I Survived October 2011

October 2011 is pretty much a blur. I have never been that overwhelmed in my entire life. School, home, life...everything got pretty intense. I think I had one actual conversation with a friend. I definitely made a pretty bad impression on a group of new people who probably think I'm some sort of reclusive zombie. Without Chris, I'm not sure I would have survived at all. Seriously, how many people have a husband who takes over all the housework and cooking so their wife can spaz out on a nightly basis? I'll be spending the month of November making it up to him.

Some things I learned this past month:

1. It's okay to break rules.

2. A campfire and s'mores are good for the soul.

3. Halloween costumes make everything better.

4. A silly husband makes any situation better.

5. I am a terrible Nashvillian. I don't own Toms. I've never been to Green Hills. I don't even know where 12th South is. 

6. I wish my friends were not so spread out. The times in between our reunions are pretty lonesome. Let's decide where we're building our group mansion and get on it!

7. While looking for the above picture, I found these gems:

 

We were pretending to be Kermit hanging off the back of a motorcycle.

8. The above pictures make me think of my all time favorite picture of me and Heather.

This is what happens when you try to take a serious picture but can't stop laughing. Much like Leslie's visa picture. Which I don't have a copy of. But it was good.

9. I don't finish anything I start because I get distracted.

See all the above pictures.

10. I need to commit to one fun thing a week to ensure October 2011 never happens again. I guess this week's fun thing will be driving to Florida. Yeah baby.

Things Stress Does to You

This is totally scientific. And happens to everybody. Without variation.

1.   Makes you break out in hives.

Okay, this is actually poison ivy. But I like to think the poison ivy KNEW it had the opportunity to make a stressful week worse.

2.   Causes those around you to feel stressed.

Itchy with his nose under my shirt sleeve. Presumably, because of his stressful life.

3.   Causes you to crave un-holy amounts of jambalaya.

Big thank you to Chris for going to the store just to buy jambalaya stuff and then making it for me. :-)

4.   Makes you spend all day at school on Sunday to organize your Monday-Friday life.

I didn't make this mess, but that's a whole different story.

5.   Gives you mini-heart attacks when you can't find the 9 page lesson plan you wrote for your evaluation. Apparently, your computer will choose where to save your stuff unless you specifically tell it. It won't ask. Shouldn't it KNOW lesson plans go in C:/Documents/School/2nd Grade/Evaluations/Lesson Plans/DON'T GET FIRED?!?!

6.   Renders you unable to hang out with friends because you are at home at 9:00 pm on Friday crying because someone moved a stack of papers.

7.   Causes you to re-evaluate your life and how you're pretty sure you could make a living being an FBI Facebook stalker.

8.   Brings instant tears because your husband offered to bring you a coke from the fridge. You don't know why you're crying. It just sounded like a nice thing to do for someone. Now you're crying because you're embarrassed that a coke made you cry. You start offering nice things to do for your husband in hopes that if he cries too, you won't be so embarrassed. But he doesn't cry. Because cokes shouldn't make people cry.

To sum up, you should avoid getting too stressed because these things WILL happen to you. If you experience any other symptoms, you should probably consult a doctor. Or check and see if you're a teacher.

Pretending I'm a Stay at Home Wife

Pepperoni and Ritz crackers for breakfast this morning. Breakfast. Of. Champions.


I've enjoyed my life as a stay-at-home wife this week. I like to pretend I could stay home all the time, but I know that a) I would inevitably get bored, and b) Chris needs his suga-momma to pay for school. So I've been living it up this week, and by that, I mean laying around all day, cooking delicious food, and pretending to be crafty.

Chris and I babysat for some friends this week. Chris is excellent at baby-holding. Definitely a Heisman winner.

This is Chris saying "Can we puhweeeese have one?!?"

Okay...actually this is Chris saying "Don't even think about" as I squealed over how adorable he looked with a baby.

I had to dip back into reality for a few hours and go back to school to get ready for next week. Really, I just needed to satisfy my weekly quota of tree killing.

I made fish and edamame for dinner last night. No picture of the edamame because we ate it in 4.3 seconds. But for the fish, you just need Old Bay seasoning, lemon juice, garlic, butter, worchestershire sauce, and parmesan cheese. Delish. And only 143 calories per serving!


Breaking News: I'M CRAFTY

I discovered Pinterest last Saturday. For the sake of my marriage and general mental health, I have limited myself to 10 minutes of Pinteresting per day. But I couldn't resist attempting to make something. Mostly because I'm on fall break and felt the need to do something with my life. The hubby would not have been happy if he found me in the same position he left me in that morning....as has been the case on other school holidays.

Anyway... I made coasters! The coasters we have are falling apart and quite frankly, hideous. For years, I've wanted these ceramic coasters that have iconic Knoxville locations on them, but I've come to terms with the fact that they are too expensive. So Pinterest gave me an alternative. Scrapbook paper coasters! Here's the deal for all you non-crafty people, unlike me- the super crafty-McCrafterson. (Hint: I'm not crafty.)

Get some ceramic tiles, scrapbook paper, felt, mod podge (glue and water), and acrylic spray.

Pick out the scrapbook patterns you want and cut them to fit the ceramic tiles.

Mod podge those scrapbook squares til they bleed. Both sides. Tops and bottoms. If you can see it, mod podge it.

While you're waiting for your buckets of mod podge to dry, cut out little felt circles. These will keep the ceramic coasters from scraping up your pretty little coffee table.

Glue your little felt circles to the bottom of the tile. You're supposed to use waterproof glue, but I used Elmer's. I don't think teachers are contractually allowed to use any other type of glue.

Now acrylic spray the crap out of those things. I would do this outside and not next to your dog. Itchy coughed for a while after getting a wind-blast of acrylic in the face.

COASTERS!

After that, I made risotto with shrimp and peas because, again, I'm competing for Wife of the Year. (And because it's really easy, but Chris thinks it's fancy.)

Chris took a sneak picture of a typical O'Brien night.

Also, my brother sent me a nice text this morning and it totally made my day.

Living Up Fall Break

Day One

I am taking FULL advantage of Fall Break. I know 90% of you are saying right now "I wish I had fall break...." I don't really know what to tell you. Sorry? But trust me when I say that teachers would be roaming the streets like zombies at this point in the year if we didn't have fall break. This is really for everyone's safety.

I started the day the way every good wife starts her day--by putting meat in the crockpot. Today's dish is steak coated with A1 sauce, dijon mustard, and white wine. It looks kind of like freshly extracted lung here, but it gets better.

While cooking putting stuff in the crockpot, I noticed that our bananas have a sticker en espanol. I've noticed several of our food items have labels in Spanish. While I am fully aware it is because 80% of our neighborhood is Hispanic, I'm choosing to look at it as an opportunity to cultivate my Spanish skillz.

Then Itchy and I took the 1.2 mile hike to the leasing office to pay our rent. Itchy used this an opportunity to poop on a fire hydrant. I tried to explain to him that you're supposed to pee on fire hydrants, but then realized that my dog is just ballsy like that. Poop away, Itchers!

For lunch, I indulged in my all-time favorite, pizza rolls. I don't have enough time to cook these during the school day, and when I make them on the weekend, the ratio always ends up Laura-35/Chris-5. So these are my home-alone guilty pleasure.



Then I went to Ross (DressforLess...just for you KShell) and bought some fancy sticks. I've been wanting fancy sticks for this corner of our apartment. I challenged Chris when he came home that there was something new in the apartment, thinking this could last days before he found it. Turns out he pays more attention than I thought. I'll have to find sneakier sticks next time.

Itchy chewed his new Durabone on Chris' pants. He's never actually chewed clothing, but he really likes chewing on top of clothing.

Chris had another surprise waiting on him in the fridge. Butterfinger cake! Thanks Aunt Missy for the recipe! I love having time to make cakes.

I told you that extracted lung would get better. We enjoyed steak, potatoes, and Sister Shubert rolls. I'm pretty much wife of the year.

Then Itchy pretended like he was a princess on a pillow. This dog really has come a long way since his shared block cell at the pound.

That was my day. It was glorious. I look forward to retirement, when I can spend everyday baking cakes, feeding my husband steak and taters, and shopping for fancy sticks.