It's Done!!!!

I can't believe it! It seems like a miracle! But it's true, the house is done!!!!

After 4 years (almost to the day) we have finally 'finished' the house. (Finished is questionable because I look around and see tons of things we still should, and could do, but you know..the big stuff..that's done...) Since we moved in we've painted every wall; put up new base/casing/crown in every room; new windows, roof and AC; laid an entire backyard of sod and a new sprinkler system; built a new family room/entertainment room downstairs; updated 2 bathrooms with new tile, fixtures, trim (and custom built cabinetry ala my talented husband); put in new flooring throughout the basement; updated all the electrical and plumbing with a new water heater and light fixtures and wiring throughout; lots of custom built-in fancy trim work; and planted miles of flowers I'm hoping will bloom quickly!!!

So I thought I'd share some pictures...
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All that work, time, sweat and money....for it to go on the market tomorrow!!! FOR SALE!!!

For Cookie Emergencies....

After reading Jamie's Blog and Kelli's apparent cookie craving emergency, I decided to post my best Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. They're delicious (if you chill and use bread flour). I think that everyone should post a delicious recipe- dessert or otherwise. It would fun to see what everyone else likes to make!

Ingredients

• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 2 1/4 cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Hardware:

• Ice cream scooper (#20 disher, to be exact)
• Parchment paper
• Baking sheets
• Mixer

Directions

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

Pour the melted butter in the mixer's work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Chill the dough, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

This just got complicated...

So for the last few years I've used a website supported by the school to house my classroom webpage and blog. It was NO GOOD and very boring, so I finally shut that down and caved to a blogspot account for my class. The thing is, I don't want them reading this blog - you know all the juicy stuff I usually write on here - so I now have two accounts and two blogs and two sign-in's - SO CONFUSING! So if I comment and it says Mrs. Reina, it's just me, in teacher format. And if you want to know what 10-11 years write about on blogs, feel free to visit ours...trust me, it is SOO entertaining!
http://mrsreinasblog.blogspot.com/

Some Weekends Shouldn't Count...

When you miss the ball in kickball the teacher calls, "redo" and you get to try again. No going to the end of the line, or waiting 5 more days, just an automatic "Redo".

This weekend should be a redo.

Not that it was bad or awful, but just that it didn't fulfill the duties and responsibilities of a traditional weekend. There was no relaxation, wimbling, napping, going to the movies, taking a trip to the grocery store, lounging on the couch, sleeping in, lying in a bubble bath, or taking a relaxing stroll. Those ARE the typical weekend activities, right?

You see it's been a long time since I had a "nothing to do weekend" (who ever really does.... except in the movies, they can always manage it there...) And this weekend has been the crux of "un-weekend weekends".

I tried to leave work early on Friday but after a team meeting, parent meeting, cleaning the room, and planning, there was no early left. When I finally made it home, we were immediately off to Lowes and Home Depot (One, One trip to Home Depot - think Count Dracula). We did manage to squeeze in a movie when we got back, but I can't remember what it was. So I either slept through it or it wasn't that good.
Saturday I began painting at 6 AM, and finished painting 14 hours later. Ok, there were a few other things in there. I sanded, went to Home Depot for moulding (Two, Two trips to Home Depot) , spackled nail holes, removed door handles and painted doors, got lunch, went to Home Depot for paint (Three, Three trips to Home Depot), vacuumed, sealed tile, dusted, vaccumed, cleaned off the counters, swept the kitchen floor, shined the sink, went to Home Depot for....Just kidding, three trips was good, but I do need to go tomorrow for a few things....
And so at 8:00 PM I ate my bowl of cereal, took a shower, and crawled in my bed (with clean sheets, forgot to mention that on the to-do list).

Today also began at 6 trying to actually write down the talk and lesson I had written in my head the prior day during painting, ok and I was chatting with Kassie. Then it was time to make breakfast, clean up the kitchen (again!), and then get ready for church. (Which is a chore in itself because finding clothes is so hard!) At church I spoke in sacrament, then helped Art with his lesson in Primary, then taught Relief Society. When we got home I made Art a Tortilla Sandwich (Pan con Tomato - Spanish food), me a wrap, and got some carrots steaming for my lunch this week. (I really didn't intend on writing a play by play, it just happened. And Jamie and/or Andre are going to hassle me about the number of parenthesis and asides - oh well.) After that it was an attempt to do school work, instead moving the washer and dryer back and beginning to chip away at the laundry mountain (literal mountain stands 4 feet high - must have washer!) I'm not sure I know where the rest of the hours went today, but I know I didn't nap.

And now it's 8:41 and I am just now remembering I didn't make a new seating chart, and noticing the still uncorrected pile of spelling tests (3 weeks worth - can I pay someone to do this for me??) And I haven't gotten my reading done in our class novel, and do you know how much trouble it causes when the teacher is UNPREPARED!!???? So I was going to upload some pictures of our progress (I say progress because No, we still have not finished any of 3 the currently under construction rooms) but it's too late, and I've got to make that seating chart before I get to my reading!

Do you see why I need a redo?

To clarify....

By "Dud" I didn't mean lack of things to do....there are PLENTY of things to do, I won't even start that depressingly long list...just a lack of interesting and fun things to do! But it's February now so everything is going to be pleasant and wonderful (positive thinking works)...

And to start it out, we were having so much fun in Math yesterday that we didn't even notice that we'd missed recess!

January Dud...

Blogging is slow. You may have noticed as you click around that the updates have slowed down and some have come to a screeching halt (except for Belinda, but we all know she has some sort of manic obsession). Even with the lull in writing, each and every night I still click on each blog in hopes of a new post, and on a lucky day they'll be something new to read. And then I start thinking....
What should I post about?
For along with the clicking each night, and longing for new updates, I also feel the guilt to keep my own blog exciting. So with each guilt ridden moment I wonder...
But WHAT could I post about?
You see, I have determined that January is an insanely boring month. Boring to such a degree that it's miserable because you aren't bored from lack of things to do, but bored from doing the same tedious frustrating tasks day after day, with nary a break for something - anything - fun...
And so I've thought, and thought, and thought about what I could possibly put up here...
Could I write about my debate unit in class and that really funny debate about homework? Hmm, I think you had to be there. How about I tell the story of cleaning the laundry room and finding piles of dog bones and dryer sheets and lint and...okay, no one wants to read about that. Perhaps I'll talk about about my dogs, but even they are bored. The really hard math test... The funny thing on the radio... The new dance in the play... The homemade soup I made... Playing ShwingBong...
The more and more I thought, the more depressed I got. This has not been a pleasant month. It has been uneventful (except the birth of my nephew - whom I haven't even held yet). It's been filled with entirely too much to do and not a drop of energy to do it. And the most joy I've felt was crawling in bed each night and knowing that I was one day closer to January being over.

So in my attempt to post SOMETHING entertaining I'll share the dance that my students and I created to learn about Landforms...It's fairly long, but what else are you going to do, it's January...

Our Max....

*This is Not intended to be a sad blog entry.

Yesterday we had to say goodbye to our Max. He had lived a long and plentiful life and his old bones were done carrying him.
We adopted Max about 4 years ago from Art's best friend who couldn't keep him in an apartment. Since then, Max has been a part of our family. He was full of love and happiness, and naps. He didn't love to travel, but he loved the destination, especially if there was any water nearby.
We'll miss Ol' Half Dead, but we're happy that he's running the trails of heaven and enjoying his life again!

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