Someone Once Told Me, "Life is Good."

Is it odd that I'm sitting in a sweater, wearing a sweatshirt, and sipping butterfinger hot chocolate that my gran got me, and alternating that with cranberry juice--- while listening to Christmas music. I'm in the spirit. I'm so ready for that time of year, because that means the school stuff I'm dealing with is about over, AND the fact that it's my very favorite time of the season helps a lot!

This year I'm truly hoping for a miracle. I want everyone who reads this post to say a little prayer for my dad, who's having a little difficulty dealing with some things. He is really falling back down into the depression, and with everything I have I want him to be better. I want him to love life, and the people who are in it. Throughout a lot my parents have been my rock, and I'm desperately trying to be his. I just need to know the way. I know one way or another I'll find it, and bring him back to where he needs to be, my dad once said the reason he was gifted with Stori and I were because we were going to do something great, and I believe him. My greatness will come when my dad is better and back to loving life.......because, isn't that what it's all about?

Running On Sugar Water, And The Possibility That I Might Really Make It Some Day.

So today I had my second checkpoint for the HUGE project I've been working on. My partner and I sat down to talk about what we had done with the teacher, and she absolutely tore it apart. I sat there listening to her rant and rave about how we didn't do anything and why weren't we doing this and this looks like a third grader done it.

Sometimes I wish I had never stepped foot into the education department. The stress is insane, and I feel like I'm treated like a first grader- at times. I wanted to scream and tell her that there aren't enough hours in the day to make this assignment "Perfect" instead I just let my eyes well up and started trying to hold back tears. She asked me if I had a job, and I barely got out-"Yes, I have two jobs." She looked at me and said, "I have a new found respect for you, you can go now."

I feel like all my time is devoted to this and I feel so strongly for the career I have chosen to take on, at times it is overwhelming, but eventually it will all be worth it.... It has to be.

Zonked.

I feel like I'm working 24-7 and I'm FREAKING BROKE! Uhh it's awful. I just wonder sometimes where it goes, because I never do anything, but drive back and forth....ohh yeah I drive! I'm living in my car. I'm so glad that it's dependable (knock on wood!)

My days are running together. It's all I can do to wake up in the morning and put a jump in my step. I am a walking zombie. I could literally sleep standing up, and have on a few occasions. The other night I had a moment of free time and Corey, Jake, and I were watching lost and Corey looked over at me- (Apparently I was starting off into space with this horrible look on my face) He asked if I was alright, and I blurted out something about the constitution. You see, I'm working on a 6 week unit plan teaching the constitution and Missouri Gov't to fourth graders and it's all I can think about.


If you're reading this and remember ANYTHING about how you were taught the constitution/gov't *a fun way* PLEASE- an ideas will help.

Just Another Day in the Life of Miss Marie

Every Friday morning I'm so excited to get out of bed and go to Wonders of Wildlife and see whats in store. This is how I want my career to be... I picked something I'd do for free, but I'll be getting paid for it so it will seem like I've never worked a day in my life.... Right? I hope that's how I feel once I start teaching. I'm so excited about teaching the second grade students about the life cycle at Wonders of Wildlife. I'll be teaching all by myself! Kinda scary, I'm learning all kinds of cool animal facts, and this morning I spent most of my time with Arthur the speckled king snake. He seems to be pretty well mannered. As long as he doesn't bite me we'll be friends.

Today I worked on crating the animals, and learned how to crate Arthur. This was kinda scary for me, because I have to put him in a pillow case, tie a knot in it, set it down inside an insulated lunch box, and when it's time for me to take him back out I have to unwrap the pillow case and stick my hand into a bag and pull him out! I'm really really nervous about doing this in front of a lot of second graders.....if he bites me I'm dropping him and running- Good luck to all the second graders..huh.

Such is life.

Oy! Thursdays are such long days for me! I'm at school from 8 in the morning to almost 7 in the evening, it's such a long time to be roaming around campus with an eighty pound bag on your back. Cheap Date Night Thursdays are no longer existent, I rarely see Colby- only in passing usually. Even when we're both home we have different things to do and he's usually in the basement working on homework, and I'm upstairs doing the same thing. I hate it. It really just bums me out, I have absolutely no free time, and the tiny bit I have isn't when he does....I guess that's life. I guess I can stick this out for one more semester. Until then, I probably won't post as much, I don't think the teachers believe in having jobs and paying for college. The professors pile on as much homework as they possibly can to take away every ounce of your time.

No pearls for me.

Tonight I was thinking about something that I stumbled across this weekend while in a shop with lots of different nautical stuff. I was shopping around picking up all the different shells, looking at the different jewelry, and pearls... Then I saw a tank with clams in it. On the tank there was a sign that read: -Pick your pearl! $15.99.- I watched as a woman said, "I'd like that one." The person behind the counter grabbed the clam, and pried it open with a knife and then in one small sweeping motion with her hand, pulled out a small pearl. When she had the pearl, she discarded the clam into a large trash bin.

I was really thinking about this, I know it's odd, but bear with me. I'm writing for my Communications Art class, and decided I'd write about the pearl and the clam. It was very sad to watch as the clam struggled to stay shut, and guard its treasure. A clam holds a tiny grain of sand, it holds it for so long that eventually it becomes something beautiful. In one sweeping motion it is all taken away. It made me think of how things that we shelter could be taken away, or even the things that shelter us. Am I making any sense, I'm really tired, and it's late....

Yeah....I did it.....So

So I landed an internship at Wonders of Wildlife! I heard about it through one of my teachers and thought that I might try to see if I could get it. I went in for an interview and was thrown questions by three people, and I guess my answers were pretty good because I'm an intern!

Job Description:

I'll be a teacher in the Wonders of Wildlife classrooms teaching about life cycles...etc. Some of the things that I've been doing is animal handling. I'm required to be able to hold the animals, crate them, and bring them into the classrooms.

These animals include:

1. Frogs/Toads: American, Marine, and Bullfrog.
2. Salamanders: Tiger
3. African Millipede
4. Pink Toed Tarantula .....EWWW and he's really hairy!
5. Hissing Cockroaches
6. Turtles: African and Box/water
7. Iguana named Chevy
8. Bearded Dragons: Sydney, and Melbourne
9. Snakes: Speckled King Snake, Rat Snake, Corn Snake, and some more king snakes.
10. Angora Rabbit: Fitzgerald
11. Kestrels: Orion, and Buttercup
12. Hedgehogs
13. Birds: Turkey Vulture (Socrates), Screech Owl (Caesar), Hawk (Hawk Eye), Barn Owl, Great Horned Owl (Owlbert Einstein)
14. Ferret (Fannie)
15. Possum (Frannie)

And others I cannot think of at the moment.

I'm really really excited about this it gives me a great opportunity to teach in a classroom by myself. :)

Ohh and Did I mention I held a few of these including: Buttercup the Kestrel, Melbourne the Bearded Dragon, Toads, Bullfrog, and


Arthur: The Speckled King Snake!

The Not So Itsy Bitsy Spider....

I almost dislocated my shoulder trying to get away from a spider tonight. I was working on my resume and out of the corner of my eye I see the arm of the couch moving, but as I straighten my spectacles I realize that it's not the couch, its a freaking HUGE spider. Ladies and Gentlemen this spider had to be the size of a quarter....well..thats big to me, and it was headed right for my arm. I let out a scream that probably woke the neighbors and Colby jumped up, "What's wrong, What's Wrong....?!"

"Ahhh....GET IT, it's huge....SHIT, shit shit shit....."
"Ohh Honey, that's not huge, it's a baby!"
"GET IT, GEEEEEEEEETTTT ITTTTT! HURRY IT'S Moving! *insert panicked scream here* HURRY it's trying to hide!"

In walks my superhero boyfriend, 'Colby the Right Hand of Justice', and annihilates the evil 8 legged creep with one crash of..... the box that held our called in dinner.

Like you didn't know...

And so it was said
that on the grand and glorious
eighth and extra day,
God did indeed create beer
to keep the Irish from conquering the world.

MISS MOO

This is Miss Moo at 3 weeks old. PRECIOUS! This little girl has really gained the weight. I love the bottom picture it looks like she's posing!!! Awwww.......I couldn't believe they had bikinis to fit her!

White Noise

Ok, I know I've talked about it in the past, but who here believes in ghosts? Who here believes in people trying to make contact with them? Raise your hand. A couple days ago I had a dream about my Uncle Daddy....I couldn't understand what he was trying to tell me, I could see him plain as day, but it sounded like we were under water.

Tonight my parents came over and informed me that my Aunt Beth had a missed call on her caller I.D from my Uncle Daddy. For those of you who know me personally, you'll understand why this baffles me.

Any thoughts?

Somebody is definitely watching over us....

La Hacienda

A rundown of all the things that have been going on since I've posted last. First things first , the new town house is really cool. We live very close to campus, and that's fantastic for days that you don't wake up in time to wash your hair. Everything is moved in and in working order, we can wash our clothes in our washer and dry our clothes in our dryer....who would have thought?!
A firecracker just went off in our front yard....at least that's what I'm calling it, I'm praying it's not a gun. People are soo festive here!

Today in Springfield, it rained really really hard and we've also discovered that the basement is not only a basement, it doubles as a swimming pool! See, I told you....it's so affordable. Yes folks, we are living the good life. Ahh....College Life!!


Moo is doing absolutely fantastic! She's gained a lot of weight and has a double chin....*everyone all together now...Ahhhh!!!!!

I was like, "AHH TURN HER OFF!!"

Wednesday night I had Miss Mag............ Overnight. She is the most beautiful baby I've ever seen, but one dirty diaper later I was saying, "You're too pretty for this! What happened?" At one point in the night I was changing her diaper and I look away for a second to grab a wipe and turn back around and It looks like Mag has installed a sprinkler system!

"Ahh COlby HElp!"

"What do you want me to do?!"

" I don't know, TURN HER OFF!"

So then we proceeded to change her outfit, and clean up the piddle that was now on our new carpet...*I love you Mag* Then we went for round two.

After our excitement little Mag was worn out, so she went fast to sleep. I slept on the pull our bed, with Mags next to me....Securely next to me. Every time she would Coo I'd be looking at her to make sure everything was ok. See its not just the crying that keeps you awake it's knowing that you have a tiny baby you're taking care of, so for the next eighteen + years of your life you'll never have a restful night cause you'll always be worrying. That's why I'm going to have puppies instead.

Around 1:45 she started to figet and I picked her up and gave her a bottle, then I decided to change her diaper, she whizzed all over everything again. So now it's 3:30, I've changed her outfit again, and I'm lying on a wet sheet- Wondering if I'll tell anyone about this.....You knew I would.

Mag is currently on her way to Ft. Benning, GA to see her daddy for the first time, I'm so happy for Stori and Miss Mag. It's family day in boot camp! Yeehaw.

Cheap Date Night Thursday

Well last night we went on our cheap date night. We really didn't have any crazy things happen like most cheap date nights, but it was a fantastic cheap date night. First we went to J Parinos a small Italian restaurant here in Springfield. The food was excellent, we had shirmp florentine with flash fried spinach to start off with. Colby had chicken marsala, and I had tilapia in a white wine lemon sauce. Mmm soo good.

We got to sit and chat just a little bit, then decided to go to Barnes and Noble to look at some books. While at Barnes and Noble we had some starbucks..A grande coffee for Colb, and a Vanilla Bean Frap for me. I bought: The Cement Garden by Ian Mcewan, it sounds to me like a very good book, I'm going to get that read before school starts on Tuesday. Oh and I also bought Women's Health magazine, I'm really serious when I say that this year I'm toning these thighs.



Oh yeah, and might I add that it wasn't really cheap date night, because it wasn't cheap. Colby took me to a fantastic dinner. I love my boyfriend, he's wicked cool.

Still Here..

Just a quick post to say i'm still alive. I've been so busy, we just moved and I love love love our new town house. NEW CARPET! Such a huge deal. Miss Mag Pie is absolutely the most beautiful little lady i've ever seen. She's gorgeous. I have tons of pictures and once I have access to them i'll be posting like crazy. She's a rockstar.

Yes or No? I found a little black shirt that says: My Mom Puts Out... I love it!

Couldn't you just eat her up?

Ahh its good to be a baby
Originally uploaded by Char-Marie.

Look at those lips! She is the most precious thing i've ever seen. The birth was amazing! She is very good natured...so far. She never cries, just looks around to see what's going on. She snorts too, which is adorable.

Ohhh man I love that little girl!

Look who graced us with her presence..

Lil Miss Mag Pie
Originally uploaded by Char-Marie.

Holy Crap! It has been a crazy two days. Last night at 6:00 pm Stori and I went into the hospital thinking that she was only going to have her cervix thinned. Little did we know...

Stori was supposed to get induced this morning around 6:00, but this morning around 5:00 she was dialated all the way to 10. This morning at 7:12 we had a little baby girl.

Maggie Marie * 7lbs 9oz * 20.5 inches long. She is absolutely gorgeous!


I'm an Auntie!!!

Cheap Date Night Friday

I'm aware that it is indeed Monday, but I've been busy. Cheap date night-Friday went pretty well. Colby and I hit up some more book stores in Springfield. I bought: House on Pooh Corner, Huckleberry Finn, Stellaluna, and Trump. We went to the 5.50 bin at walmart and bought the movie Basic, which is pretty good. We also took a walk around a park that we have considered getting married at next summer. Its a very pretty park with a rose garden attached. All in all a pretty perfect end to a pretty perfect cheap date night.

Oh yeah and we went to this one book store named: Book Jungle. It was SCARY. It had no windows, we walked in and there was a man sitting to our left and he spoke very very softly. Creepy. So we go into the "book jungle" Actually it was named rather well, because it was a freaking maze. It was very hard to get through on the itsy bitsy path. I felt like the farther I walked in- the farther I got away from freedom- and the closer I was to having some sort of bars slide down behind me locking me in. I was scared, but I managed to find the children's books, and Colby came around the corner and I started laughing....A nervous, I'm scared of the creepy soft spoken guy in the corner, can we go now - laugh.

Me: "heheheee?"
Colby: "Shhhh...he might kill us."
Me: " I know I'm getting that vibe too!"
Colby: "Let's go."
Me: "BUT look how freaking cheap these books are!!!"
Colby: "Sir, do you take debit cards?"

Creepy Side Show Guy: "No cash only please, or I'll be forced to grind your bones."
Colby: "Char-Marie he only takes caaassssh."
Me: "Are you Effing kidding? Look at all these books I have!" *they were stacked to my knees.*
Colby: "Aww well, some other time, let's go."
ME: "Ok.....But..."
Colby: "Let's go!"

I have a feeling that we'll never go back.

The Art of Pill Popping

I've always been a pansy when it comes to taking any sort of pill. Big pills, small pills, in between pills. Once when I was highly medicated, due to surgery, my mom came into my room with some ibuprofen. She handed me a smoothie and told me to take these pills. I proceeded to put the pills in my mouth and begin to chew. Now mind you that I was so drunk on meds to begin with that I didn't listen when she said "DON'T CHEW EM'!" Needless to say it was a horrible experience and I still remember it like it was yesterday.

Now I can't even take very very tiny pills. Here is what I recommend to help ease the pain. I walk into the kitchen grab the big bottle of apple sauce that Colby and I keep on hand and stand at the sink with it like it's a bottle of rum. I tip up the apple sauce jar and throw in the pill-one at a time is always the best route- Then normally I can't even tell I've swallowed a pill.

But...

Occasionally it back fires and I'm left in the kitchen with the apple sauce jar coughing and pounding my chest because the tiny pill, the itty bitty little thing has gotten lodged in my throat... Sometimes you never win.

Mag Pie

Another thing- Baby Maggie is scheduled to be born on next Wednesday, August 2nd.!!!! HOLY CRAP! I'm going to be an auntie very very soon!

Here's her sweet little photo. She looks just like ME! Look at those cheeks, don't you just wanna bite em'?