My Favorite...

I have a favorite lottery ticket. I don't play often, but every once in a while I will...and I have discovered a ticket in which there is NO WAY I'll ever lose. It's a MN Lottery game called Border Battles ($5). The ticket features several ways to win but the whole idea is a based on each ticket being an individual Packer/Viking Game. Since it is a MN lottery thing, you scratch as if you were a Viking...but...I still love it because:

1. Either I win money

OR

2. I lose the money, but the ticket says the PACKERS WIN. When the Packers win, I can't lose! So yeah. Way to go MN! Being a lottery ticket, more often than not, the Pack wins...according to the officials at MN state lottery. Maybe they didn't really think that one through...but I'm loving it.

Now...off to school. Christmas Concert tonight. (I am lucky to work in a school that still EXPECTS Christmas music at the Christmas concert!) I know there is a Packer game on but I'll only miss roughly the first half, so not too bad. I'll write again really soon about the Harley Christmas party we went to last night.

What do band students do...

...to get out of rehearsing?

2 of them decided to tell me at the start of rehearsal that they needed to leave the last 15 minutes or so for yearbook. I'm thinking they are getting ready to start sales at lunch time.

Rehearsal progresses. It's going well but I've got a migraine. The room is really warm and dry. Lots of kids have been sick lately. Now one kid has to use the bathroom urgently. She's a good kid. I trust her. Another kid asks for a drink of water. She's been ill. We were all actually told to let her go when she needs it. And she's a good kid. I trust her. Then a third. He needs water too. I'm getting cranky but we need to get on with it. My head is splitting and I just want to get through. We started the next song without those kids. It was "The Grinch" and on our run through I had to start again because the trombones missed their entrance. Apparently they forgot to count for themselves when their section leader left for yearbook. It's OK. They nailed it the second time.

We weren't more than 30 measures or so into the piece when all of those that had gone missing came pounding through the door again. It is no longer any wonder why the seniors were giggly all day. They parade in with cake and juice. Apparently the fact that we have a concert in only 2 more rehearsals doesn't matter...they've decided to throw a party. How they managed to keep it a secret is beyond me. Secrets aren't easy in little ol' Spring Grove.




How could I argue? The cake said Happy Anniversary (really? What HS kids do THAT for a teacher, they are strange...but you gotta love them!)...and we had already gotten through the songs that really needed it. What goofy kids. They were pretty bummed that Duane couldn't make it, they DID invite him but he was working at Best Buy so he couldn't stop in. Don't feel bad for him though...they sent leftovers home.

I'm sorry

I know it's been a long while, and I've really been thinking about posting...I just haven't had the time. It's been busy at school and both Duane and I are working second jobs. Life is good though and we very much enjoy the time we DO get to spend together in the evenings which is why I haven't been spending it blogging.

So let's see...this blog will be totally random, but it's all I've got right now (although I do have a list of "off the beaten path" topics I can post about when life settles down a bit.

Random thought #1: Tonight, I'm doing laundry. Exciting. I know. Duane left for a couple of hours to help a friend hook up their entertainment system. He also spent a large chunk of the day pouring concrete as the foundation for our shed. He has been a VERY hardworking man lately. We are also sitting around playing MARIO BROTHERS on our Wii...WOO HOO...WHAT FUN!!! He is currently playing without me because I played without him while he was gone. Once he has played a while we can play together...it looks like you can play up to 4 people at the same time...so it will be fun. One of these days we're going to set up a Wii night with the sisters and their beaus (and mom and her beau if they are available that night...since she now stays in LaCrosse during the week).


Random thought #2: Thanksgiving is coming. I'm excited...and not. It's a short week at school. That's good because I'm still pretty beat from the long weeks and late nights for the musical (which was AWESOME by the way). I work the 3am-1pm shift on Black Friday. Whew...I mean...I know I asked for the early shift (so I didn't have to stick around to help clean up at the end of the night)...but GEEZ... Oh well. Duane works Thanksgiving Day. He also works black Friday at both the sheriff's office and at best buy...so he's got the rougher end of the deal. Guess I'll have to rub his back when he gets home.

Random thought #3: We just celebrated our first anniversary! Yeah Us! The year-old-cake that you traditionally save...um...well...the frosting wasn't great at all...but the chocolate was good. Brandi took care of the frosting for us so it worked out.


Random thought #4: I have a new TV series I like a lot. NCIS. I started watching it because I didn't realize my dad was a movie star. But I swear...both looks and personality...the lead character dude is my dad. Then I watched it enough to actually really like the show itself too. Check out these pics and tell me I'm wrong, I dare you!



Random thought #5: I bought myself a present. If you're ever looking for gift idea...Barnes and Noble gift cards would be great. I can use them to build my library.


Random thought #6: Go PACK! We're at least as good as last year by record! Woo Hoo. Hopefully we hold together without Harris and Kampman. But you can at least all help feed the state. www.chunky.com We're still undefeated there!

Ok...laundry's ready...and all of Duane's little Mario guys died. Guess that means I'm done for tonight!

More Food

I know...that's a lot of food from people who are trying to DROP weight...but hey, it's good food...and good for you, mostly.

So why? In school this semester, there is a food's class. They cook. Everyday. They are cooking their way around the world and making a cookbook. They are discussing healthy foods and how recipes can vary by region. Many good things come from that class. They frequently need to get rid of leftovers. I love the fact that I have band students in that class that often offer me a taste test. Yum. The apple pie was awesome. So was the empanada. The bread...was good for a first shot. So...I decided I needed to give it a shot too...

This weekend is MEA Convention (teachers' conferences). That means public schools in MN do not hold classes on Thursday and Friday so that teachers that are going to the convention do not have to take time off school. I'm not going. I stayed home and gave the bread a shot.

Pumpkin Bread (with chocolate chips!)



Yup, it's good.



Amish White Bread



It's isn't pretty, but it tastes pretty good. I'll keep practicing.



Brandi. Helping lick the pumpkin mix bowl clean. She did a great job.



And for good measure...supper. Grilled Chicken and Asparagus. Lightly seasoned.



All in all...I've had a pretty successful weekend...and it's only Friday!

I'm just sayin'

Holy YUM!!!

Appetizers A La Andrea

This was an awesome combination. Completely on a whim, what I was really after as an appetizer wasn't available (but I'm sure will be added to my list of weekend to do list!) It got Duane and I eating fresh tomatoes (thanks to good neighbor Vivian!). Try it. The spice on the triscuit was mellowed just a hair by the fresh tomato...and the cheese blended the whole thing together. Yup. I'll be doing this often.

I Never Knew...and purple too

I never knew a silly little quiz could turn out so accurate...

Andrea completed the quiz "THE INNER NATIONALITY QUIZ: WHAT ARE YOU REALLY?" with the result You are German.

You are precise yet romantic, efficient yet dreamy, friendly yet somewhat suspicious of others. You rarely smile, but when you do it's very meaningful. You like it best when there is a group consensus, and yet you are easily annoyed by the slowness and/or stupidity of others. Sometimes you think that if only you could live on an island or move to some wonderful place far away, everything would be better, and if you can't realize this dream you often lose yourself in books/vacations/recipes/sports -- anything for an escape! All in all, however, you make your peace with life, and have many old friends.

So yeah. The "rarely smile" is off, although I do realize that sometimes the smile is just for effect because it's what's expected of me...I can wipe it off my face just as fast. Stupidity in others CAN really annoy me. Island living with my hubby WOULD be wonderful...but since it's out of reach I DO read, plan vacations, cook, etc...in fact...speaking of cooking, I created an "appetizer a la Andrea" tonight that was AWESOME. I'll share more tomorrow when I get the picture off my camera. I also have a new adventure planned for this weekend. I'll make sure to fill you in if it's not a disaster. Did I mention that I really do have German heritage?

Now, wanna see something that wipes a smile off my face? It's ANIMAL ABUSE!

Pa thought she liked it...and color aside, they ARE cute!


Really she thought "Play with me for making me do this!"


"I'm not amused, but I'm cute!"


"Protect me Andrea, get this off me!"


"Ooo...Maybe I should play dead...like the team I'm forced to represent...I don't care if we lose, I HATE Purple PA!"


Hehehe...since Duane doesn't blog, I was able to put MY spin on these pic's...they were too cute not to show but Brandi's true feelings needed to be known.

Smiling

I'm smiling. Yup. Rare occurance, I know.

I had a couple of pretty serious days with major back issues and my husband shined like a rock star. He went so far as to help me get dressed when I couldn't reach my own feet for lack of being able to bend and hung out with me while I was home from school. It was his day off, but we chatted and bantered about football a lot, no game related injuries to report.

After my Dr's appointment (which turned out pretty useless with the exception of the meds) I needed to make a sandwhich to eat with the meds to avoid stomach problems. As I was ready to mix tuna I realized we didn't have any mayo...he VOLUNTEERED to go get some without me even asking. What a sweetie. I was so excited that I also told him go ahead and pick up a pizza for dinner tonight (he also said he was cooking for me). He picked up a pizza, chips, dip, garlic toast...everything but mayo. Silly guy. But still, it was one heck of an effort.

I went back to school today. I'm still pretty sore but functioning better. Duane is pretty much hired at Best Buy for the holidays, assuming of course that he passes his drug test, lol. Now, my baby has gone out to pick up a movie for us to watch together tonight. Wonder if he'll rub MY back...(doubtful, I'm sure it'll be the other way around).

Now he's home...so it's time to go. He's ready to be spoiled. He's earned it.

Sorry no pics...NS for the boring,rambling update, but hey, it's "Our Story" :-)