No day is so bad it can't be fixed with a nap.

Today hasn't been bad, but I did take a nap. I've done that twice this week - napped in the middle of the day, I mean. This is odd for me, as I usually can not sleep when it is light outside. Maybe it's because it's finally been raining and the skies have been covered in clouds? I'm not sure. It could also be that, after about 3 weeks off, Alan and I started getting up early and walking again. My body could just be saying - hey, um, I need a little more sleep if we are actually going to add that back in again. And me, being stubborn, saying - no, I don't like to go to sleep before 11pm! My body then revolts by saying - FINE, but you'll take a nap, darn it! And I acquiesce. I've needed the naps, though, as both have happened a few hours before I run off to teach my musical theatre classes.

Let me explain. I love musical theatre and have for as long as I can remember. I also love teaching and have, for many years (off and on) wanted to be a teacher. However, I did not realize until I started teaching how much energy teachers need to get through even one hour of class. I teach various age groups, but my musical theatre classes consist of 5-8 year olds at 4:30pm. Let's just say I am grateful that I can use music to allow these kids to get their wiggles out because I don't know what I'd do otherwise. We are in the final weeks leading up to our first performance of the year - Robin Hood: The Musical (Nov. 17th). That means we all start to freak out and hope the kids know the songs, dances, and any lines they have been assigned. It's even more important for me to have energy in these classes leading up to the performance because it helps the kids be excited about it all. So that is where I am off to in about a half hour.

Some of you asked about our 'new' car. It's a 1994 Honda Accord that has it's fair share of problems - but we purchased it for $800 below trade-in value, so I'm not going to complain. It will serve it's purpose just fine - that being getting Alan to and from work. Right now he is only working two days a week at the campus of George Washington University located in Ashburn, VA and the rest of the week he spends at the downtown DC campus. However, this eventually will become full time and we wanted to be prepared for the inevitable. It was also getting very stressful having to juggle who had the car when because, while Alan just has to go to and from work everyday, Soren and I have very busy schedules with activities at various locations and this complicates life. So, now we have a car that will spend a fair amount of time sitting in the parking lot but when it isn't sitting in the parking lot it will be used for important reasons!

I have a very difficult time keeping blog entries brief. I'll sum up the rest of our week with bullet points:

• Alan plays for a DC Basketball League and their team won this week! Yay!
• Soren improved his math grade this week and is learning to take more time with his homework instead of rushing! This makes us all feel good.
• For girls night last night we played Karaoke Revolution Party - which included dancing and duets. What a freakin' riot!
• We leave for Cleveland tomorrow and will come home with an extra person - my mommy!
• Halloween is next week and I still need to figure out how to transform the white sheets I bought at Kmart (an entire set for $10! What a steal!) into a mummy costume for my Egyptian obsessed son. I also have not purchased any candy yet.

I think that sums it all up! I'll report on Cleveland when we get back and hopefully have some pictures of the Buckeye State for you all, too!

Cleveland Rocks!

Even though the Indians lost the AL Championships, I still have a soft, squishy spot in my heart for Cleveland. This is why I am excited for the weekend! Me and my boys are heading to Cleveland for 2 reasons: 1) My dad is going to be there on business (plus I talked my mom into joining him so we could see her, too!) and I haven't seen my parents in over a year and 2) I have not been back to my old stomping grounds since Dec. 1997 - 10 years! Squeee!

I really only lived in the Cleveland area for 2 years - my last 2 years of high school. However, those 2 years shaped who I am now in more ways than I can count. While I wasn't thrilled with the prospect of moving almost all the way across the country and away from the friends I had spent a large chunk of my life with, it was the best thing for me in the whole wide world. So - lots of warm feelings about Cleveland and Ohio in general. I am most excited to visit Kirtland again, as I know it has changed tremendously since I was there last. PLUS Soren has never been to Ohio, so that will be fun!

Today I must make my third attempt at registering our 'new' car (read: used). There was all kinds of drama and I almost yelled at the DMV (yes, the entire department! HAHA! - no, really, just the chica who sits at the front desk saying 'no' all day) yesterday because I seriously think all the bureaucratic nonsense we go through to register a vehicle is ridiculous. I understand WHY all the nonsense exists, but it is ridiculous. It seems the state... I mean COMMONWEALTH of Virginia is much worse than many other states. It took me 2 years to get my driver's license because of the stupidity. Oh well. At least the vanity plates are cheap. And yes, we are getting one for Alan's car: 2METER2 *giggles* That's how tall he is, after all!

Aside from the car drama, I am helping a friend clean her apartment that they just moved out of (I was assigned the microwave because I'm tall - hee hee!), and I have to go beg CVS to reprint some receipts because Soren, in his attempt to be as thorough as possible in taking out the recycling, made off with ALL of our receipts from the past 2 years. Yes. All of them. I almost had a heart attack this morning when I realized this. Now we just have to pray that nothing we have purchased breaks. Our Flex Spending card is freakish and doesn't accept transactions from CVS without a receipt to prove we aren't spending our money on junk food and cheap drug store merchandise. I keep the CVS receipts out usually so Alan can take them to work, but alas . . . I missed one.

Luckily, I do not have to work today! Wednesday and Friday are my days off, so I get to run errands, do service, do laundry, and clean the house! This is especially important on Wednesdays because Wednesday is girls night at my house. This is when I send the boys upstairs and I have a handful of girls over. Sometimes we just chat, sometimes we play Karaoke Revolution or DDR, sometimes we watch a chic flick, sometimes we play games, sometimes we even LEAVE THE HOUSE.... but whatever we do, we get time off from kids and husbands and just get to be girls together. It's awesome and I highly recommend it!

With that, I leave you. I have babbled on long enough for one day. It is now time for me to shower, as I currently smell of chlorine from my water aerobics class, and get ready to fight the demons at the DMV!!!!

Let's Give It A Try

So. Here I am. I'm trying this whole Blogger thing, as I've noticed a fair amount of my friends/family have jumped on the Blogger bandwagon. I usually use Live Journal, but to make life easier for all involved, I've decided to do some cross posting here, as well as adding things that make this more of a 'Here's What's Going On In My Life' blog versus a . . . well, rant about everything and sometimes update on the status of life blog.

And now, as I promised my sister I would do this, here is what happens when I trust people with my hair. I had about 8-9 inches taken off and really had a fantastic hairdresser. My neighbor does hair (she focuses more on color, so she colored it) and was a sweetie and gave me a gift certificate to get a cut and color. So I'm trying to get used to the new look.

I've got to run for now. I'm teaching today and have decided that, since it is an amazingly beautiful day, that I'll be walking to work. Today the kids are off book (no scripts in hand), so I'll be spending 2 hours prompting, I'm sure. We also have to discuss costumes and props. After today we have 2 more rehearsals and then it's show time! This class will be referred to as "On Stage" from here on out, so if I use that term, it means a class of 12-16 kids ages 8-12 doing a short (30-45 min) straight (non-musical) play over an 8 week period of time.

Here's hoping I can keep up with the blog! :)