I Get To Shop?

I made it to the gym this morning and logged 6 miles on the treadmill. I hate the treadmill. I like running outside better.

There are some benefits to the treadmill. It forces you to stay on pace. Well, unless you want to be that person who falls off the machine because it is going faster than you are. I will admit that the thought of that humiliation is enough to keep my fat butt moving.

Another good thing about the treadmill is TV. Watching TV while running is pretty cool. I would be completely clueless on world events without the treadmill TV. Since my home TV has been taken over by a 2 1/2 year old who watches Noggin and Disney Channel most of the time, I don't get to watch much CNN.

Overall, I would rather run outside. I like the fresh air, the changing scenery, and the feeling of going somewhere, even if it is just a big circle.

But, today's post is about shopping.

Who would have thought that my decision to run a marathon would require me to empty my wallet? You would imagine that all you need to do is throw on some shorts and a tee shirt, lace up your sneakers, and run.

No sir, it is not that easy. Running a marathon requires more gear than trekking up the face of Everest!

So, being serious about this marathon thing, finally, I decided that I had best head out and get myself some of this gear. This is when I discovered 'The Running Store'. No shit, a whole store just for people who run! Apparently, there are several different running stores out there. I got very lucky and a store opened just a few miles from the house right before I decided to start this nonsense. So, I went to The Big Peach Running Company to get my stuff.

Getting running gear is a real bottom up activity. You have to start with the feet, or the shoes on the feet to be precise. The running store has shoe experts, because not all shoes are created equal. Before they sell you shoes, they put you through the paces. They had me run on a treadmill in the store while they video my feet. Then, we watched the video and they talked about my stride and stuff. Then they had me stand on a pad that measures where your weight rests on your feet. Then they brought me three pairs of shoes to try.

Do not skimp on your shoes! Do not buy the cute shoes! Get the shoes that they recommend and that are comfortable. I really wanted pink shoes, but it was not to be. I knew I was going to log many hours and miles in these shoes, so they needed to be good. It doesn't matter that the shoes cost as much as a car payment, I would spend more time in them than I do in my car anyway. The real kicker (ha ha) is that I will need to get new shoes in another month or so. Apparently, you can only run about 200-250 miles in your shoes before you need new shoes!

Next was the running skirt. I decided that I would go with the skirt with compression shorts underneath. No one needs to see this butt in only compression shorts! I was totally thinking of my fellow marathoners on that choice.

Now we need a shirt. I learned an important phrase, "Cotton is rotten." Even though I love all natural materials in most of my clothes, for running, synthetics are better. Since I sweat like a leaky faucet, I knew I would have to go with the moisture wicking material. BTW: there is only so much moisture that it can wick, trust me!

You would think that now I was ready to run.

Nope!

I still needed a water bottle holder, sport beans, gu, shot blocks, and body glide.

Of all of this stuff, the body glide may be the most important. It looks like deodorant, but you rub it on all the spots where you may chafe. Because running = chaffing. Lots of chaffing. Really uncomfortable chaffing. Chaffing in spots where no one ever wants to chafe.

All in all, shopping at the running store is not nearly as much fun as shopping at the Gap. But, since the running store has all my money, I won't be at the Gap any time soon!

I Was Running!

So, it was exactly 2 years ago today that I started this blog. And, not too long after that when I abandoned this blog. It isn't that I don't have anything to say, I just got busy. And, the longer I went without posting, the easier it seemed to just let the blog die. I had no intention of resurrecting my long dead blog until recently.

Several months ago I did something that is just insane. I registered for a marathon. Yes, a marathon. As in, 26.2 miles. At once. Without stopping. I printed out the paperwork, set it aside, and promptly put the whole thing out of my mind. After all, it was March and the marathon wasn't until January. I had time. No worries.

Then I stopped going to the gym regularly. I had three kids, I had just started working outside the house, I started my own business, I had no time.

Before I knew it, it was the end of May. School was out and we were off to Disney World! Woo Hoo! After that trip, we went up to New Jersey so I could see Bon Jovi in Central Park. Damn right I had to be there! Now it was July. I really couldn't put off thinking about this marathon thing for much longer. But it was summer, and the kids were home, and I was busy. So, I put it off a bit longer.

Then, August rolled around and the kids were going back to school. I had to get up and drive my oldest in each morning and his school is only a couple of miles from the gym and the gym has childcare for the baby. It would seem that it was time for me to move my ass. So, on August 11th the kids went back to school and I started to train for the marathon.

It has been two months since I started this insanity and there have been plenty of ups and downs. There have also been some crazy stories. So far, I have run over 100 miles and I haven't actually gotten anywhere. What bullshit!

So, I decided that I should start writing about this nonsense. I was going to start a new blog, but when I started to think of a name for the blog, this one just seemed perfect. What could be crazier than running over 26 miles? How about running over 200 miles to train for the 26? I am officially insane! I will use this space to discuss my insanity as well as rant on other issues as they come up.

Up next, shopping!

Why did I move to Georgia?

This is the only good reason to move to Georgia:


That is a picture of upstate NY after all the snow they had. Meanwhile, it has been sunny and in the 70's here in Georgia. The question is, "Is that enough to make living in the South worth it?"

Spelling Lessons?

Can someone please tell me what the world has come to when she is teaching our youth to spell?

It started out with Fergalicious, which isn't even a real word. Now it is Glamorous, which at least is a real word. But really, do we need to learn to spell from hip-hop song lyrics? And, if this is where our youth will turn for spelling lessons, can't we pick some better words? How about antidisestablismentarianism? I understand that it may be difficult to fit into a 3 minute and 11 second song, but at least kids will know how to spell it and they may even be driven to dictionary.com to look it up!

How about getting some hip-hop artists to sing a little School House Rock. I, for one, would pay good money for a little Justin Timberlake singing Conjunction Junction. Or, how about Christina Aguilera singing Interplanet Janet? If our children are going to learn from music, let's make sure they get a complete lesson. Hey, maybe the artists will even learn a little something in the process!

The Most Wonderful Sound in the World

As some of you may know, the baby has been very sick. It all started last Wednesday, one week ago today. He was fine during the day, so I went off to work in the afternoon like I do every Wednesday. When he woke up from his nap, he had a bottle and then threw up. The sitter thought that maybe he had just been a little too active after the bottle since he seemed happy enough. Then he ate dinner, and threw up all over the sitter! The poor girl, I don't pay her enough to deal with that! When my hubby got home, the baby threw up on him too. He was still feeling sick when I got home, but he was playing nicely and in good spirits. I figured it was just a little bug and that he would be fine in a day or two.

Boy, was I wrong. He just got sicker and sicker! Thursday he threw up just about everything that went into him. I was giving him tiny little bits of water in hopes that he would keep it down. He threw up several times each night. On Friday morning I called the doctor. I was sure this was not a 24 hour bug. We scheduled the earliest appointment we could, 4:20 in the afternoon. By this time, he was not keeping anything down at all and he was not in good spirits. He would just lay on my lap moaning. It was so sad! I was crying. I just wanted to make my baby feel better. He got more and more lethargic and I got more and more worried. Finally, I called the doctor's office again to try to move up the appointment. After I talked to the nurse, she told me that I needed to take him to the hospital. By now, I was sobbing. I called my hubby home from work and we went to the emergency room.

He was severely dehydrated. He needed an IV. Because he is so little and he is a bit cubby, his veins are hard to find. It took them 3 tries to find a vein, all as my poor baby screams from being stuck so much. They also needed a urine sample. To do this they needed to use a catheter. More screaming. They needed to check his glucose levels, by sticking him in his foot. It was awful. When they finally got the IV in, he just passed out in my arms. The poor little thing. Once he was hydrated and they had ruled out many illnesses, they sent us home. They were still waiting for some test results, but they would take a couple of days to come in, so we were able to take him home. Friday night was pretty rough, but on Saturday morning, he seemed to have stopped throwing up. Yea! We are finally done!

Well, on Saturday the diarrhea really got going. We went through about 30 diapers. Whatever went in, came out the same way. He was drinking a lot of pedialite and gatorade, so his stool was like water. His little booty was so red. We kept putting on cream, but he was just getting changed so much. We called the ER to see what we should do. They said that as long as he wasn't throwing up, he should be fine. In the afternoon, he threw up again. But, he had been drinking a lot of gatorade just before it happened, so I figured he was just too full. Then around 11pm he threw up again. We were worried enough that we loaded him into the car and back to the ER. It was a long night. They didn't admit him, but they gave us some very detailed instructions. While we were there, he had a reasonably solid bowel movement, and I crossed my fingers that it was over.

Sunday brought back the vomiting. Not as bad, but pretty bad. He just laid in my arms looking so miserable and pathetic. The only thing that seemed to stay down and help him feel better was nursing. Monday, still vomiting. But around 1pm it seemed to stop. OK, fingers crossed again. Please let this be the end. Please let him be better!

Tuesday morning he was in better spirits. He smiled. He started to play. Then I heard it, the most wonderful sound in the world, he giggled! God how I had missed that sound. I started to cry, I was so happy. He still wasn't 100%, but what a difference. His symptoms had slowed down and were more manageable. We only went through about 12 diapers. He was finally on the mend.

Today he seems to be done with all of his symptoms, I hope. He ate a good breakfast and he is playing again. I am thanking God for bringing my sweet baby back. We will play a lot today so that I can hear more of that wonderful sound.

My School is better than your school.........not!

I recently decided to convert my New Jersey teacher certification to a Georgia teacher certification. I did not think that this would be a very big deal. After all, New Jersey had given me certification as both a Middle and High School Social Studies teacher and as a Elementary Teacher. I won the New Jersey Commissioner of Education's Outstanding Teacher Candidate Award (they only gave out 16 that year in the whole state), I had several years experience in both middle and high school, and Georgia needs teachers. How hard could it possibly be to get certified?

Once I got off my butt and sat down with the paperwork, I was surprised. I was able to get everything started online. I put together copies of my certification and transcript and sent it off. The first response tht I got said that I needed to send 'official copies' of my transcripts. Here is my first aggravated moment. Did the Georgia Department of Education really think that New Jersey had certified me to teach without my having a college degree? Also, they had 'unofficial copies' so what is the big deal. But, I got on the phone with my college and found out that they will not do a transcript request by phone or by fax, only in person on by mail. Since I now live about 800 miles from there, I decided to send in my request by mail, along with the check for the $6 fee. What is up with that? The $25,000+ each year that they got from me as a student wasn't enough? Are you really going to tell me that it costs them $6 to mail a couple of sheets of paper with a stamp on them? The county college I went to was able to send out my transcripts with a fax request, for free!

So now all I could do was wait. Every week or so, I would hop online to check the status of my application. It continued to be on hold while they waited for my transcripts. Finally, I call my college again. They have no record of my request. I check my bank, and the check has not been cashed. OK, now I am really annoyed. I call my dad and ask him to go over there and do the request in person. He calls me while he is there to tell me they need my signature. I told him to just go out to the car 'where I was waiting'....wink, wink...nudge, nudge...and I would sign it. So, he forged my name and the papers were filed.

This was right before Christmas, so I figured by the time we got back from Disney, everything would be set. I get online, and still no transcript. I call the Georgia DOE, they have no record of it. I call my college, again. They sent it out, and...the Georgia DOE sent a response card that they had received the transcript! I call the Georgia DOE back and the person I speak to takes my number and promises to look into it and call me back. Miracle of miracles, she calls back to tell me that she found my transcript and was entering it into my file. Woo Hoo! Now I will have my Georgia certification.

Or not. I just got a letter in the mail about my certification. I am approved for a non-renewable certificate. I can only get this certificate when I am hired by a Georgia school. To get my regular, renewable certificate I need to take some classes, a computer test, and a couple of content tests. Are you kidding me? This state is desperate for good teachers. Test scores are in the toilet. Education is a bit of a joke throughout most of the state. Here I am a certified, experienced, award-winning teacher, and I am not good enough. I taught in a state that is has some of the highest ranked schools in the country. I taught in a state that has much higher test scores and standards. Do they really think that I can't hack it in the backwoods, redneck, hick-ass Georgia schools?!

I tutor h

ere. I have seen the quality of the Georgia education system. They should be bending over backwards and kissing my ass in hopes that I will teach here. Half the teachers here probably look like this:

All in all, it is total crap, but I will cope because I have to!

Christmas, and Disney, and Bad Chinese...Oh My!

Hi all! First of all, I want to apologize for not posting in so long. Life got totally crazy, but now everything is settling back down to normal.

First we had the holidays. In our house we celebrate Christmas and Chanukah so it was a bit hectic for a couple of weeks. We didn't go crazy with gifts this year, the trip to Disney was the big holiday gift. The kids did get a few things, mostly Disney themed to go with the trip. My hubby would say that I bought too much. Both kids got $100 in Disney Dollars, $50 from us and $50 from my brother-in-law. It was nice that they had their own money for the trip.

Christmas was hard for me this year. It was strange not having any family around. It just didn't feel like Christmas. I was pretty depressed all day. I had bought a nice chicken to roast for a family dinner, but when I opened it up it had gone bad! I was really upset because according to the date it should have been fine. My hubby started to look up places to eat on the internet, but I didn't want to spend an arm and a leg on meal right before our trip. We ended up going to the diner and we had a great meal! I was really surprised. My six year old ordered pancakes and they came out shaped like Mickey Mouse. He was so excited. "How did they know we were going to Disney?" Too cute.

The day ended up being nice, but I don't want to do another lonely Christmas. Next year we are going back to New Jersey to celebrate with all of our family and friends.

We left for disney on New Year's Eve. What a great trip! We did so much and had so much fun. I love it there. We are already planning to go back in two years.




I could post a ton of pics, there are so many that came out good. We got in on NYE but we didn't go out. We spent a quiet night at the condo, or as quiet as a small condo with 7 people can be, and went to bed early so that we could be up and out early the next morning. On 1/1 we were at the Magic Kingdom when it opened. If you are going to do Disney and want to enjoy the rides with no lines, you have to get there when the parks open. We rode many rides multiple times that we would have had to wait on lines for later in the day. Our favorites in the Magic Kingdom were Pirates of the Carribean, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, and Buzz Lightyear. We had a great day. We did Epcot that night, but it rained.

On 1/2 we hit the Animal Kingdom and the new coaster, Everest! It was great. My 12 year old ended up riding it 8 times! We were having a good day here when it started to pour. We headed out, but we were all soaked. On 1/3 we did Epcot and it was great. We all loved the new ride, Soarin. So much fun. My 6 year old rode it 4 times! The new show, Turtle Talk with Crush, was great and my son got picked to ask Crush a question. And, we won Dream Fast Passes as part of the year of a million dreams! It was so cool to win something, the boys were really excited.After Epcot we went to MGM to see the night show, Fantasmic. It started to rain and about 1/2 way through they cancelled the show. It was a bummer. My 6 year old was crying and saying it was the worst day of his life. He is such a drama queen. Oh well, we will try again next time.


On 1/4 we were going to have a break but because of the rain we decided to keep going. We spent the morning at MGM and had a great time. The boys loved the Star Wars ride. My parents and 12 year old won Dream Fast Passes AGAIN when they were on the Tower of Terror. I loved the Beauty and the Beast show. After MGM we headed over to Epcot for dinner and Illuminations, the night show. It was cool. A good day all around.

On 1/5 we went back to the Animal Kingdom. The weather was fine, but the baby was sick. He threw up twice, once on my poor hubby, so we didn't do as much as I wanted to. But, the boys got to ride Everest, and this time even my 6 year old went on! We did a few other rides and the Safari. It was a good day.

On 1/6 we had our last day. We spent it in the Magic Kingdom, my favorite park. We did a bunch of rides, took a break, then came back for the Spectromagic Parade and fireworks. It was a great way to end the trip.

When we got home on Sunday afternoon, there was nothing to make for dinner, so we decided to order out. We got Chinese and by two in the morning we were getting sick. The boys ended up missing two days of school. We were all miserable. Thank God the baby didn't eat the food! I think it will be a long time before we get Chinese again.

Today, everyone is back in school, the baby is napping, and I am sad. I miss them, and I miss being at Disney. Reality sucks.