God Bless the U.S.A.

Why on earth did the DJ play that song at our wedding? Weird.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I was standing outside of Gate 36, waiting for the call to begin boarding my plane to Cleveland, which had already been delayed. It was 3:50 in the afternoon--30 minutes before take-off. Just at a glance, I saw the ticker screen above my head change. Flight 470 to Cleveland. Canceled. Crap.

Many middle-aged people stood in line, furious, while young college students, traveling alone for the holidays, stood nearly in tears. Young couples with children stood by with bewildered looks on their faces. One man, a big man in his forties or so, cussed and cursed every person working for the airline. Most people took the 2 am flight.

So I weighed my options and decided to fly into Pittsburgh instead. The airline easily changed my ticket and my bags in order to fly to Pittsburgh. Then, JR called and asked if I could possibly fly into Columbus. So changed my ticket and my bags again.

I was disturbed by that man's behavior, so when I sat down to read this week's Newsweek, pictures of the recent earthquake in Pakistan had a more significant effect. One picture shows hundreds of men sitting on the ground. The caption states, "These men trekked for days in the mountains to get to a helipad in the Naran Valley, only to learn that supplies of tents and blankets had run out several days before. Now they wait for new shipments."

While we Americans freak out about our flights and arriving to see our families on time for the holidays, there are men separated from their cold, starving, unsheltered families because of a natural disaster. So when my flight is canceled because of snow, I am reminded to appreciate that I am warm, that I am fed, and that I am with my family.

Now my luggage is lost, probably somewhere in Pittsburgh. I don't have my super cute new outfit to wear for Thanksgiving or my makeup or my special gel to make my hair curly...and just when I start to feel sorry for myself, I remember--this is 2005. Katrina, Rita, Wilma, earthquakes, terrorist attacks, war, soldiers without needed supplies and gear. And I don't have my hair gel. How selfish.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I hope you have been blessed with warmth, food, family, and friends. And if you're in Florida...air conditioning!

Stuffing!

We made stuffing today at school! I'm actually on my lunch right now and it smells sooooo good. It's simmering in the crock pot right now. I can't wait to eat it. The kids loved making it...they've never had REAL stuffing before. They were great bread breakers and celery cutters.

We now have our wedding pictures! I will do my best to have them online soon.

Love ya all!

It's been so long since I have posted, I forgot my password! Shwew...married life has caught up to me and taken over everything! I am adapting to my new role...I think I'm adapting well, so far.

Work has been insane. I mean that literally. I have a couple of insane students. I'm voting to put a mental hospital on our school's campus. Now I have 18 kids in my little portable...which is a lot for a Florida classroom. Probably not for an Ohio classroom. The kids are killing me, honestly. This year has been dreadful.

I was teaching second grade in the after-school program and now I have switched to first. I can't believe the difference. First graders are such angels compared to those little second grade punks. I have nine students after school and four of them are from my regular classroom, which is really neat because they're pretty much kids I really enjoy.

I am traveling to Ohio for Thanksgiving! I am so excited to eat homemade stuffing and noodles and mashed potatoes!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am trying my best to prepare John for my leave of absence, as he will be working and sleeping non-stop and I'm afraid he'll forget to eat or something. The wifely duties just kick in, I tell ya. It's weird.

:)

Perfect Winter Recipe!

Here's a recipe for chicken and dumplings my mom really enjoyed while she was here, so I decided to post it for her and anyone else who may be interested.

Chicken and Dumplings
prep time: 10 min. Start to Finish: 30 min.

1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup frozen peas and carrots
1 cup cut-up cooked chicken (a can of chicken works great in this recipe because
you can't tell the difference)
1 can (10.75 oz.) condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup Original Bisquick mix
1/3 cup milk


1. In 3-quart saucepan, heat 1 1/2 cups milk, the peas and carrots, chicken and soup to boiling, stirring occasionally.

2. In small bowl, stir Bisquick and 1/3 cup milk with fork until soft dough forms. Drop dough by 8 spoonfuls onto boiling chicken mixture. Reduce heat to medium.

3. Cook uncovered for 10 minutes. Cover and cook for 10 minutes longer.

Makes 4 servings. 14 g. fat per serving 340 calories

We're from the country!

So I live in the Everglades with a bunch of hillbillies, right? And so today I was on a walk after work and I got stared down by three unfenced goats, one with massive horns. I thought I was going to get chased down. But I didn't.

You say it's your birthday?!!! It's my birthday, too!

TODAY, I am making a three layer chocolate cake...with a new recipe from a new recipe book. John is making some delicious steak with another new recipe, using our new GRILL that was given to us as a wedding gift...and we are making baked potatoes in our new Crock Pot! Oh yes, we are feeling so spoiled!

For our honeymoon, we went to St. Pete Beach and stayed in one of America's Haunted Hotels, the Don CeSar resort. It's a big pink castle. It was very cool.

We ate alligator, too. AND we went to the Museum of Science and Industry of Tampa and guess what exhibit was there? You'll never guess.

BODIES. That's what it's called. You may have heard of it. Scientists have taken real, live human bodies and injected them with this chemical (silicone polymer?) to preserve them. So, they didn't have any skin, but you could see everything else. There were all these really amazing displays...the muscular system, circulatory, reproductive, digestive, nervous... I also got to see what a real ovarian cyst looks like, a cancerous lung, a thyroid with cancer, breast cancer, a heart attack, emphysema, etc. I was impressed, and highly recommend it--especially anyone interested in physiology--or any life science, really.