Come, Follow Me...

Lord, help us, I have a follower!  I am pleased to announce I officially have one follower on this here little blog of mine.  Thank you, friend! I'm also slightly creeped out that the official term is "follower."  Why?  It just sounds like stalking.  Why can't it say "fan favorite"?  Or, something to that affect?  Following people...it just seems like...no good can come of that.  Anyway, if you haven't decided to follow and/or stalk me, you should sign up right away.  Don't delay.

Interesting thing I learned today:  Turns out you don't need milk at all to make mac n cheese.  Whoa.  Before you go judging me about eating mac n cheese (or maybe I'm just judging myself and projecting that onto you?)  I haven't been to the grocery store in several weeks and plan to go this weekend.  It'll happen in due time.  Speaking of grocery stores, I adore people that love going shopping, that can't wait to browse each and every aisle dreaming of all the great recipes they will make.  I hate it.  I hate every last thing about grocery shopping.  I hate the bulk amount of money that gets taken out of my account.  I hate having to steer my cart around others.  I hate feeling like I'm in everyone else's way.  I hate having to wait ten minutes for the person in front of me to look at every milk or egg expiration date.  JUST PICK ONE!  I hate coming home and having to put all of the items away.  I get it.  It's a necessary evil.  One must eat, so one must shop.  I just pray (God, ya listenin?) that I marry someone who loves to grocery shop so I do not have to go on these dreaded adventures any longer.  Anyway, because I have not shopped I'm down to the bare bones in this pantry, so mac n' cheese it is.  Apparently, I'll be making it with butter only.  On the website where I sought advice concerning the matter of making mac n cheese when one has run out of milk, I saw a very passionate response that read something like, "Never change the ingredients for mac n cheese.  Ever.  That is a heinous, heinous crime."  Really?  Heinous?  Do we feel that strongly about mac n cheese?  Interesting. 

Some people might be wondering what the "I Confess..." part of this is about, and how my blog will be different or set apart from other's just because I'm Catholic.  Well, I must confess, this blog will probably be no different than any other person's blog in the world.  It's pointless and amusing (hopefully) and once in awhile I might through in some church-type quips.  One of my ideas behinds all of this, came about in thinking, "I really need to go to confession."  Not that I commit any heinous crimes (except making mac n cheese without milk, apparently) but because, as a Catholic, you're supposed to go every so often to just keep that pure conscience going.  I haven't been in several years and the reason being because it scares me to death.  It is my deepest desire that this blog will help me to confess the smaller things so that I can ease into confessing the BIG things in front of the Big Man (that's God, for those of you following along).  

Today was an exciting day for my nephew Joey.  He is a 5th grader and ran for vice president of his school today.  He had to give a speech in front of all fourth, fifth and sixth graders.  He reported that his speech went "great" and that lots of kids clapped and cheered.  Let it be known his speech was about four sentences long.  He was dying for this position.  Every night before bed, he'd say, "I sure hope I get to be vice president."  Upon hearing the news from my mom, I immediately starting crying.  Default reaction.  When surprised, cry.  When touched, cry.  When angry, cry.  When nervous, cry.  When happy, cry.  It never fails.

Today was, well, could be, considered, exciting at my place of employment.  This new student is really livening the place up!  To the credit of my fellow staff and my students, we all held it together.  Whew.  She is going to be one tricky kid, seeing as how the mere mention of the word "work" sends her into orbit.  What's orbit, you may ask?  Orbit consists of screaming, animal noises, profanity, slamming into doors and walls, running, etc.  We will have to be pretty gentle with this one.  This is always a bit harder for me, since my job is to teach.  It is very difficult to sit and watch a student literally draw or color all day when you know it is your job to try to teach them. She's just not there yet.  I pray, we'll get there.  It will take a lot of patience.  I confess, I don't have a lot of that.  Luckily, I think it's a renewable resource.  

Wow.  I guess this is one more entry for this silly blog.  Thanks to all who read.  

Today's list:  Books I'm reading right now:

1.  Where Men Win Glory:  The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer

2.  The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

3.  Dark Lover by J.R. Ward

4.  The Non-runner's Marathon Guide for Women by Dawn Dais

5.  Complications by Atul Gawande

Hello? Are you there God, it’s me, Judy? (Stolen from the great author, Judy Blume; adapted by me)

I’m exhausted.  All I can think about is how I have no idea how I’m ever going to be able to actually get married and have children.  The mere caring of myself and working with children just wears me out.  I guess you might want to know something about me, although I don’t know who is reading this or even why anyone would read this.  My name is Judy and I like to write.  (Hi, Judy)  I wouldn’t really worry with reading all of my rants and tirades.  But, if you stick with it, you’ll probably get a few laughs.  I haven’t any idea why I am starting this blog.  I just sat down and wanted to write and publish it.  Blogging counts as publishing, right?  I think so.  If you feel so inclined, keep reading.  If you’re bored already, by all means, stop now before it’s too late to salvage those precious moments of your life. 

I am a 27 year old teacher who currently lives in Eugene, OR.  I do not teach in the typical classroom and because of that, I have stories daily from some of the funniest kids I have ever met.  I’m so thankful that God has pointed me in this direction because I have never laughed so much in my life.  I take a lot of pride and joy in what I do.  On top of that, I love sports.  Right now is a very exciting time.  My Oregon Ducks are doing great and we’re looking to make a run for the Pac-10 title.  At the same time, baseball season is wrapping up.  Naturally, my Yanks are in the hunt for October.  I am passionate about these two sports, especially these two teams. 

I’m originally from southern Oregon and have an older brother and an older sister.  My older brother still lives in southern Oregon, near my parents, and has a fabulous wife and three adorable boys.  They will be referenced often, I am sure.  My sister recently moved closer to where I live, thank God.  It has been wonderful getting to spend weekends with her again.  She may make appearances in my blog, referenced as Jenning, so as to protect her identity.  Obviously.  My parents are my biggest support system and I thank God everyday that I still have them to talk to everyday. 

Right now, I live with a roommate and have no pets, no children and have never been married.  At the risk of this starting to sound like a write-up for a dating website, I am going to go on and tell you I like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain.  Long walks in the evening and/or on the beach are so romantic and I like going out on the town, or staying in and cuddling on the couch.  Seeking, strong, gorgeous, caring, loyal, honest, friendly, Catholic.  Intelligence, wealth and/or good looks are preferred.  Good.  Glad that’s out of the way. 

I guess now is where I write about the actual day, where this nutty idea started, and why I am so damn tired.  I skipped my workout this morning and justified it easily because I had a new student starting today.  Said new student has not been in a school setting for a considerable amount of time, relies on cat noises to communicate, and is just generally a ball of anxiety.  Poor thing.  The first day always requires a lot of re-teaching of routines and passing on of information.  Any teacher out there can relate.  A new student is exhausting.  Luckily, after work I had dinner plans with a friend and former supervisor.  Together we were able to share a few laughs and waste a couple hours.  Well, of course, the time wasn’t wasted because of my great company, but you know what I mean.  I was basically relying on her to procrastinate my workout even longer.  I know, I said I had justified skipping it.  I did.  I had.  But, I still felt guilty.  Oh, Catholic guilt, how I’ve missed you.  By the time I got home, it was only 7 p.m, which is basically an acceptable time to go to bed.  However, the deliberate battle raging in my head about working out would not stop.  I turned on Jeopardy, perused match.com and catholicmatch.com and realized that I just don’t even have the time or energy to date anyone and quickly signed off.  But, somehow, I had plenty of energy to write this lengthy first blog entry.  I can safely say now I’m ready for bed.  Goodnight all who took the time to read this.  You are good people (or there might just be one of your still reading…thanks Mom). 

Today’s list:

Things that make me happy/smile today…

1. Family
2. Friends
3. Praying
4. Chocolate
5. Chai tea latte (nonfat)
6. Teaching
7. Alex Trebek impersonating Lady Gaga, Eminem, and Beastie Boys (funniest category ever)
8. an unclogged bath tub drain
9. kid hugs
10. my bed and/or pillow