Friday, September 18, 2009

"Phd in Grammatical Studies"

So I assigned my students a grammar worksheet to work on parts of speech.  It was a little more difficult because it was advertisement slogans rather than complete sentences. I wanted it to be more challenging because it makes them actually think about what part of speech each word actually functions as in that phrase.....Anyway, one of my students came to class today and we had an interesting conversation.
Student:  This homework was so hard.  My mom got a Phd in grammatical studies and she didn't get it!  
Mrs. E:  Really??  Your mom got a Phd in grammatical studies?  Wow!
Student:  Ummmmm..... or something like that!  

Yeah kid, "something like that."  Could it have been linguistics, semantics, or anything else.  because maybe I am wrong, but I am sorry cuz I don't think there are  any Phds out there for "grammatical studies." AND if there are, what a seriously LAME Phd.  What do you study, the philosophy of grammar?  I wanna know what she wrote her dissertation on?  Commas?  Great to hear the kids say later as we graded it, "I can't wait to show my mom how wrong she was on this worksheet!"  Really, so she does your homework for you?  Maybe if your mom with a Phd in grammatical studies doesn't "get" a worksheet copied straight out of a middle school grammar book, then she is in the wrong line of work.....or her education was a bit fat waste of time.  
The End

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

It's been awhile...

It has been awhile since I wrote on this blog, but summer is over, school has begun, and I have a stuff to say and once again do not want to taint our wholesome family blog with my opinions, ramblings, and ventings.  More to come, but for now here is my first entry in awhile.  

This is what happens when you let husband's dress themselves! :)

Friday, June 5, 2009

Done, D-O-N-E, Done!

I am DONE with work for the summer!  Whoo hoo!!  I feel like I am 20 lbs lighter!  (Wish I literally was!)  Anyway, I survived my first year of teaching.  Let's just say, it has to go up from here! :)

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

3 days and counting....

Only 3 days of work left and I can't wait!  I am way more excited to be out for the summer, as a teacher, then I ever was as a student!  Yay summer!  Only one more stack of portfolios left to grade.....

Thursday, May 28, 2009

A couple of pounds and bring on the summer time!!

LIfe is trucking along at a crazy speed it seems.  I cannot believe I am already nearing my first completed year of teaching!  It seems like I just started, but there were also times when I never thought I would make it to the end of the year!  I am a bit torn at the end of this school year.....I already signed my contract, so I will be teaching again next year.  Not quite sure I want to, but it looks like I am doing it anyway.  But I am also amazed at how much I learned and how much better I think I will do next year with a year of hit and misses under my belt.  (I kind of feel bad for my students that were my trial run this year.....But I think they learned some good things, had a good time, and I guess I just have to liv and learn!)  But I am also sad that I won't have my group of 7th graders next year for any classes because I don't teach any 8th grade classes.  I really will miss them. They are an annoying, crazy, misbehaving, irresponsible bunch of stinky kids, but they are also amazingly intelligent, articulate, talented, and deep.  I will miss teaching them next year.  I hope next year goes better.  I hope I enjoy it more, get everything done I need to, and like the new students.  But I am SO SO SO SO glad for summer now!  How exciting to NOT have to think about school, lesson plans, etc for almost 3 whole months!  Wahoo!  Bring on the summer time!  Oh, and I am doing alright in the weight loss department.  I have lost a few more pounds, but still not where I want to be.  I have a couple more weeks to lose a bit more before family reunions!  For some reason, I think without the stress and craziness of school I might be able to lose weight a little easier....Hopefully anyway! :)

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Working out....

I am amazed how the whole concept of working out has changed to me over the years.  In high school, I worked hard at sports (I wish I would have worked harder) but things came kind of natural to me.  I was never in amazing shape or anything, but I was healthy and looked alright......In college I REALLY pushed myself.  I wanted to be the best, I wanted to finish first, and I wanted to be in the best shape possible.  I took diet and exercise to an unhealthy extreme, but I did feel good about how I performed, how I looked, and how hard I worked.  I worked hard to stay in shape right up to the day I got cut from the USU basketball team.  Then I kind of stopped working out.  I mean, I have worked out here and there over the years, but nothing like I used to.  Working out for me is a very hard thing to do just because.  I need a reason, a motivation, a driving force.  I loved working out knowing it would help me in college basketball, but now it is harder.  And I actually still love the feeling of working out, playing sports, and sweating.  I just find the motivation to do it comes very slowly......Also, I complain about how I look.  I complain about how I feel.  I complain about what having an almost 11 pound baby inside me has done to my body.  Trust me, my body will NEVER be the same.  Sad, nasty, saggy skin and stretch marks!  (Sorry for the overshare!)  I know I can help it a little thought, but I really haven't done much about it.  I have lost the baby weight so slowly, and hae only now finally reached pre-pregnancy weight with Jack.  The bad thing is that I weighed too much when I got pregnant with Jack because of a miscarriage and a bit of depression that followed that.  I have tried to watch what I eat lately and it has paid off.  I have lost about 10 pounds since February.  But I am still not where I need to be.  I am documenting my goals and why I want to reach them here and now, so that I have witnesses, perhaps people to check up on me (if anyone actually reads this blog), and something to be accountable to. The goals:   By the first week of June I want to have lost at least 7 more pounds.  I want my stomach to be flatter and my arms and legs to be more toned.  I want ALL of my clothes to fit a little better. Here is why:  1) I just want to look and feel better about myself.  2) I want to prove to myself that I can still work out and push myself like I used to 3) I don't want my older, skinnier, tiny, work-out- aholic sister to judge me this summer when I see her.  I want her to be impressed by how I look.  I want her to notice that I have been working to improve my body.  I know this isn't a good reason, but as I worked out today, that is the thought that pushed me to work harder.  Here is how I am going to do it:  I am going to keep a food journal and keep track of what I eat with the Weight Watchers points.  I will also include in this journal what I do to work out that day.  I am going to walk, run, do elliptical, lift free weights, and do pushups and sit-ups every night.  Hopefully, by this summer I am in shape and feel good about how I look.....just in time to start trying to have another baby..... :)  Wish me luck!  

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Parent Teacher Conferences

NOT a fan of Parent Teacher conferences.....parents arguing in front of me.....excuses.......breaking bad news to parents.......unfulfilled expectations....etc.  Glad they are OVER for the year!!  Oh the joys and lameness all combined into one all consuming ball of emotion that is teaching!

Thursday, April 2, 2009

My Child~

So I am fully aware that I have a pretty WILD and CRAZY child.  He is not shy.  He loves playing with adults and other kids.  He is not clingy to me, but still will cuddle with me.  He is so friendly and says hi to everyone.  He loves to watch basketball and shoot hoops.  He loves to play with and walk his doggy.  He is Mr. Independent and likes to feed himself.  He likes to run, wrestle, jump, yell, and dive off beds and couches.   He is one of the happiest, friendliest social babies I have ever seen and I LOVE that about him!  Now I am sure he gets a lot of his loudness craziness from Dustin and me.  Dustin and I love to play loud and crazy with him.  We love to tickle and be silly and make him laugh.   Others might question some of our parenting techniques, but all that matters to me is that I have noticed that I have an extremely HAPPY child!  He is tough and rarely cries or whines.  He talks a ton, gives kisses, and laughs at everything. He is so, so smart!  I feel VERY VERY lucky to have the son that I do.  My friend said something the other day like we are given the children that we are meant to have and that we  can deal with.  Thankfully, so far there is very little "dealing" with Jack, but there is a whole lot of enjoying Jack!  Thank heavens for my SWEET, WILD, CUTE little boy!   I sure do love this CRAZY kid!  



P.S. The only thing I have ever found my Jack to be afraid of is pom-poms. Thankfully he has overcome that fear and loves them now. He calls a pom pom a "go." So cute!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

March Madness!!

My husband is lucky he married me. I know that sounds a bit pompous, but let me explain why. I LOVE LOVE LOVE sports, especially basketball. I can sit and watch basketball for hours. I love watching ESPN and Sports Center. (Dustin and I have done that together since we have been dating.) Sometimes I wish I wasn't so obsessed. Like last night when Davidson, featuring Stephon Curry and St. Marys, featuring Patty Mills (both amazing players) played each other and I stayed up way too late watching the game because it was a good game and I can't turn off or fall asleep when there is a good basketball game on. But anyway, I sure do love this time of year. March Madness seriously is one of my favorite times of year. I can sit and watch basketball games for hours on end, game after game, and there have been some GOOD games this year! My bracket is crap now (but not as bad as "Jack's" that Dustin helped with) but I don't care. Brackets keep me torn anyway: I really want the underdog to win, but I want the higher seed to win for my bracket's sake. Anyway, I hope everyone else is enjoying March Madness as well. I always feel a little sad when I know there will be no more college basketball games to watch for several months. But for now we have a few more weeks to go! Happy March Madness!

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Classic picture!

Does it make me a mean mom that I absolutely LOVE this picture of crying, bundled up Jack? Classic. Classic, I say. I love it.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Go NAVY!

Well, I am done coaching basketball for the year. I absolutely loved the team of middle school girls that I coached this year. They were a really great TEAM. Our motto was, "We're a TEAM, not a PLAYER." Because other teams had one girl that did all the scoring, but on our team everybody scored, or shot, or played awesome defense. And EVERYONE improved! That is why I coach....to see a team come together like this one did. It was great to watch and see! Anyway, just wanted to say how proud I am of my girls and how much fun I had coaching this year. It was crazy with Jack at practices or finding places for Jack, but it was a great experience all the same. Their record wasn't great (they ended 4-8) but they came together at the end of the season and won 4 out of their last 6 games. All their losses but two were by 6 points or less. Lots of close games! They were great and it was a wonderful coaching experience. Plus, they got me a spa gift card which is awesome and I can't wait to use it! Thanks Navy team for a great season and for making me feel like a successful and very proud coach!

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Er....

Here are my thoughts on this week:
1. I am alone again this weekend. No me gusta.
2. I hate the gyno. Enough said. P.S. I need to lose weight, says my gyno, before I have any more children. Why yes, yes I do.
3. I hate doctors, but after the said above visit, I made 3 more doctor appointments with 3 different kinds of doctors all to get things looked at that I have let far too much time pass without getting looked at.
4. I hate by butt. If you know me well enough, you know what this means.
5. I sure do love Jack, and I especially love his laugh and when he blows raspberries on my belly and then laughs his head off.
6. I don't think EVERY kid should have a therapist, a physcologist, or a DIAGNOSIS in middle school. What is the deal with every kid having to have ADD or ADHD? Even if the student is a little different, slow, or the parent has enough money to send you to every type of doctor imaginable.
7. I need a vacation to somewhere exciting. I haven't been on one probably since my honeymoon almost 4 years ago. I get jealous of reading everyone else's blogs and facebooks who are going on trips to Mexico, Cancun, on cruises, etc. I am greatly desiring to travel and go somewhere else for awhile!
8. I still hate Dustin's job. Bball season is almost over and I can't wait to see my hubby a little more.
9. I can live with coaching a middle school girls basketball team that is 1-7 that is actually a good TEAM rather than a team with one good PLAYER and a bunch of other crappy players who haven't learned anything or improved. GO NAVY!
10. Not every church calling is completely enjoyable, but every church calling is very important. Mine especially.

The end.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Happy? V-Day

Here is me and my valentine. What a cutie he is! And yes, if you can't tell, before this picture I had been crying. It has already been THAT good of a Valentines Day! Hope yours is better.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Supportive wife?

I have a serious love/hate relationship with Dustin's job. I love being around sports, free season tickets to various sports, and a few other perks of the job like getting sweet gift cards to expensive restaurants from the doctors he works with, awesome food at banquets and other Athletic Department get togethers. I also enjoy the fact that all the athletes, the whole Athletic Department, and everyone Dustin works with knows and loves Jack! (Side note: They probably don't even know my name. I am Jack's mom, Dustin's wife to them). But that is where the love ends. For the most part, I hate his job. The pay is awful, especially compared to what coaches make and the similar hours put in. Plus Dustin has a Masters for crying out loud! And speaking of the hours, they suck. He works from usually 8 in the morning until 7 or 7:30 at night. If you figured the pay per hour, oh it would just be pathetic and embarassing. And I hate when he goes on the road. He has to travel to all away games with the bball team. So he is gone from Wednesday to Sunday. During that time he is gone, I turn into a slightly depressed, zombie-like, single mom. It is hard to have him gone! Anyway, just wanted to vent a bit on the subject since it is only Thursday and my sweet hubby won't be back til Sunday. Yes, that means I am spending Valentines day ALONE. It sucks. Thanks for asking.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

25 random things about me!

I did this on my facebook too, but thought it would be nice to keep my weirdo list compiled somewhere else too, so here it is!

1. My baby weighed 10 pounds 10.6 ounces when he was born by way of C-section. If it is true that your babies get bigger each time, I do believe I am screwed! : ) P.S. I hope all my babies don't have to come by way of C-section. I would like to give REAL childbirth a go sometime. I DID grow up with my brothers always telling me that I had great birthing hips. I find it ironic I wasn't able to do it!

2. I was worried that I would have the first ugly grandchild on the Hansen side. Jack was number 15 and he is SO NOT UGLY! In fact, I think he is one of the cutest kids I have ever seen! I love being his mommy!

3. I have some serious OCD tendencies. I count stairs when I go up or down them. I also check and recheck for locked doors, closed garages, and unplugged cords even when I am like 99.9% sure I already did it.

4. I married a non-Mormon. He is the most amazing man, husband, and father ever. I am SO happy!

5. I miss my glory days of sports in high school and college. I would have worked harder then if I could go back and change anything.


6. I wish I could play the piano better. I took for several years, but wish I would have stuck with it longer. Basketball is great, but it does not help you step up to the plate to play the piano at church.

7. I love to peel my skin and others skin after they get a sunburn. Oh how I love it! Growing up, me and my sister would fight over who got to peel our brother's peeling back.

8. I am obsessed with picking at Jack's nose and ears. I cannot leave a booger unpicked!

9. I also love to pop zits and pick scabs. I also have a tendency to rip out my eyelashes as I try to pick mascara off of them. I know, all disgusting but all true.

10. I am obsessed with basketball. I play, coach, attend games, or watch basketball anytime I can. And I think I know QUITE a bit about the sport! I usually say things right before the game announcer says it!

11. Growing up, I always dreamed of going to a Utah Jazz game, sitting on the front row, and getting kicked in the head or sweated on by Karl Malone as he dove into the crowd after a loose ball. Yeah. I was a fan.

12. I love to sit and eat sunflower seeds. But I cannot stick a bunch in my mouth all at the same time and eat them. I eat them one at a time.

13. I love Cherry Coke Zero, Dr. Pepper (especially from Pizza Hut) and Diet Dr. Pepper. I love pickles, little smokies, hot dogs, corn dogs, fries, and tator tots. I also love sweets WAY too much! Mmmm. I don't think I can give up my pop and sweets. And does my favorite food list look a little white trash? Oh well.

14. I cannot eat cooked or dried fruit. I think it is the texture probably, but I think fruit in any form other than raw is so GROSS!

15. I love to sweat. I don't work out as much as I should, but when I do, I love the feeling and I love to sweat.

16. I am only ticklish on my feet and my butt. Weird. I know.

17. I have scoliosis and ciphosis (sp?) Thus the hunch and curvature of my back. I don't like to "work on it" even though Dustin and my mom beg me to.

18. I hate confrontations of any kind. I am a wuss when it comes to them. I especially hate telling a server at the restaurant if they get my order wrong or returning things to stores. I seriously, seriously hate it.

19. I am a perfectionist and I hate it about myself. I hate starting cleaning projects, school lesson planning, cutting my dog's hair, etc because I am perfectionist and it takes me a thousand times longer than other people.

20. I am teacher, but I want to be a nurse or coach at a college or high school or work as a sports information person.

21. I LOVE taking naps! Sleep in general is one of my favorite things, but I don't think I have slept through a night since well before Jack was born.

22. I have one friend who has been one of my best and closest friends for more than 20 years now!

23. I have had two surgeries to repair a torn ACL in my left leg. The first time I tore it playing basketball against my sister's college team and I could have sworn she shoved me. But no. No one was around me, it just tore as I did a crossover. We discovered it was torn again when I was having surgery to get my knee scoped shortly before my wedding. And now, I was told by a doctor up here that it is torn again. Stupid ACL and stupid surgeries that didn't work.

24. I have a very small head and very thin hair. I can wear children's sizes in hats and all my hair can fit in tiny elastics and tiny clips.

25. I hate hair and I have a really weak gag reflex. I dry heave very easily. Hair, bad smells, and even the sound of people gathering spit/loogies in their mouth makes me dry heave. In HS, people used to put hairs on my food just to hear my dry heave. Not funny.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Just for your info....

Pizza Hut has the BEST Dr. Pepper. I swear. It tastes better than ANYWHERE else. Just thought I would share. Now I am going to lay down because I just ate way too much pizza and salad and drank way to much DP at the Pizza Hut Buffet.....

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Concussed

So true story.....usually I am pretty dang good at finding my way in the dark through my house to my crying baby, but the other night I must have been a little dizzy or too tired or walking with my eyes completely closed, because I totally ran into the wall. And it wasn't my hands or legs or body that hit first, it was my head, and I hit it seriously hit HARD! I now know what people mean when they say they see stars after hitting their head. I totally saw them and the pain brought me to my knees. I am pretty sure I gave myself a concussion...I was nauseous and dizzy the rest of the night. I also got a bruise and a little bump on my forehead. Awesome story behind these war woulds, eh?

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

LOST



Is it sad that Dustin and I are SO excited for the season premiere of LOST (season 5) tonight? No I don't think so. We HAVE waited a long time. We are so excited that we are pretty much treating it almost like it is somebody's birthday! We love this crazy little show for some reason...addicted to it you could say. I wonder what our celebratory dinner will be tonight......corn dogs or chicken nuggets? :)

On an ironic note, our son is named Jack and we want to name a daugther Kate. I promise this was all in place BEFORE our addiction to the show. But I should have named our dog Sawyer, John, or Hurley....

Wow...

Wow...Now looking at that photobooth picture of me in thought, I have a really good idea of what I would like bald. Interesting...

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Teaching


Is it wrong or sad or pathetic that when people ask me if I like my job, I cannot honestly answer yes? Well, I can HONESTLY say, I don't totally enjoy it. Maybe I would if I was single or if my kids were all grown up ..... but right now, not so much enjoying is happening. I can't completely figure out why. Maybe it is because I would rather ALWAYS be home with Jack or maybe it is cuz I have some pretty spoiled, unable to control themselves and their talking and their behavior students or maybe because teaching encompasses all my thoughts and time (yes even teaching part time) and completely drains me physically, emotionally, and mentally......Or maybe I would just rather sit home, be lazy, be a housewife and a homemaker. Yes. I think I would rather do that. They don't pay me enough to make the time put into this job worth it. And maybe I would like teaching better if I was like a p.e. teacher where I don't have so many papers and essays and tests to grade as I do being an English teacher. Being a teacher is TIME CONSUMING AND TIRING! Don't get me wrong....I don't HATE my job. There are great moments when I love it and things I love about it.....like that I get to teach WHATEVER I want HOWEVER I want and WHENEVER I want! That is awesome. The freedom at the school I work is great. And I love it when a student says something profound or brilliant or interesting or when they write an amazing poem or a super intellectual thought. Or when my ENTIRE class gets their poems accepted for publication. (TRUE STORY!) Those are great times, but I don't know if for me, right now in my life, they outweigh the not so great things. I AM TIRED! I just want to play with my Jack-Jack, but no, right now I need to write 2 finals by tomorrow, grade some other stuff and try to write nice comments about each student for the end of the semester. And one last thing....right now it kind of seems sad that I don't enjoy teaching too much after training to be a teacher in college for the last 5-6 years of my life. Is it bad that maybe I would rather go into sports administration or nursing now....Yeah, but like I wanna go back to school.....Anyway, I just needed to rant and rave a little and now I am going to try to entertain my son and write two finals at the same time. Wish me luck....

P.S. The English teacher in me would like to apologize for all of the run-on sentences and bad grammar and syntax in this post. The Complainer in me says, BITE ME! :)