Learning to Garden

My mother does not have a green thumb. In fact, I am fairly certain my mother has a black thumb; she kills any plant that comes in to the house.

I have always wanted a garden. A place full of herbs and 'mater plants and all the delicious, fresh veggies I could want.

Didn't it just figure that the house we bought has a wooded area? And with wooded areas comes wildlife in the form of vegetation-destroying deer?? And that BOTH neighbors warned us not even bother planting anything? I refused to heed their warnings, and went ahead and plated anyway.

Here is a shot of some of the violas in my front yard:


Here is my pot of cilantro (which, unfortunately, went to seed on the two hot-ass days we had last week), parsley, mint and lavender. Not sure what the hell I am going to use the lavender for, but whatever.
This is the planter we got for a housewarming gift from my aunt and uncle. A large selection of herbs!
Here is my other pot, with dill, chives, rosemary, and basil. My basil is not doing so hot, and no matter where I move it, the pot does not get enough light. But, it is struggling through and the dill is doing amazing and the rosemary is not doing half-bad either!

Tomorrow I will post more pictures of the overall landscaping of our yard and the work we have done. I also planted a tomato plant in a pot (it was meant for a patio) and although it is growing, I have yet to see a 'mater.

When ya can't find clothes that fit

...buy placemats, napkins, and napkin rings.

For the Fourth of July.

Very patriotic, no?

Chocolate Cake with PB Frosting

I saw this cake on Amber's Delectable Delights and was inspired to make it.  Alas, I was missing a few ingredients so I took her decorating ideas and frosting but used Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake.  I made this for our housewarming party and it was a huge hit!!  I didn't even get a piece (neither did C but I promised I would make him an entire cake for himself).

Reese's Peanut Butter Cake

as inspired by Amber's Delectable Delights

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

2 C sugar

1 3/4 C all-purpose flour

3/4 C Hershey's Cocoa

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 C milk

1/2 C vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 C boiling water

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare 2 9-inch round baking pans

-Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl

-Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes

-Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin)

-Bake 30-35 minutes or until wooden tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean

-Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks

Peanut Butter Frosting:

from Ina Garten

**I doubled the recipe and made 2 batches, which was MORE than enough

1 C confectioner's sugar

1 C creamy peanut butter

5 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/3 C heavy cream

Place the confectioner's sugar, peanut butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.  Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work.  Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

In between cake layers, I chopped up some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and put that on top of a thin layer of frosting before decorating.

Seriously...even though I did not get a piece, I was drooling as I was making it.

And please do not judge me for my styrofoam plate...bad for the environment and all, but we had a crapton of people over and I was not about to do dishes for 100 people.  Sorry.

She has arrived

Aunt Flo that is.

So, I am challenging myself to several things for the next month.

#!: Temp daily

#2: Hop back on the WW wagon and start tracking again.

Let me tell you...I am cranky and crampy and miserable today.

Don't Stop Believing

So the title of this post has really nothing to do with the actual post; I am watching the Tony awards and they just had a performance from the musical, "Rock of Ages" and this was the song they sang.  I saw Journey in concert with Husbo and our friends this past fall.  They were awesome.

J (stepdaughter #1) and I got into a huge screaming match.  Actually, I was yelling, she was crying.  Chuck said you could hear us down the street.  Awesome.  I was that mom for about five minutes.  And I was ready to kill her.  I can't even specifically tell you what she was doing; she was just doing everything to piss me off and push my buttons.  And she was very successful at it.

Another school year is coming to a close.  Another graduating class we are sending out in to the world and hope we did a damn good job.  Some of these kids have truly made an impact on my life and I will really miss them.  It has been a rough year for me, not having the connection of rehearsals and drama to them.  When you are  a coach or an advisor, you have a different relationship to those kids than you do your other students.  I was with them more than I was at home and saw them more than I saw my husband and kid.  It makes me sad that I missed their senior year...but now that our levy failed, it just makes it a little easier because drama won't even be around next year.

All in all, I am glad this year is over.  It was a rough one, and I am looking forward to just being a teacher next year, and having a life again.

And yes, this post was disjointed and random, but you know what?  It is my blog.

My rant

Lauren over at LiveLaughLove posted this great blog rant about being a teacher.  She discusses how people talk about how "unfair" it is that teachers get summers off.  And how it royally pisses her off (ok, maybe not in those words exactly) that people talk trash about our work schedules all the time.

I say, PREACH ON SISTA!!

I get really annoyed when people say teachers are underworked, overpaid and protected by ridiculous unions.  

Well, here is what I have to say about that.

I have not had a raise in two years.  We rolled our contract over because there is literally NO MONEY in our district to pay the teachers any more and if we would have changed ONE WORD contractually, we would have taken a huge pay cut.  We do get a "step" every year...which is less than $50 per paycheck.  Other than that, the only raises I have gotten were for my blocks of credit.  Blocks of credit that equal about $1200 a year.  Blocks of credit are 4 classes (12 credits).  ONE CLASS of THREE CREDITS is $1200 in my master's program.  

You do the math.

Let's not forget to mention that Ohio requires their teachers to have their master's degree.  And we are not compensated for it like the business world often does.

And how many other professionals have to attend to HOURS of grading during their time at home?

As for summer vacays, Lauren nailed it on the head.  My last three summers have been spent at class from June through the end of July.  At the beginning of August, I finally was able to sit down and plan my units for the year as well as get my room set up.  Before THAT I was working part-time to supplement my income, as many of my fellow teachers are.

In the past six years, I have been a friend and parent to some of the hundreds of teenagers that I educate.  I have had students confide in me, confess to me, cry to me, come out of the closet to me.  I have been a drama director and been so consumed with work that I practically forgot what my husband looked like.  I have laughed with them and shared my own trials and tribulations with them, in the hopes that something I say will make a difference.  Some of these kids have no one that cares about them.  I try and be that person.

It is about shaping young minds and trying to teach them not just about The Great Gatsby and the research process, but about life.  

So the next time you say it is unfair how much time off a teacher has, think long and hard about it.  Because I promise you, the grass is not always greener.

Summer Vacation Plans!

So, summer is just a few days away (1 day of teaching, 3 days of finals, and a half of a day for teachers!) and freedom will arrive.  My internship portfolio will have been submitted to my principal and all I will have left is to research for my final project for my contemporary issues for school leaders class (sounds thrilling, does it not?)

The girls will be with their mother for June and the beginning of July, so I will have LOTS of free time to finally get my house organized and all the other jazz I have been wanting to accomplish in our new abode.

In preparation for all this fun, I am making my summer to-do list.  I will post pictures of projects in-progress, befores and afters, so no need to fret!

Here goes nothin'!  And in no particular order...

1.  Organize hall closests

2.  Organize kitchen cabinets

3.  Line cabinet shelves with contact paper because the grippy stuff SUCKS

4.  Clean out/organize closet in yellow bedroom

5.  Get pregnant (God willing)

6.  Work out 4 times a week

7.  Recommit to Weight Watchers (as long as number 5 does not happen)

8.  Make two brand new recipes per week 

9.  Finish taking my Wilton classes

10. Finish our wedding scrapbook.  

I am going to add-on as I think of them...because I am sure more will come, especially around the house.