Wanna lose weight?

Coach a varsity sport!

My GOSH! It's almost the end of August----seriously! Where HAS the time gone?
Okay---definitely meant to say SEPTEMBER!!!

Well, let's see----get up at 5:50am---get ready for school then help with the girls, and maybe get a quick bite in (I DO TRY!!!!)--bus comes at 7:05---drop Candace off at daycare 7:15----arrive at school 7:20----attend morning meetings just about 4 of the 5 mornings----teach 8:15-11:42----eat lunch 11:45-12:10----teach 12:15-1:21----spend "prep-time" bouncing between grading papers, prepping for practice, prepping for the next day's classes, writing assessments, tracking down player's attend records, update online systems with vball results, SEARCH endlessly for online results on upcoming opponents, update school's website, type up meeting's minutes, **open can of Diet Dew**, update grades online, fill out paperwork on student discipline, hunt down student(s) who are failing Pre-Calculus and ask them 'what's up?' and set up a before-school-study-session on the one morning of the week that I don't happen to have a meeting, organize home vball tournament paperwork so our AD can get information out to opponents-----monitor homeroom class 2:50-3:18, at the same time trying to talk to team captains about any "issues" that may have risen since the last practice/game before practice actually begins---alternate between heading to practice (3:40-5:40) and heading off to games,----alternate between arriving home after practice (anywhere around 6:00-7:00) and arriving home from games (anywhere from 9:00 - 11:00)----attempt to find more online vball statistics on opponents---grade stacks of papers that really want to start piling up on my desk, but I know better so I plug away dutifully-----TRY to calm the mind down (**STILL wish I had that magic 'off' switch**) and MAYBE grab a bite to each (however, most of the time I simply 'forget to eat'---seriously!---until it's too late at night, and then I simply want to get to bed so I tell myself that I'll FOR SURE eat breakfast the following morning----head off to bed anywhere between 10:00-1:00----fall asleep anywhere between 11:00-1:30----and then wake up to do it all over again------THEN, on vball Saturdays, wake up anywhere between 6:00-7:00----head off to school and spend the day in a hot, sticky, sweaty gymnasium---jumping up and down from excitement of games and matches----simply "forget" to eat because the games are non-stop, or other "things" come up during a down-time game----arrive home anywhere between 4:00-6:00----then on Sundays, spend the majority of the day doing Pre-Calculus problems because the class has a new textbook and I KNOW I won't have time during the week to do any problems or prepping so it MUST be completed before Monday morning arrives......

All the while, I have a WONDERFUL husband who is picking up the girls from daycare by 4:00, then swinging over to the school to pick up the other girls from "After-School" AND/or heading over to the gymnasium to help out "the wife" with volleyball practice by spiking at the team to work on their defensive skills. AND all the while, I have a WONDERFUL husband who looks sternly at me and asks, "WHAT have you eaten today??? Did you eat lunch? You haven't eaten supper for the last three nights, nor have you eaten breakfast. I'm making you noodles! Will you eat them?"......to which I respond...."yes, dear" inbetween typing up tests and grading papers......and then 10:00 rolls around, and the eyelids simply can't stay open anymore, so I quietly scoop the noodles into a Glad container and place in the fridge, trying to convince "the husband" that I will eat breakfast in the morning and will eat the noodles the next night.

*sigh*

I am NOT complaining---I LOVE this coaching gig!
I am NOT looking for sympathy---I had a few pounds to lose since I backed off my running over the summer.
It simply "is what it is."

Happy Saturday

-Amy (who is 8 pounds lighter than what she was one month ago)

WOW! 2 days in a row--AND some quilting!

Yesterday morning, we received a call from our neighbor wondering if we were going to the Labor Day parade in town. He always has a "train" in the parade and was in need of 3 more passengers, so he invited the girls to ride along! Needless to say, they LOVED it!!!

I spent three hours yesterday BEFORE the parade doing my week's worth of Pre-Calculus problems. I have a new curriculum this year, so I'm making sure I'm ready for ANYTHING that could arise. **shrug** It just means a few hours every weekend will need to be devoted to problems......what'cha gonna do?!?

BUT, since I did that...... today was really open for anything! Laundry was partially completed---a few more loads awaited. The dishes were done by 9:00 this morning (with DH's help.)

So...I really contemplated, but finally headed downstairs at 9:15. The FIRST time in over a month!

It was complete disarray with strips strewn all over the placed. The last project I left out-n-about was Perkiomen Daydreams, but I sure wasn't up to working on that monster today. Instead, I pulled out the latest Quiltmaker to sew up Step 2 of Bonnie Hunter's Christmas Lights mystery.
All 12 of block Y are complete....

Block Z (?) are almost complete---just need to have the 4-corners sewn yet. At 12:30, I headed upstairs for lunch, and never made it back down. After lunch, I actually was a bit motivated to do something with the bowl of cucumbers DH picked last night. So----3 pints and 1 quart of Dill pickles are finished, and 8 pints of Bread-n-Butter pickles (FIL's favorite)

I'm off to bed a bit early tonight to head to school by 6:30 tomorrow. I want to get some classroom time in before a morning 7:30-8:00 serving and hitting practice I scheduled for the girls. (We took the entire weekend off!)

Happy Monday

First day of school - came and went

*sigh*
Here I was ready to upload the "First Day of School" pics.....but......well.....SOMEHOW I must NOT have transferred them to my computer (but transferred ALLLL the other pics)......and I cleaned up (aka: deleted) my camera card, so now.......they are gone forever. Grrrrrr.

The new computer, printer and ipod arrived this past week, each on a different day. AND, when logging in to my Apple account yesterday to start the online rebate process for the iPod, I came to find out that the printer is ALSO eligible for a rebate! Woo-hoo!!!! NOT expected! Oh gosh----AND, since I'm talking about "happy-things," how about this one: I needed to catch up on bill-paying yesterday AM. So, I start writing the checks, organizing which bills can get paid now and which will have to wait a week or two......I log in to my online bank to check a few amounts-------HELLO! I never entered my Aug 20th paycheck into my Check register! Woo-hoo! **chuckle** Sadly that money was gone after another 2 bills being paid. **sigh** Easy come, way too easy go. But STILL, happy that it wasn't the other way around. (ya know...where you forget to enter BILLS into the register, and then you actually have LESS than you thought! Yup----have done that too.)


Yesterday was the day I sat and started transferring over all the files, applications, etc. from the old computer to the new. THAT was a long and tedious process, and still not completely finished. As I type, I am saving a handful of files to my jumpdrive from the old computer. So rather than simply watching that percentage-bar slowwwwwwly works its way to 100% (kinda like watching and waiting for paint to dry), I figured I'd login and do some catching up on blogs. Candace, dear, grabbed the camera and snapped us guiltily have a tech-moment. Dad was playing a game on the new computer, I had the old computer on the ottoman working on loading files to the thumbdrive, the whole time PLAYING on the iPod touch. I've downloaded a few APPS from the iTunes APP store. There are SO many apps----I've downloaded many of the FREE games. The girls have enjoyed their time on it too. In fact, Candace and Caitlyn have outscored me on the "Match" game many times already. I think Cassie's favorite is the Sheep Launching game.

Yesterday was also a minor-garden day. DH brought in many zucchini from the garden and needed to do something with them. He had all the girls working on jobs; peeling, scraping out the seeds, grating.... I think he ended up freezing 9 quart-sized bags of grated zucchini, and kept enough out to may some zucchini bread. Today, I have a feeling that carrots and potatoes are on the agenda. *I* am stuck inside, though. Lovely Ragweed has struck again!!!! Remember last year?..... (read more about THAT day). I think the game plan is to pick another row or two of carrots and bring them in for me to work on, while he is out with the girls digging up potatoes.

Sorry, but once again, no quilting on the mind. I DO have some time, but I'm afraid to "get into it" again when I don't have much time to dedicate to it at the moment. *shrug* I dunno---maybe.

Happy Sunday everyone.

*GASP*--coming up for air!!!

Shy lil' wave going out to everyone!
Life
Has
Been
FULL!
CRAZY!
PACKED!
You NAME IT!

Once "school-mode" and "coach-mode" started, there was absolutely no turning back. My fingers haven't touched fabric OR my machine in well over a month!!! (***and I actually AM okay with that!***)

Through thick-n-thin, my DH loves me and will stand by me in everything I do (although he's also CONCERNED about me and wants to be sure I'm not burning from both ends of the candle all the time!) This past week has HANDS-DOWN been the craziest and I don't know who's more wacked-out --- myself or my husband!!


Volleyball has been going well---2 weeks into the season now. We had some "difficulty" on the first day of practice and called in the "Big Guy" (our Athletic Director). Our pole was "stuck" in the down position----so ....*chuckle*....he waddles out of the gym and comes back carrying TOOLS! I guess you just have to know our AD to find the humor in all of this....the man is wonderful, funny, and the kids love him! My assistant snapped this pic of he and I attempting (and SUCCESSFULLY!) fixing the pole!

Last night was the first competition for the team, and the girls played very well! The night was a success and they are starting the season 2-0! So far, so good. The first Saturday tournament is tomorrow, and I actually have a goal of getting to bed by 9:00 tonight. (I HAVE been burning both ends lately....and it's time to take care of me) ***nod, nod---yes dear, I'm listening to you!!!*** :0)

On Friday, Aug 14th, I asked DH to take the day off of work. It was my ONLY day "off" in the entire month of August (recall----our school doesn't start until NEXT Tuesday 9/1, but that hasn't kept me away from the school building for one thing or another.).....so I wanted to spend some special family time together before summer was kinda-sorta-officiallly over. We headed up to the Superior Zoo in Duluth, MN. GLORIOUS DAY! It is sad to admit, but we don't do many family "outings," so it was such a lovely, fun, special day for all of us! And, as most of you can imagine, after a full day of sun, walking, and play, we had two lil' tuckered out angels! This snapshot was too irresistable to pass up---it's not all the time that these two "get along" so well. :0) Cute as a bug in a rug!!!

The other "news"----Cassie finally doesn't have to sit 2 INCHES from the television any more! The glasses-fairy visited. When we were shopping around for frames, she was bound and determined to get the "pinky-pink" frames, and.....well....after trying 20 or so frames, I couldn't disagree with her. They are "HER."



I can't foresee any quilting in the near future---really. My plate is quite full (and, again, I REALLY am okay with it!----duh! Otherwise I'd push some things OFF the plate!) :0) However, due to the fullness, quilting simply will need to take a back-burner location for the time-being. Until when??? Probably until Vball is over----????? October/November.

To my PIF'ers: You can expect your "gifts" at a wonderfully appropriate time---CHRISTMAS! :0) One little part of all my PIF'ers gifts are completed, but more is in my mind for each of my wonderful three receivers :0)

I know this goes without saying, but....I will check in when I can. And ACTUALLY, maybe it MIGHT be more than what my mind actually is thinking. I just ordered a new MacBookPro (with the FREE iPod touch Back-to-School deal!) I should have it in a week or so. Yeah :0)

Okay all----Happy Back-to-School to everyone!
Happy Friday

It's been a long time...

Life has really kept me away from blogging, mainly because I haven't had much of anything to blog about. I haven't touched my sewing machine in over 2 weeks (this weekend will be the 3rd weekend of no sewing.) Amazingly, I am not going through any withdrawal symptoms.

School has not started, nor will it for another 2 weeks, but my life turned "school-mode" a few weeks ago. It's okay; I've dived right back in full-swing; prepping for the vball season (starting on Monday), transferring over all of our school's website content to the new management system, attending 3 weeks worth of Math workshops. Any free time I've had at home, I've pretty much spent working on the new website or doing some surfing for vball drills. I really haven't felt a "NEED" to get on the sewing machine. Maybe it's the break I needed, since I don't have any deadlines on the forefront.

The family is well. I will be doing some surfing shortly to see if I can find something "special" to do with the girls tomorrow around the area. Tomorrow is my last official "no-school-work-to-do" day; after that I will not have another full day off until the first school vacation day (in November??). We are a very rural community, so I may find I'll be traveling an hour or so in order to make the day "special".....**shrug** I dunno. The girls have been with G'parents so much lately, I've really missed them!!! (Ditto from DH).

Happy Wednesday

???? It's Friday already????

Just a few words....

A) new web-design software needs to be learned----has been my life the past few days; working with Superintendent.
B) new volleyball uniforms are in---with mistakes---spending time on the phone/emails with uni rep
C) assnt' vball coach resigned in June; had all summer to find replacement; season starts in two weeks---PANIC!

However.............
I am sitting calm and EXTREMELY EXCITED at the moment. So many things have come into place today and LIFE IS GOOD!

A) Signed web-contract yesterday and new content can be added starting next week. Whew----I have some time before vball starts and school!

B) Uniform rep has accepted blame and is honoring my original order. Confirmed at 10:28 am today that uniforms should be ready by season start

C) Today at 1:23 pm, I received a message from the "horse's mouth" herself----I have an assistant coach! We both are EXTREMELY excited to start the season; she is a former player (one of the best hitters our school has ever had). Yeah, yeah, yeah. (doin' a lil' dance)

So......life is good.


Oh.....quilting you ask????? Psht! My hands haven't touched my machine or fabric since Sunday. I could quilt all day tomorrow if I wanted, but......believe it or not, I want to head to school and spend most of the day getting organized and ready for school, vball and the new website.

So......
Happy Thursday!

Returning to school/coach mode for the day

WIth the girls still at grandma's, I decided I'd use my free day today to head to school and get some things done. I mostly handled vball "stuff" and I'd really rather not completely go into all of that since MUCH of the morning was on the phone with the uniform rep due to the mistakes that were made with the uniform numbering! About half of the tops will simply need to be sent back (all out of THEIR pocket!!!) because the error was NOT on our/my end!.....**grufff* It wouldn't be so bad if we weren't on such a tight deadline now----practice starts in a couple of weeks!

After a lunch break and some big deep breaths, I calmed myself enough to get some things done around my room; some rearranging and unpacking of lots of things that needed to be packed up in June (when I got the new carpet!) ;0) My room definitely has the new-carpet smell. Throughout the afternoon, I was in both teacher- and coach-mode. The coach's room was (is still) a mess and it took me awhile to find the box of new knee pads! I cleaned out the locker and file-cabinet of the former coach and found some gems! Videos of drills and techniques (who cares if they are copyrighted 1992??!!)

Therefore, tonight, I have been plugging through all the videos, taking notes like a dutiful student. I even transposed the living room into a make-shift half volleyball court and stepped through many of the skills and drills. Specially hitting!!! I'm a lefty, so I did one after another after another of the right-handed approach so I can teach my girls the break-down. My legs are jello after half an hour!!!! BUT I actully feel very comfortable with the right-handed skills now (and not like a quazee-modo!) Seriously--you should have seen the first few attempts! DH even watched some of the videos with me, but he has since left to go fishy. TRUST ME---I don't think I would have acted out many of these drills if he were still around :0)

So---it's 9:30; I'm NOT tired; and DH won't be home anytime before midnight. Hmmm.......I don't know if I'm in the mood to quilt though.......
AH! I'm off to finish the Coach's Vball test that needs to be completed before the 1st competition.
Let's see what y'all know....

T or F:
The official's uniform shall consist of an all-white, short-sleeved collared polo shirt; black slacks; solid black athletic shoes; and black socks, unless modified by state association when dealing with extreme heat and humidity.

*e-gah* REALLY??? I mean, does anyone REALLLLY care?!?!?
That's a T statement, by the way

Here's another:

T or F:
A libero may complete an attack from anywhere, if at the moment of contact, the ball is entirely above the height of the net.

Sorry Charlie, but that would be F. A libero can NOT attack; which is defined as striking the ball above the height of the net. She may only be a defensive player, who is able to serve.

Oooo....that was a good one. How 'bout one final one???

T or F:
Back-row players, while positioned behind the attack line, may not contact the ball below the top of the net.

Umm.....George??? That's just doesn't make ANY sense! If they couldn't contact the ball below the top of the net, the ball would either a) have to drop to the floor every play or b) a front-row player would always have to play balls below the top of the net. That's just stupid! Therefore, I dare say this is F!

Okay----if you want more---just let me know :0) I have 100 of these babies to do!

Happy Friday

Double Rainbow

Lovely name for a quilt, but this is a genuine "nature" post.

Do you see it? Faint, above the main rainbow, but it's there....

Happy Wednesday

Mother Nature is finally giving us the precipitation we need so badly