I see this little pup.




That's all for tonight folks! I hope that you all soon get a dose of joy like little Iso...

XOXO, my loves!
B

Uh, someone left her game face at home!

Today was a rainy Tuesday. I believe it started at midnight and lasted all day. I love the rain, especially when it's raining while I'm sleeping. There's nothing better than a hunkering down in a comfy, warm, bed...except when you wake up late on a rainy morning because your multiple alarm clocks couldn't pull you out of your slumber! (Just to let you know, I'm great in bed. I could sleep for days!)

Due to my inability to rise and shine, I had a very important decision to make this morning, people: be late to school or go the day without my cosmetics.

Being the ever semi-responsible adult, I chose to go without my mascara, rouge, powder, and lip gloss. I spent the whole day BARE FACED and I can tell that it truly affected my day. I was out of sorts, addle brained, just all over the place. It was terrible. I've learned a lesson from the icon of fashion Miss Coco Chanel. There's a quote by Coco that I think may become my life motto:

"I don't understand how a woman can leave the house without fixing herself up a little - if only out of politeness. And then, you never know, maybe that's the day she has a date with destiny. And it's best to be as pretty as possible for destiny."

Oh, Coco, truer words have never been spoken. (I really need to remember them on Saturday mornings when I have to run errands. So easy to slip on a hat and some sweats.) Speaking of the fa-boosh, Ms. Chanel, I simply must recommend the french biopic flick, Coco before Chanel with Audrey Tautou. It's très magnifique! It made me want to hop on a plane to Paris and buy Rosetta Stone to learn how to speak French. (Both are things that I seriously want to do!)

It is almost 9 P.M. and I must take dear Coco's advice to heart. I shall now head to bed to get my beauty rest so that I can wake up on time and "fix myself up a little" in the morning (just in case I have my date with destiny tomorrow!).

Bonne nuit, mes amies!

-XOXO-
B

Good gravey...

Who misspells the title of their blog? Or who would ever post a title that's incorrect and never bother to double check?

Me.

I'm the ding dong. It's supposed to be "Ramblings-On", not "Rambling-Ons". Dang it all to heck. (I'm trying really hard not to embarrass my mother by cursing on my blog. I wish I could say that I've never uttered a profane word in my life, but then my nose would be incredibly long like Pinocchio's because I'd be a liar.)

Needless to say, I'm full of chagrin right now. But, to be quite honest, this is very typical of me. On the outside, I look very put together. I make sure that my hair's teased a little bit, powder is on my nose, my clothes/jewelry/shoes are all color coordinated, and that I've at least sprayed half a bottle of Downey Wrinkle Releaser on my clothes to get the wrinkles out (I don't believe in ironing.) But the rest of me...I'm such a mess. Seriously. You just have to take one look at my teacher's desk at the end of the day, along with my closet, to get that organizational skills are not my forte. I don't believe in putting things away. I believe in putting things in nice little stacks so that I appear to be organized and know what the heck is going on. That's just my style, my method to my madness.

So...yeah. I'll hopefully be changing the title to my blog, but I'm keeping the same address. Besides, I think it gives this blog some character and Lord knows I love some character...

XOXO, my loves!
-B

J-E-T-S! Jets, Jets, Jets, and Cheese.

{Man, I'm really into hydrating my blog today. I promise this one will be quick.}

I love football. I love college football and I love NFL football. Sadly, my Falcons were decimated by the Packers and crushed our Super Bowl hopes. Well, there's always next year. I have a secret to tell you and I've only shared it with a few people. I'm fairly certain that I'm psychic. It's true. I love making predictions, and, according to my predictions with Miss America in years past (I kick butt predicting the Top 15, Top10, Top 5, etc, etc), I'm pretty darn good at it. I claim an 87.5% success rate. (I like to leave a little room for growth.)

Here are my predictions for the AFC and NFC champs of 2011.

For the NFC, the new Champions will be...


The Cheese Heads, aka, the Green Bay Packers. Sorry, Dikta. Maybe Da Bears can do it next year. Let's face it, Aaron Rodgers and his Cheddar boys are just too hungry for that Lombardi. They're going all the way this year and will leave everyone behind in their cheeto dust.

As for the AFC champions, drum roll please...

THE JETS! J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS! And, again, lets face it. The Jets are long overdue and any team that can defeat Tom-Justin Beiber Hair- Brady's team will get my support.

Sorry, Polamalu.
(You still have great hair, though!)

Let's see if I'm right. (I'm 87.5% sure I am.)

You have to water your plants...

The amazing blog goddess, or bloggess (get it? haha), Ree Drummond, aka The Pioneer Woman, gave ten very useful tips on helping a blog to grow. Tidbit #2 is one that I found to be applicable to my little blog...

2. Blog often.
Whether you write a sixteen-paragraph essay about the cosmic implications of a free market system, a one-paragraph description of what happens to your soul when you walk into your godforsaken laundry room, or a simple photo and caption, consider your blog a precious bloom that requires daily nurturing.

And watering.

If you water a plant once every two weeks, it will shrivel.

{Here is the link to her blog: http://thepioneerwoman.com/}

Here's the thing. I'm terrible at watering plants. It's a true story. I have killed many-a-plants. One time, I even forgot that I had a plant in my bedroom! It was tucked away in a corner, sitting nice and quietly. Shriveled. Brown. And as dead as a doornail. Oops. My bad.

My name is Blair and I am a plant killer. Rest in peace, bedroom plant.

Despite my plant murdering skills, I'm determined not to let this blog meet a similar fate! In fact, to give my blog some much needed blog food, I've decided to post about....Things That Made Me Happy This Week! Let's get on with the show, shall we?

THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY THIS WEEK:

1. Chocolate.

More specifically, Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" chocolate cake. Sadly, the cake pictured above is not a picture of the one I made. Although mine may not have been pretty, it tasted yummy. I made it on Martin Luther King Day (Happy B-day, MLK!) in celebration of Dr. King and his birthday. Ok. Not really. I made it because I was having a chocolate craving something fierce. It was delicious and now it is gone. Thank God.

2. NBC's Thursday night comedy line-up. More importantly, PARKS AND REC IS BACK!!!

I find laughter to be one of the most important things in life. If you can make me laugh genuinely then you're instantly added to my "I like you" category of people I know (and if you're a man, your attractiveness points go up. Big time. Remember that fellas.) My favorite shows on Thursday night are Community, Parks and Recreation, and 30 Rock. All three of these shows have incredibly strong casts and their writers are just brilliant.

I think that Parks and Recreation just happens to be one very underrated little show. It's hysterical and heart-warming at the same time. While it is similar to The Office in it's style (a work-based mocumentary), it's completely different. In fact, I think it's better than The Office (a show which I've never been that big a fan of period.) One of the reasons I love it so much is that it's central character, Leslie Knope, is one strong female. While she is the main character, like Michael Scott, the similarities stop there. She's ambitious, well-meaning, a heart the size of Texas, and she's down-right lovable. Also, funny as heck. It's true.

Let's take a look at Example A, shall we?

The other reason this show is the bomb? Ron-freaking-Swanson played by the man with the mustache, Nick Offerman.

Boo-lah-boo-lah-boo-lah!

Now, enough of my favorite shows (for now.) Moving on...

3. Burt's Bees Lip Balm.

This cold weather is brutal to my lips and causes them to get chapped. What do I use for relief? This little beauty right here...

There is nothing better that slathering this stuff on parched lips and feeling that oh-so-amazing cooling sensation. It's pure heaven. Really. Just ask my lips.

4. My little pup, Lily.




She's so obnoxiously cute and is in dire need of a good grooming. I'm fairly certain that there will be a post soon about the crazy antics of this little pup.

5. Country Strong.






I just saw this movie yesterday, and y'all. It's fantastic. I don't want to give away the plot, but trust me when I say, don't judge this movie by it's trailer. It's pretty dark and deals with some heavy issues. Although the movie is being marketed as it being all about Gwyneth Paltrow's character Kelly Canter, it's not really. It's about Beau Hutton's story. Beau is played by Garrett Hedlund and he simply took this role and ran with it. He's the true star, aside from the music of course, which was beautiful. I bought the soundtrack and haven't stopped listening to it. Leighton Meester and Tim McGraw also gave stellar performances as well. I was very impressed. Go see it. You won't be sorry.

Well, I think that's it for today. I've watered my blog, metaphorically speaking!


XOXO, my loves!
B

Hello, world! It's me!

Why, hello there, my blue berries! (If you catch that pop culture reference, I'll give you a metaphorical cookie!)

I've done it. I've gone and done it (No, not that kind of 'it'. Get your minds out of the gutter. Lawd.) I've started a blog people! This is exciting, momentous, marvelous and all other kinds of synonyms for the previous three words. I finally get the chance to share with you my rather simple, mundane, but sometimes thrilling life (and I use those terms loosely). Yes, I know. You can barely contain your excitement. Trust me, I understand how you feel. I feel the same way!

I'm not 100% certain what I'm going to post on here. It'll mostly be trail and error until I get in the swing of things. But I can promise you that it'll be a little this and a little that and hopefully entertaining to my dear readers (Hi, mom and dad!).


So, that's it for my introductory post. Expect a post later in the week about the most adorable pup ever known to man and her adventures in destroying my bedroom like a hurricane. She's also an expert tail chaser.

Until then...

XOXO my loves!
B