A Beautiful Mind

For the three readers of this blog that were ready to call 911 yesterday because my post sounded like I was having a stroke... I must assure  you... I am fine (relatively speaking) I reread that post and it was like the ramblings of a madwoman...now I can not in good conscience say that I am not slowly going mad as this week feels like it started a month ago!!! Lets review....
* I have a neverending cold sore... it will not heal...
*We are on our 987th day (or so it feels) of indoor recess.... if you could see these puppies w/o an outlet for all their energy and excitement over Christmas.... you would cry..
*I am not putting my dogs in the garage in winter.. its too cold for them.. but Colby is afraid of me putting him anywhere.. so when I try to put him in the kitchen every morning its a cat and mouse game trying to get him in...
*My Christmas shopping has barely begun because my own children REFUSE to give me any indication of what they want
*It is raining (which is code for menstruation)
all of this in ONE WEEK!!! (and again we will not mention my house that needs a deep clean, my floors that need mopping, or the 66 lbs. of laundry I have to do!!!!!
THANK GOD ITS FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!

Thursday freeze...

Good Morning Lovelies!!! It looks like it will be a white Christmas this year... I was thinking in the shower (where I do all my deep thinking) about 2013... uggh... 2013 stunk!!! I am ready for 2014... the only good thing to  come out of this year is my Colbies... the big black dog who photobombs all my pics.... my class this year is probably my best class in terms of personality.. behavior... notsomuch.... but I digress... the point is 2014 is an even number... that has to mean something good right???

My Tuesday outfit on Wednesday...

Girrrrrrrrrllllllllllll.. if being a day behind in this blog doesn't tell you how behind I am.. I dont know what will... yesterday was HEC>>>> TIC!!! I had a training in the morning so my puppies had a sub... that just sets them right off... my son was super sick... now... to tell you about this son of mine... for Christmas he asked for a new bed... right? Who asks for a bed for Christmas??? Well thats all he wanted.. so I ordered a bed frame and mattress on Amazon and it came yesterday... so we put it together... and now he has a new fabulous bed that he reported to be AMAAAAAAAZZZZING this morning... maybe it will help him get to school on time!!!!

A What I Wore Wednesday tribute to my mom...





One of my favorite blogs is thriftandshout.blogspot.com...Lindsey is a true fashionista with a flair for finding unusual cool things at thrift shops... so yesterday she put up this dress..





and said that houndstooth never goes out of style... well shes RIGHT because this sweater was my moms from the 90's... she was a fashionista too.... so in honor of my mom I present my houndstooth for What I Wore Wednesday over at thepleatedpoppy.com and tuckerup.blogspot.com... Have a WONDERFUL Wednesday!!!

 

today's outfit and gettin our Christmas on!!!

Groopdealz sweater... Target boots.. we got about 2 inches of snow.. so boots were a must!!!

I got this tv stand at Goodwill for 5.00!!! the hamper fits great and my dogs of course love it!!!



This nativity set was my mom's... it reminds me of her!!!



I would love to tell you this is mine.. but its not.. my friend Allison got this mantel at a flea market and spruced it up.. it looks soooooooooo fabulous I asked if I could display it on the blog... straight out of Pinterest!!!

What is death?

Ever since my dog Mattie died back in 2007 I have thought about death and what it is and how I felt about it... now.. why my dog? Because I spent sooooooo much time with her.. she was my baby.. she always wanted to be with me.. I wasnt' there when she actually passed.. my husband was there.. he said she turned off before she stopped breathing.. it took her about 4 hours to pass... as I have now learned watching "Time of Death" on Showtime.. this is called, "actively dying"... I have learned so much from this show... it is the most real documentary on human life I have ever seen while at the same time respecting each of the participants... last nights episode was about Nicole, an 18 year old with stage 5 melanoma... she was NOT ready to die, not ready to get ready to die, not ready to accept death... her dad came in and told her it was ok to go..that God was waiting for her... she didn't like that... she thought he was trying to get rid of her...it was not an easy one to watch...
One of the episodes featured a hospice nurse who put death this way... we labor to come into this world.. we have to labor to go out... when you look at death in this way, like a birth into new life.. it really makes death something beautiful.... I am so privileged to have watched the participants of this show and their brave journey as they are birthed into their new life... it has taught me so much.. taken so much of my fear away and shown me that death is natural... it is as natural as our own birth.. and should be treated with as much sweetness and love as birth

the evolution of an outfit

the winning outfit!!!

I don't know if any of you do this.. but I swear I must have changed clothes 4 times this morning... I got these denim leggings from Target... they are regular leggings, but have an elastic waist.. so I'm like, "hell yeah... bring on the elastic waist!!" so I get them home and they are ok from the belly button down.. but the elastic pushed my muffin top up so I looked totally gross!!!at first I thought it was the sweater.. then I tried on three more sweaters and realized it was the jeans... so I switched out the jeans and put the original sweater back on...I'm not saying the elastic waist jeans are no good... but I'm going to have to wear something that HIDES the muffin!!! Can you imagine an elastic waist not being a good thing??? 

Whats your issue??

Every couple has an issue... maybe its sex, money, trust, intimacy... our issue? Chris's constant leaving... This is how we met....
He was in the Persian Gulf during Desert Storm... my high school wrote me a letter and said a classmate of mine was stationed there and would like letters from home... so...I wrote him a letter... his name was Steve... so.. it turned out that Steve was this mans roommate... so it turns out that Steve go so many letters he gave mine to Chris... Chris wrote me a letter and I wrote back... this went on for about 7 months.. then I met him face to face.... love ensued... and he went back to California where he was stationed...he moved here (Illinois) when he got out of  the Marines about a year after we met.... stayed for 3 months... moved to Florida....stayed there for about a year... moved back to Illinois... love ensued again.. we got married... he signed up for National Guard (1 w/end a month... 2 weeks a yeargone) he was stationed in Fort Polk Louisiana in 2004 for a  year... that was a challenge...got back home..3 years later he got a job in Virginia... he moved there in 2007 for a year.. got injured... moved back... now hes gone again.... the long distance is how we met and has plagued us ever since... this is our issue....There is no lack of love or commitment or affection... We have love for each other... now we just need to have a common space!!!!
Whats your issue???

My sad little life part 897

Girrrrrrrrlllllll... look at all these photo bombers in this pic... it is a good thing these dogs are cute otherwise they would all be PITA's!! (thats pain in the asses).. I don't know if you can see it, but I have a HUGE DISGUSTING cold sore thanks to my hubsband and all the stress of this seperation....Do you know how many hair/nails/skin vitabeans I take?? like 3 a day!!! WTH??? I know y'all are going to say "take lycine!!!" but I hate lycine and I'll tell you why... lycine only works while you're on it.. God forbid you miss a dose or the cold sores will swarm all over your face!!! Cold sores are the worst because theres a stigma attached to them... like you're dirty... but in reality.. its STRESS!!!!! and winter doesn't make it any easier.... SWOOSH... between my marital woes, my pension reform, my cold sore, this blog is becoming a real downer.... I gotta pep it up.... Good things need to come my way soon....

What I Wore Wednesday

Good Morning Lovelies!!! Time once again.. What I Wore Wednesday over at thepleatedpoppy.com andtuckerup.blogspot.com Today is  wet Wednesday... and when I got to school I recieved these...

from one of my students... made my day!!!
I don't know how many of you have heard.. but our teacher pension reform in Illinois has passed so this means:
I have to work two more years before I can retire
I will be making 300,000.00 less over my retirment
the money I paid into retirement has been spent on other things and is gone gone gone.... why teachers??? why target them? We work the most and make the least... Illinois is screwed up!!!! They don't call it the windy city for the weather... but I swear its the same all over.. if your state hasn't dipped into your retirement.. just wait.. they will....

A Groopdealz extravaganza....

Girrrrrrrrrrrrlllllll... I have been on  a serious Groopdealz binge!!! I got this maxi from Groopdealz...plus also (to quote Junie B. Jones) I got

this... super cute...                      

Goatandlulu.blogspot.com always wears these cuuuuute tunics... I had to copy!!!
So get over to Groopdealz.com!!! The deals are soooo good... they are probably good for Christmas shopping too... but I'm too busy shopping for myself... huh... Christmas shopping.. .I should probably start that huh???



Crappy crappy suck suck

Good Morning Lovelies...the best thing about these pics is the floor....I got rid of my gross gross carpeting and put in these laminate floors... yay!! I would love to tell you I had a wonderful weekend with my family... but alas..no... things are NOT smooth at the Bruce household.. things are not happy happy joy joy.. they are crappy crappy suck suck.... My hubsband and I fought most of the weekend... my kids told me they are sick to death of the fighting and PLEASE do not involve them in any discussions whatsoever.... I am prepared to walk away from this marriage because of the state of affairs... things are BAD people.... BAD... God's message may not be the one I think it is.... swoosh this is depressing... sorry.... but on the bright side.. I'm getting a new student today.... yay????