Excitement

I do not have the words to describe how excited I am about going home this weekend. I miss my sisters so much it hurts. I have not been home in months. Do you know how long that is in Boone girl time? That's like, 7 years. Seriously.

 I know this is an old picture. 

But this is my favorite picture with my favorite people on the planet. 

So there. 

There is going to be lots of hugging, and snuggling, and laughing until we cry - or pee our pants - whichever comes first. We are going to stay up way too late talking, and get just loud enough that Mama has to come out of her room and tell us to hush up. Then we will feel bad and apologize and talk about going to bed, but we will stay up just a little bit longer because we know that all too soon we will head back home. 

And then I have to go back to missing them.

PS - I cannot promise pictures from this weekend. I still have Middle School Moon Face with a Buffalo Hump that is not fit for public consumption. Thank you for your patience.

Every Day is Hump Day

I have never been so excited to wake up. Today was the last day of steroids after a month and a half of steroid shots and pills.

Let me back up. Just before B and I took our trip to Tampa, I developed a no-good, horrible, very bad case of the hives. I thought I was having an allergic reaction to the new detergent I'd bought so I rewashed everything in my suitcase (and later, our house) with a free and clear detergent. Nope.

I spent the entire trip back from Tampa in a Benadryl coma. My sweet boy drove me straight to urgent care where they gave me a steroid shot and a week's worth of oral steroids. Things started to get better, but as soon as my oral steroids ran out - WHAM! Back with a vengance.

I went to my regular doctor who gave me another shot (boohiss) and a month's worth of oral steroids. Do you know what 2 shots and 5-6 weeks of oral steroids will do to your body?

For starters, I do not look like Wonder Woman.

1. 
   
   Weight gain and Hunger. I am starving. All the time. Which is really annoying when I am trying to count points for Weight Watchers. Miraculously, I've lost almost 4 pounds in the last 2 weeks. Did I mention I'm still hungry??? 
2. 
   
   Acne. I'm not talking a few zits here and there, people. If you've seen me in person lately, you know what I'm talking about. I went through this in middle school. To go through it again at 31 is just a bit ridiculous. No amount of Mary Kay can make me feel cute right now.
3. 
   
   Buffalo Hump and Moon Face. Yes, those are the names of these side effects. Google it. My face is beyond puffy and I have a "lump-hump" beneath my chin that does indeed resemble this guy:

He is NOT cute!

So while this might sound a little odd (and maybe even selfish) I would love your prayers as I try to have patience with my body while the steroids work their way out of my system. I am so lucky to have such a sweet boy who loves me no matter what I look like, but 30+ days of buffalo humps and moon face will wear a girl down. :)

The Magic Wand Story

A few weeks ago, B and I went to Tampa to see Leigh and Dave. We spent a day at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure so that Leigh and I could go to....

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!!

It was, in a word, awesome. We had SO MUCH FUN! Bryan, Dave and "Medium Mike" (not to be confused with "Big Mike") came along because Universal serves one of their favorite products:

Beer!

(You thought I was going to say wine, didn't you?)

We do drink other things. Like beer.

I digress. At the Wizarding World of Harry Potter you can buy your very own, very powerful magic wand. 

This is outside THE Ollivander's Wand Shop.

We just came from a verywetJurassicParkride. 

We were veryveryverywet.

Give me a break.

Leigh modeling the magical powers of her Harry Potter wand.

Dave was very scared.

Being the brainiac that I am, I picked up a Hermoine Granger wand.

Within days of our trip, I was back at work. I am in the same grade, at the same school with the same fabulous teaching partner.  I inevitably spend the first few days lamenting the loss of my former students, waving to them in the hallways and feeling a great sense of satisfaction when they stop by my room in the morning for a hug before starting their day. 

My new batch of cuties are already challenging me to stay on top of my "game." They are incredibly sweet, but incredibly talkative. Incredibly. Did I mention they were at least really sweet?

Seriously -

They. Will. Not. Shut. Up. 

EVER.

About 12:30 last Friday, I reached my limit. 

There were 42 tiny humans and 3 tall ones. The tiny ones were winning. We were trying to have a veryserious conversation about homework, putting first things first and being proactive when I might have lost it just a little bit. 

I remembered that my magic wand was in the back of the room.

I rushed back to go get it.

I rushed back up in front of the very talkative cutie pies.

Me: Do you know what this is?!?!

Them: (silence and dumbfounded stares... finally!!)

Me: THIS (holding up said wand) is a MAGIC WAND! From THE Harry Potter World! And it is REAL! And it WORKS!

Them: nothing. (again!!!)

Me: If you do not CLOSE YOUR MOUTHS, I am going to give ALL OF YOU TYPE 2 COOTIES!!!!!!!

Them: Gasps. Shock. Wincing. (You could smell the fear.)

Me: THERE IS NO SHOT OR CURE FOR TYPE 2 COOTIES!!!!!!!

Them: Shhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! 

Me: Do you understand?!?!?!?!?

Them: Yes ma'am. 

It was the most magical moment of my (almost) 9 year teaching career. 

My teaching partners in the back were choking down laughter, but it worked!!! We might have the most gullible kids on the planet, but they believe in that magic wand. All I have to do it reach for that box and I hear: "Type 2 Cooties! Hush!"

And they say kids have no imagination.