Life of the Party

      The week before break my students had the wonderful opportunity to visit this historic site and move through classes/ sessions with the park rangers. I was overly impressed and I enjoyed every minute of it. I would love to go back and wonder through all of the buildings and read all the information posted around the park area.      This is the Blue Hole, and I was mesmerized by the color and depth of it. The Ranger informed us that it is a place of spiritual significance to the three Cherokee tribes. One of these being my husband's tribe. He wants to go see and experience it for himself. I think we might make the 2.5 hour drive and visit sometime this summer. We were told about traditional weapons, black smithing, sacred flame, and the information surrounding the park's significance as a gather area.      I would highly suggest that you take some time and go visit! 

    Where did I see myself spending Spring Break? Anywhere but here at home, at least I have a plethora of good books to choose from.      I haven't posted very much this week due to the stress of my job and current situations that I'm having to deal with. Too much is happening at one time. I did however finish this book on a high note of romance. This VERY short story is about the treachery of family being hidden in plain sight. Our main character enters a story by helping out a farm to rebuild their foundation for a percentage of the gains made. I'm stilly somewhat smitten with the grouchy farmer!       I would how they recommend this book because it is short, sweet and simple. The stories plot has been ever used, but it is still nice sometimes to read a quaint book like this. I would write this book a four out of five stars. I do wish the story would I have more plot twist or characters who were more memorable, but overall it was well writ...

      I've been somewhat lost today. With lack of sleep today was tough, and I could hardly manage to keep my head above water. I was sinking fast. I pulled over several times before getting to work just to walk around my car in hopes that I could wake up. Nothing has worked...     Nothing has gone right today either. I awoke to a freezer. full of edible food had went out. All the food is spoiled and unusable. The house smelled so nasty, so that is something else I will have to sort out when I get home. I leave my house before 6 AM, so I'm sure its super nasty... I'm so not looking forward to getting home to yet another task that needs to be completed.      I was up most of the night with painful leg cramps and irritable stomach cramping as well.  Can I get through this work week? I started a new medication last night before going to bed, so I think that attributes to the new symptoms. I just need sleep and a break from all the responsib...

      I was beyond thankful to have the day off from work. I did however end up doing stuff for work on my said day off. I ended up having to drive 2.5 hours to Asheville in order to pick up snacks for our field trip on Wednesday. The kids have been fundraising here and there and we needed snacks to feed the kids on our extended trip that goes past our eight hour school day. Although this was something extra that I had to do, there will be no thanks or gratitude shown to me in the morning. I don't think people realize how much time teachers actually spend outside of school doing school related things. I think I can easily say I clock in over nine hours per week on extras.      It's all part of it though. Maybe one day things will change and we will see a shift in public opinion, but for now I will just keep on trudging through. Man... it was a rough day to have a toddler out and about because most schools are on spring break. 

      This isn't the regular obligatory Easter posts with pastel pictures and happy moments. I'm not exactly the most religious person and I have never claimed to be. I hid eggs for Taylor to find and we went to my husband's family dinner. Nothing out of the ordinary, but I just kept thinking something was missing today.       Then it hit me like a rock... this weekend was opening day of trout season, and I didn't even wet a hook or spend the first minute on a creek bank. I used to count down every year to this very weekend. It seems like a life time ago. I also miss my Dad and Grandpa so much on days like today. We would have spent the majority of this weekend catching trout and swapping fishing stories. Man... I miss the good old days of having a united family. We were dysfunctional with my father being an addict, but I miss both men. They would have had a fishing camp set up too.      When Taylor gets big  enough I will inst...

      I was so thankful to have Good Friday off so you will not have any complaints from me in that department. Was it a good day for me? Well, not really. My day was filled with appointments and  disappointing news. I have avoided my annual paps for a while now. I know as a woman that seems a little backward. A few years ago, I had a little bit of a scare. To give you the correct sequence this was about a year before I had Taylor. They took multiple chunks out of me in a biopsy.       I think the trauma in the wedding game that went hand-in-hand waiting for the results after that really did mess with me. Everything came back but none but there's always the potential it will develop into full on cervical cancer.  As a preventative, I'm supposed to go once a year and have a pap like most women. I have it been in a few years.  The last one I had was six months after giving birth to Taylor. She did see some concerning things today... So here we ...

      I looked on goodreads.com and saw that this book had a lot of negative reviews, but in actuality, it is a really good book with an awesome plot. Do I think it could really happen?.... Ummm maybe. I could definitely see a money, hungry husband committing the crime of poisoning his wife.      I immediately fell in love with this book and was swept away with who was going to die, and who did it. Obviously the title gives away so much. The readers instantly know someone will die and the book cover let you know it has something to do with a pendant.       I would highly recommend this book to those who need a thriller and mystery book in your life. I hate that other reviewers completely rob this book of all of its potential. In my opinion, if you don't finish a book cover to cover, you have no right to do a review in the first place. I would write this book a 4.2 out of five stars. I know some of the things just seem unbelievable, but i...

           This is a nice cross between a young adult novel and a mafia tale of horrors. It has just enough action, love and fast pacing that I was completely captivated covered to cover. I actually read this book instead of listening to it on audible so I feel like I enjoyed it even more. Our main character Penelope is by far one of my favorites.          One of my students had this book in class and suggested that I read it. This is her copy of the novel and I was glad she let me borrow it once she had finished. It's not often that middle schoolers have similar taste in books as I do. I will forever take recommendations from the said student. I loved how even in the end of the book I could not predict who had committed all the crimes against Penelope's family. It's really hard to talk about a book without giving away the main plot. I cannot stand when reviewers give you sneak peaks into what happened. Don't be a book spoiler! ...

      So, I've stuck with it for over two months now, and I can finally see some improvement. I weighed in this morning and guess what????     I weighed in at 223lbs, which has be over the moon with excitement. I know it's not ideal, but man..... I'm making progress.