emilymarion.com

Until I become Mrs. Anderson!

I just want to stop and enjoy the moment.

I really cannot wait to become Alex’s wife.

I want to jump up and down and scream out the excitement and cry happy tears and laugh and dance a funky wife dance.

I am. SO. Happy!

The weird part is that before I met Alex I wasn’t unhappy. Actually, I would have considered myself content and happy. I WAS content and happy. Once I met him it’s like the happiness scale just reached new heights.  It’s like I’m on a different scaling system.

It’s weird really. In a matter of minutes I went from being his girlfriend to fiancee. I hope he knew how much I liked being his girlfriend. Now I’m looking at becoming his wife and I hope he knows how much I like being his fiancee.

This is a couple of months after the fact, but I just remembered the story and wanted to blog about it.

About 2 months ago I was having lunch with 20 3 & 4 yr. olds, when A, the quiet one, announces he has Kermit Slides.

Not sure I heard him right I say “Kermit Slides?”

“No. Kermit Slides.”

“KERMIT. SLIDES?”

“NO. Kermit Slides!”

This is when the other children realize I need help, so in true childlike fashion a chorus of chatter begins…

“He said Kermit Slides.”

“I have those shoes.”

“No, not Kermit, he said Hermit.”

“I have a Hermit crab.”

“I’ve been on that slide before!”

“My mom took me to that slide at backyard adventures.”

“My Kermit slides are green.”

“I don’t have a hermit crab.”

“Mine are pink!”

“I like pink!”

“I went on a pink slide.”

“My mom took me to that slide!”

“I have kermit slides!”

“It’s not pink, it’s a green slide!”

Astonishingly enough, I was still confused, so I send A to my co-worker to tell her.

He says “Kermit slides.”

My co-worker is now struggling to decipher his words.

Then S, a little spit fire blonde, says “Christmas lights?”

And A says “Yea. Kermit slides.”

Oh.

I’m headed back to work tomorrow. I had to work this past week, but we were low on kids and it was a 4 day week, so it kind of doesn’t count.

Tomorrow begins the first full week of the year! No days off or vacation until… the wedding!

Hopefully it will go by quickly. Maybe too quickly.

Either way I’m excited to get back into the swing of things. This week we are talking about “How to Dress for Winter!” I saved all the packing peanuts from Christmas and have a lot of fun games/activities planned.

We have several solid lesson plans happening in the next couple of months and this makes me happy! I love the holidays, but when it comes to lesson plans, you can get bogged down with the “traditional responsibilities.”

One thing I am excited about is a game we made up. We’re calling it The Big Sneeze. We have noticed that the boys in our class never want to play at the table with our “academic” activities. They want to play on the floor with the trucks, blocks, legos etc. It’s become an ongoing struggle battle in which we have to make them participate.

SO, we have decided to outsmart them at their own game. I made HUGE paper mittens and taping them to the floor. Each mitten has a number on it & you have to stack that # of blocks in the mitten. Once you have them stacked you get to “sneeze” and knock all the blocks down. The Big Sneeze. They are going to love it AND learn how to count! :::evil laugh:::

Oh yeah. My resolutions for this year:

• learn how to cook the most amazing blueberry pancakes.

• paint more.

Look out 2010!

I LOVE pancakes.

I also, HATE pancakes.

I love them because they’re good, they’re filling, you can put blueberries in them, you can pour syrup over them, you can slather them with butter or peanut butter, sprinkle them with sugar, add bananas or chocolate chips. I mean really what’s not to love about pancakes.

I do hate them though, because I can’t make them. I’ve tried for years and occasionally I’ll get a good one, but for the most part, my pancakes are barely edible.

Maybe this is why I fail.

I always want pancakes when I’m REALLY hungry. Pancakes take time to make. Maybe I always try to rush the process. I feel like there are many factors that go into cooking pancakes and I always mess up one. Thus ruining the pancake.

I’ve always heard…

•make sure the griddle/pan is hot

•use a greased pan (does it matter if I use butter or PAM?)

•the texture of the batter can’t be too thick, or likewise, too runny.

•size matters. Too big you can’t flip. Too small you end up with 1,800 pancakes.

•wait until the edges start to bubble

I assure you I’ve followed these guidelines and still I end up with scrambled, burnt, runny and just down right ugly pancakes.

I’ve used the “just add water” kind, but they were WAY too runny.

Help me. I just want some pancakes.

I’ve started another blog.

It’s more for wedding updates and info. Check it out @ www.futureandersons.blogspot.com 

Also, about the whole “wedding-planning thing.” I don’t think I’m gonna make it. I’ve been engaged ALMOST 1 week & already stressed.

In an attempt to enjoy the holiday, remain de-stressed and festive we are waiting until after the New Year to start making decisions.

I just want to keep it small, simple and elegant. That’s possible right?

The Christmas program is over and I just don’t have the energy to go into detail. I can hear your sighs of relief. I will say that the kiddos did phenomenal and I was very proud of them. They sang their little hearts out! 365 days til the next Christmas program.

•••••

I have got to figure out how to manage my time better. I think things take a lot longer than actually do and I become overwhelmed with a task. For example: Laundry. It probably takes 10 minutes to sort a load of clothes and to put them in the washer. In my head it takes a lot longer, therefore I have piles of laundry EVERYWHERE. How do I  re-evaluate my thinking?

•••••

I found my Christmas ornaments today. I don’t really have anywhere to put them. I could buy a Christmas tree, but I don’t really want to spend the money. Plus, my room feels like it’s too the breaking point and adding a tree, I believe, will be the straw to break the camels back.

•••••

I get overwhelmed easily. Especially around the holidays. I’m one of those people who needs down time. Maybe more than others. As Christmas parties occur and my shopping list grows despite my best efforts. I fight the urge to shut down. Shut the door. Crawl into bed. Read. Sleep. The busier I get. The quieter I get.

I’m an introvert dating an extrovert, so I feel quieter than usual lately.

•••••

Sometimes, I get overwhelmed about getting so overwhelmed. HA.

•••••

I need a nap.

Welcome to Miami. Beinvenido a Miami.

I drove to Miami with Amber and Alex to see RENT at the Filmore Theatre. It was completely last minute.

Amber called and said we missed RENT in Tampa, but they were in Miami AND this is their last tour.

Thursday night we found cheap tickets, woke up early Saturday morning and drove to Miami. We made it in 3 1/2 hours.

We procured our tickets, a parking space and an eating establishment.

RENT, is one of the most popular broadway musicals, for those of you who thought I was looking to relocate, and it did not disappoint. Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp who were originally in RENT  and in the movie version, performed.

AH-MAZING!

Miami unfortunately was not as… thrilling. I apologize to those of you who are Miami fans, but if I never visit again, I’ll die happy.

It was definitely  NOT what I expected. The buildings were extremely old fashioned and it almost made things feel dirty. It was not visually appealing.

The weather was even more unpredictable than central Florida.

The food was good! We ate at a restaurant that seated us outside , because they were still cleaning up from the night before. It must have been a wild night, because several of the employees looked hung over and Alex found an abandoned hat in the mens bathroom.

After the show we headed home through the rain. It was a really great spontaneous day!

And I was able to spend the day with two of my favorite people that I love.

I’m attending a “Sleepy” themed Christmas Party.

We’ll be wearing p.j.’s & bringing a “dreamy” gift,

but I also need to bring food.

My friend is making “pigs in a blanket.”

Anybody have any ideas for a sleep/dreamy recipe?

It’s officially the busiest time of the year. Just for the record I’m about 75% finished Christmas shopping. I have neglected you all for over a month, so let me start by first apologizing and then catching you up with bulleted points. I’m basically going to break things down like a fraction.

• Alex’s birthday- Mom cooked his special birthday dinner: meatloaf, spinach salad, pecan pie. I gave him tickets to Star Wars in concert! We went on Nov. 1st and it was awesome!

• At work October begins the excitement and it snowballs until after New Years. I feel I should use bullet points to remain organized, perhaps dashes to break up the monotony. Here’s what we learned about!

OCT.

- There was an  Old Monster… It’s a new take on The Old Lady who Swallowed the Fly. We talk about monsters being make believe, green is a halloween color and we make monster puppets. Also, Go Away Big Green Monster is a class favorite.

-Bat, Cats and Spiders. We talk about the color black, it’s a Halloween color and that bats, cats and spiders are symbols of Halloween. We made cute spider webs by marble painting white on black paper, make cat hats and bat clothes pins.

-Big Pumpkin! This is one of my favorite books, if you can find it with the audio CD, BUY ONE FOR ME, because it is the cutest Halloween book. We carve a jack-o-lantern, which I’m really good at doing. Smash a pumpkin and perform a “pumpkin autopsy.” We make pumpkin lanterns, pumpkin overlays and pumpkin pie!

-Halloween Imagination ends October and we have a parade on Friday. The kids dressed up, a lot of Little Mermaids and Transformers this year, and the parents come watch. I was Miss. Mary Mack, Mack, Mack with silver buttons, buttons, buttons all down my back, back, back. This week usually begins the insanity.

•Halloween weekend was a busy weekend for Alejohndro and I. We went to a hockey game, visited with some of the cutest trick-or-treaters, attended Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Polk Theater (wow.), visited his parents in St. Pete and went to Star Wars in Concert! Busiest weekend of my life. There was more planned but I was overwhelmed and didn’t do some stuff.

•Which now brings us into Nov. It’s sad to say, but Thanksgiving gets overlooked due to the preparation  of Christmas at work. We do a couple of cute fun art projects with the kiddos and read some cute Thanksgiving books.

•Thanksgiving was delicious this year. I was very thankful. Alex was able to come eat lunch with my family and then we drove to St. Pete to see his family. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays & it’s over. Life goes by so quickly! I look forward to the year when I can host my own Thanksgiving.

•Now it’s almost Christmas and it’s going to happen even faster.

•There are a lot of cute projects we’re doing in the Purple Door. The Christmas program is in 2 weeks. The stress, anxiety and planning that goes into this event is insurmountable. More on that event later.

I hope you had a Happy Halloween, Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and a Good Morning!