Counselor

I lose my title as teacher and gain the title of counselor on Parent/Teacher Conference nights.

People have problems, and they are not afraid to talk about them. To their child's English teacher, history teacher, math teacher, science teacher, or anyone else who is willing to listen. They get five minutes.

Go.

"My son is verbally and physically abusive to me. I kicked him out of the house, and that was when he realized I was serious. He's been much more civil to me now."

"My daughter has been lying to my husband and me, and we finally figured it out last week."

"I don't know how to get him to do his homework. I can't even get him out of bed in the morning. Do you have any suggestions to help me get him to school?"

"I very much use the hands off approach. It's his deal. He can either do his work, or he can play video games. It's up to him."

"I don't know what to do anymore. I try and I try and I try, and it results in Fs."

"We first tried the hands-on approach, which didn't work. Then we tried hands-off. Let him figure it out. Now we're back onto the hands-on approach. We hound him about everything. Nothing works, though. Can you help?"

The list goes on and on. I'm not a parent, parents. I have no idea how hard it is to be a parent of a teenagers. What I can tell you is the hands-off approach doesn't work. At all. I'd take a guess that actually being a parent, taking rule of the roost, and giving the child some discipline is going to go a long way. Just a guess.

And I'm a teacher not a counselor.

Valentine's Day

Josh and I celebrated Valentine's Day this past weekend since we're not together during the week. I had something special planned for him, so I was anxiously awaiting his arrival.

Josh arrived with a dozen roses. He also got me two movies tickets to see Hunger Games when it comes out in theatres in March. I know he's not thrilled to see the movie with me, but he's willing to go as a good sport! He also took me to dinner at BD's Mongolian Grill. It was so good, and I ate so much!
I had set out a date table, which looked like this when he arrived. It's filled with chocolate hearts, a coupon book for him to cash in with things like, "King for the day," "Get out of chores for the day," "Date night," "Movie night of my choice," and "Dinner for two." There's a few other gifts for him on the table, too.
Chocolate, Strawberries, and Cool Whip.

Fun dice.

Champagne and two red, heart glasses.

I also made this banana pistachio cake with cream cheese chocolate frosting (all from scratch). It was delish, I assure you of that!

I also got him a computer chair and a Notebook (mini laptop). He was thrilled, and we had a good night drinking our champagne by the fire and watching a movie.

Randoms

My new friend, the mouse, has made a physical appearance. It's the first time I've actually seen him, other than the evidence he has left behind in my food drawer.

I was talking to Josh this morning in my classroom when I heard a rustling. I stopped mid-sentence. "What's wrong," he asked. "I heard the mouse." The sound stopped. I thought it was just my imagination, so I continued with my conversation.

I heard the noise again, so Josh told me to investigate and he'd call me later.

I sat down at my desk, only to hear the noise again. I looked down to the floor, and there SITTING ON THE MOUSETRAP (and doing a jig while laughing at me) was the mouse. As soon as I gasped and jumped out my chair, he ran into a tiny hole in my cupboard.

I ran into the hallway, not sure what to do. Heart pounding, I came back into the room, accompanied by a student. "He's strong and brave," I thought. He'll help me.

As we walked back into the room, I was watching the hole/trap. Right before my eyes, the mouse popped out of the hole, made eye contact with me, laughed, and went back into the cupboard.

Once the students entered the room, he has since disappeared. What scares me the most is the trap is about two feet from my feet! I have been sitting with my feet on my desk for fear he'll run up my pant leg.

Disgusting!

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Parent/Teacher conferences are on Thursday. It's the worst night(s) of the school year. I hate them so much. For five hours on Thursday, I get to talk and talk and talk. On the bright side, we do not have students on Friday, and we have Monday off. (Kind of) Four day weekend!

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Lacrosse officially starts in two weeks. All the winter sports are done at the school, so I'm done managing those. No more late nights at the school. In return, I am replacing that with Lacrosse.

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Cookie Dough Truffles

Calling all cookie dough lovers.

Where are you?

I have something for you that you just have to try!

Cookie Dough Truffles

They are A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

O.M.G.

I feel sorry for those of you who don't bake because this is a gotta try recipe.

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1-1/2 pounds dark chocolate candy coating, coarsely chopped

Directions
In a large bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Gradually add flour, alternately with milk, beating well after each addition. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.

Shape into 1-in. balls; place on waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Loosely cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until firm. (I used my Pampered Chef small ice cream scoop, and I didn't even have to get my hands dirty. So easy and fast. Also, I put mine in the freezer to harden, which was perfect!)

In a microwave, melt candy coating; stir until smooth. Dip balls in coating; allow excess to drip off. Place on waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes. If desired, remelt remaining candy coating and drizzle over candies. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: 5-1/2 dozen.


Nutritional Facts 1 serving (2 each) equals 240 calories, 12 g fat (8 g saturated fat), 12 mg cholesterol, 46 mg sodium, 33 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 3 g protein. (For those of you doing WW, it's 7 Points Plus for two balls-so worth it!)

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Of course, mine don't look quite as nice as the picture of above, but I have no doubt they taste just as yummy. Try them. Let me know what you think!

Only Half, Please

I blame it all on Josh. And the whole dating gig.

And food, of course.

It's all so good. Pizza, my favorite. Cookies to impress. Four course meals when I would normally eat just one course. Fancy desserts.

Josh and dating and food made me gain weight.

So three week ago, I marched my fat but into Weight Watchers and did what I had been dreading to do throughout the Christmas holidays. I got an official weight, and started my weight lost journey AGAIN.

Josh and I had a long discussion: No more buffets (his favorite-mine, not so much, so I was happy to set this rule in place). No more desserts but once in a while. No more large meals. No more going out to eat five times a weekend (we only did that while at his place since he doesn't cook). Fruits and veggies with every meal. Working out is a must. And we're going to have to start sharing meals when we go out to eat.

I don't like sharing meals with other people.

I like my food to myself.

I like my large plate of food for myself.

Other than the working out part (I hate it so much), I have upheld my end of the deal. In fact, I have lost 10 pounds in three weeks since going back to WW. My jeans already are getting loose, and I can tell my stomach is shrinking.

Josh has also upheld his part of the deal, including running at least four times a week (props to him). We have been fruit and veggie machines, and Josh can tell his jeans are fitting better, too. Together, we're shrinking! Probably less of both of us is a good thing :)

The sharing of the meals has been hard for me. Every Friday night when I'm in Greeley, we have a date night at Roma's, which is a delicious pizza, calzone, and pasta restaurant. So goooooood. It's my favorite place, by far, to eat in Greeley. We have our own booth, the same waiter every week, and we order the same thing.

He orders a calzone with pepperoni and pineapple. I order a calzone with pepperoni and jalapenos. The calzones are huge, and loaded with so much cheese and pepperoni.

With a side of ranch, please, for dipping.

My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Josh would eat his entire calzone, and then stare as I ate mine. I would eat 3/4 of mine, and then give him the rest. I'd be stuffed. Josh would be stuffed. And we'd be so happy when we left.

The last time we went, we had to share, per the rule.

One pepperoni calzone please (I don't like pineapple in my pizza, and he doesn't like jalapenos). He turned to me for my order. We're sharing, I forcefully said.

Fifteen minutes later, our one calzone entered the table. It looked so sad sitting there alone. I almost reached out to our waiter to order another one, but I held back.

This is good for us, I thought, as I cut the calzone evenly in two (no need for Josh to get a bigger half).

Josh ate his half. I ate my half.

At the end of the meal, we were both satisfied. Not stuffed. Not hungry. But satisfied.

Don't get me wrong, we both would have continued to stuff our face had the other half to our calzone been sitting there, but at the end of the night, we both were happy with our half and not rolling out of the restaurant stuffed.

So our weight battle continues. Josh continues to run so he can eat a little bit more during the day. I continue to be lazy, so I have to carefully watch my daily points and save my extra weekly points for the weekends we're together (so that I can continue to enjoy the half calzones and other snacks we might pick up along the way).

I realize, sadly, that this isn't just a year long battle, but a lifetime battle. I will always love food. I will always have to count my intake. I will always only get to eat half a calzone.

Someday, though, I will be fabulously skinny. Mark my words!

Home Alone

Tomorrow is a snow day.

I am stuck at home alone.

And I am so happy. Rarely do I get a moment to myself, and I am looking forward to being home alone to refresh and re energize.

I will blog tomorrow, I promise.

May God's hand fall on all those who must venture out onto the roads tomorrow. It's a nasty one, this storm, and I am so thankful I can stay in my bed and rest.

Thank you, God.

Good night.

Full Bladder. Empty Bladder.

Apparently, I'm the dumbest girl on the planet for not knowing that you have to have a full bladder in order to get an ultra sound taken.

Duh.

Who doesn't know that?

Me, that's who, and I was made to look the fool yesterday upon my arrival to the doctor's office.

To back up, this past week I have been experiencing some major stomach pains. Initially we were worried it was appendicitis, but we ruled that out after a day or two of the pains. By Monday, I was in enough pain that I headed to the doctor.

They took blood, I had to pee in a cup, I got poked and prodded. Appendicitis was ruled out, but the doctor was pretty sure I had an ovarian cyst. She said all women have cysts; in fact, all women have multiple cysts on a monthly basis, and typically they take care of themselves with no pain or discomfort. Sometimes, though, they might cause some pain during the monthly cycle. She wanted to verify it, though, so she set up an appointment to get an ultra sound the following day (at a different building).

My instructions: Drink 32 ounces of water one hour prior to the appointment.

Done and done.

I drank the water (although nearly forgot) at noon. By 12:15, I had to pee so badly that I left my class unattended so I could take care of business. My friend Lauren came into my classroom at 12:30 to attend the last 20 minutes of my class so I could leave. By that time, I could barely walk to the bathroom because I had to go so badly (again).

I drove 25 minutes to Kaiser, and upon my arrival, I had to go soooooo bad (AGAIN). For the third time in an hour, I used the restroom.

I checked in. The lady asked if I had drank my water.

"Yes, I did an hour ago."

"I'm sure you're in a lot of pain right now, so I'll get you in immediately."

I wondered at her comment. Why am I in pain?

The nurse called my name right away. She took me into a private room. "I'll do the ultra sound right now, and then you can use the bathroom." Again, I wondered why I would be sent to the bathroom. I actually didn't need to go at the moment.

She smeared the goop on my tummy and started the scan.

"Ummm, your bladder isn't full."

"No. I went the bathroom when I got here. I had to go badly."

"You have to have a full bladder in order to do an ultra sound. We're going to have to reschedule."

At that point, I'm embarrassed and ticked off. No one told me not to go the bathroom.

"No one told me that. I was instructed to drink water. I was NOT instructed to not use the bathroom. I'm not rescheduling. If you can't do it, you can't do it. But I'm not coming back."

"Well, let me see what I can get. You may have to come back, though, if I can't get a good scan."

She did her thing. I left.

I guess it worked because I got a call from the doctor. No cyst. I do have a benign fibroid, which is what is causing the pain, but I guess that's pretty common among women.

But I'm still dumb, I guess, for not knowing I had to have a full bladder. I know for next time....