Mel's Box of Chocolates

It is finally...GONE! Over the weekend, hubby went grocery shopping which was awesome because I loathe , despise , HATE, the grocery story. However, this meant he came home with two tubs of Edy's ice cream. Just so you all know, ice cream is a weakness of mine, and the Peanut Butter Cup that he chose to purchase can send me crawling with drool running down my face to the freezer. But not any more because it has been emptied and will not be replaced anytime in the near future...Right honey??!! As you know, today was the day! The day when the tracker started running again and I faithfully counted every little point that entered my mouth. I had an awesome day with cheerios for breakfast, green beans, strawberries, grapes, carrots, an apple, and some pretzel sticks throughout the day, and then spaghetti for dinner. Not to bad, huh? Until after dinner when everybody had a bit of ice cream and there just happened to be about a cup left of the PB kind. Well I couldn't let it just go t...

If you have been following me on my weighloss journey you know that I joined Weight Watchers in Jan 2007 and have lost forty-some pounds. However since after the New Year, when I supposedly was getting back on track after taking December off, I have flip flopped a few pounds here and there maintaining my loss, but not losing any more. My goal is 130lb although 125 would be great so I have that 5 pounds to play with. After our vacation, in which I swear I walked miles and miles, I currently weigh 145. With the B-I-G birthday 10 1/2 weeks away now is the time to get serious to meet my goal by my birthday! This would mean I need to lose an average of 2lb. per week. It may be a stretch, but I am going to try my hardest to get er' done! With the completion of my Board's I am not nearly as stressed any more plus have my evenings back since I don't have to type my nights away. Therefore, I have no excuses for not getting my bottom on the treadmill. Also with the warm weather comi...

Well tomorrow it is back to school! Our spring vacation was action packed and it will be nice to get back into a routine. I will miss being with my family 24/7...well at least miss those times when nobody was fighting, whining, or crying. 48 days until summer vacation...not that I am counting or anything!!!

This officially concludes our vacation as I have posted the last vacation pictures. Hopefully you all weren't bored to tears as you endured the dreaded vacation pix! Onto the more exciting things now like...work, fighting siblings, cold weather, and all the other great things that make up my life!!

One reason I was so excited to visit San Diego was because it is where I was born. My dad was in the Navy and worked on an aircraft carrier that was stationed in San Diego. I was born in the naval hospital near Balboa Park where the Zoo is. Before we left on vacation my mom tried to find some addresses of their houses, but couldn't find any numbers only street names. Mom and Dad lived in three places, one house on Clairemont Mesa Blvd and the other two on Grape St. On our trip downtown we came across Grape Street and I just had to drive up the street. I am sure things have greatly changed since we lived there, considering I will be 3-0 (yes, I said it) in June. Dave used the camera to take a couple videos as I drove up Grape street so have fun, mom and dad, seeing if anything looks familiar!!

On our last day of vacation we decided to head back to Hollywood to actually walk the Hall of Fame. We found some of our favorites as you can see from the slide show, but I was disappointed because I didn't find Johnny Depp or Julia Roberts. I did get to put my hand in George Clooney's though so all is well!! All along the street were musicians and impersonators. Of course Zoe was thrilled to see Minnie since she wasn't able to see her at Disney. You can tell it is a very skinny Minnie though and the costume was sorely in need of a washing. As we were leaving there was somebody in front of Jimmy Kimmel's building getting pictures with people, but for the life of me I have no idea who she was. Mostly teenage girls were in line for pictures and the paparazzi wasn't surrounding her so I am thinking it must not have been anybody too popular. We got lunch at the Hollywood McDonald's and Dylan was impressed that they even had their own star on the floor! A neat experi...

For the past three spring breaks we have visited DisneyWorld in Florida. I am a big Disney fan and being able to take the kids there has been so much fun. Since we weren't going to Florida for our vacation this year and heading west instead we decided to spend one day in Disneyland. I was really looking forward to the visit and considered it the climax of our vacation. However, I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed. First of all Disneyland is pretty much a miniature of Disney world...even Aurora's castle was tiny compared to Cinderella's. Also, since the park is in such a compact space the walkways were narrow and considering how busy it was I felt very crowded, which is something I never felt in Disney World. I did hear some people commenting that it was unusually crowded probably with the spring vacationers and this seemed to affect the rides too because many of them broke down or were shut down. We didn't even get to ride "It's a Small World...

Monday was a travel day for us as we said goodbye to San Diego and headed north to Anaheim for a day at Disneyland. Since we had all day we went a bit further north into L.A. with my personal destination of Rodeo Drive. Of course, Dave could have most definitely lived without this little side trip, but I just had to do it! We headed into Beverly Hills and just followed the Ferrari's, Lamborghini's, Mercedes, and BMW's, to Rodeo Drive. Honestly, how do all these people make so much money? I must be in the wrong profession! We had a fun lunch at the Beverly Hills Diner...the ONE place we could afford to eat lunch 90210. Then we took a stroll down Rodeo Drive. It was a lot like 5Th Avenue in NY except much quieter and much cleaner, but mostly the same shops. After Beverly Hills we headed back south going into Hollywood. Dave and I had both forgotten about the Walk of Fame until we went by all the people hanging out there. I hopped out of the car to get a pix of a star, ...

We spent Easter Sunday starting with an egg hunt in the hotel room. That Easter Bunny is a pretty smart fellow knowing that we were all the way on the other side of the country. Dyl and Zoe had a blast hunting for eggs and their baskets in our room.

Well we are all home again, safe and sound and that concludes our vacation of 2008. We took the red eye on Wednesday night and actually got home yesterday morning, where we then crashed on the couch, beds, and floor trying to catch up on sleep. It was nice flying home through the night because both kids slept, but with only a four hour flight it was not enough time. The kiddos slept driving home from DC and I have to admit I got some shut eye too, but it is not the same as stretching out in your comfy bed with a pillow under your head. We all were asleep by 9 last night and only got up a bit ago. So sorry about the lack of posting of days 4-7 of our vacation. Things got a bit crazy and when we went to Disney, our new hotel wanted me to pay for Wi-Fi and since I was only going to have time for a brief post I decided to spend my money at Disney instead. My to-do list today includes catching you all up on our adventures along with getting to the grocery store because there is nothing, I r...

After two days of going and going, we decided to take off today and just explore. We hopped in the car and followed our noses. Our first stop was in Mission Bay where we found an old roller coaster right on the beach and Roberto's which had some delicious fish tacos that Dave loved. The beach was pretty too with lots of California bodies filling it. I would definitely need to use that treadmill and shed these last few pounds before I would fit in there or join the rest and find a nice plastic surgeon. I actually couldn't believe they were wearing little bikinis considering the wind was whipping through and the water was a frigid 58 degrees...uh no thanks! Needless to say we enjoyed the beach from the concrete path while wearing our jackets! Some nice New Yorker asked if he could take our picture which was super nice considering it just may be the only family picture we get our whole vacation. After Mission Beach we headed north and discovered La Jolla . We found the Childre...

We spent yesterday at Legoland , which was quite an experience. First of all, I had no idea that Lego's were so popular. We waited for at least 45 minutes for many rides and I honestly think it was busier than Disney! The kids had a blast though riding some rides and checking out all the Lego's. We ended up opening and closing the park. Enjoy the pictures from yesterday! On our way home we took a scenic route along the ocean through Carlsbad, Encinitas , and La Jolla . BEAUTIFUL! Definitely where I would want to live although would never be able to afford it. Along the cliffs of the ocean were RV parks where everybody was camped out. The smell of bonfires and ocean...can it get any better??!! We were able to watch the sunset over the ocean, which was gorgeous. We just drove through, but I think today or on Monday we may go through and make some stops. There were tons of sushi restaurants and I wouldn't mind trying one. Today I think we are going to take a slow day and just...

Well we made it to sunny California. The airplane ride was smooth flying although the last two hours were pretty painful probably for all people around us as Dylan and Zoe were getting plane crazy. I must say that if you are going anywhere that JetBlue flies I highly recommend them and not just because my brother-in-law works for them. They have tv's in front of every seat with satellite tv so I was able to watch my American Idol and the kids were plugged in to Nick and Cartoon Network the whole time. The tv's also have a flight tracker that shows what state you are flying over, speed, and altitude. Dylan enjoyed tracking his process. We ate dinner before we boarded because dinner was not served, but there was an assortment of snacks you could choose from along with drinks and you could get as many as you want. JetBlue also serves Dunkin Donuts coffee!!! Can flying be any better??!! Oh and did I mention the comfy leather seats with loads of leg room? You have to try them beca...

Today was my last day of school and HAPPY SPRING BREAK to me! It really felt like the day before Christmas break today as I did not want to do anything. It seems since I have sent of my Portfolio that my brain and body have decided to become very lazy. Well everything is packed, my toenails are pretty in pink, the camera has fresh batteries and an empty card, and the excitement is building. We leave tomorrow for San Diego!! Our flight is tomorrow night. It is weird because we leave at 5 pm for a 6 hour flight, but get in CA around 8 pm due to the time change. Should be fun with the kids! I printed all our tickets to Sea World, the Zoo, and Legoland . I heart technology! All of the tickets could be printed with the bar codes so I didn't have to pay for any shipping and we don't have to wait in any lines to purchase tickets. Instead I have a folder of bar codes for our vacation. I am sure we will be quite a site in the airport considering we have two huge suitcases (don't wo...

Zoe went to a Princess Birthday Party the other weekend and it was the party of the century. It was held at a party center where all the little girls were taken in a room to get dressed up while the mommies sat in another room and chatted. Then they all came out and took their walk on the red carpet, danced, had their pictures taken, and of course had some yummy treats. Zoe was in heaven as you can see.

I saw this meme over at Musings of a Housewife and over at Jennifer's blog and thought...why not play along. I have been busy packing for our vacation and am now snuggled in bed doing a little blogging. A fun little meme would be the perfect way to end the day. So... What I was doing 10 years ago: I had just met hubby, moved out of my parent's house, and was setting out on my own. I was saying goodbye to my teens as I was getting ready to turn 20! 5 Things on my To Do List today: Pack my clothes for San Diego Get a pedicure Beat a few more songs on Guitar Heroes Laundry Clean up the house so when I get back from vacation it will be nice and neat! Snacks I Enjoy: Duh...chocolate trail mix (the one with chocolate) goldfish pudding Things I would do if I were a Billionaire: Pay off the house and all our bills Invest for my kiddo's future Travel the world...I would home school the kids and just go! 3 of my Bad Habits: Multi-tasking when somebody is talking to me, Spee...

Here it is... My portfolio for National Boards, boxed up and sitting by the front door ready to go. Dave took it to work today to ship it on its way. For as much work (and whining) I have done it really isn't a very big box is it? I can't believe I did it!! I still have one more part which is the assessment center. I have that scheduled for May. I go to the test center and take six 30 minute assessments on different subjects. Basically, they are all essay and I just have to respond to the prompt within the designated time. The assessments are part of the final grade, but are weighted differently than the portfolio. I went to a workshop about them a couple Saturday's ago and it also seems like the scorers consider that you could be a slow typer or flip out about being timed so that makes me feel a bit more comfortable too. Then after the assessment center it is just the waiting game. I won't find out if I pass until November, which seems so far away although I don't...

Zoe is quite a handful and it is never good if you don't here her for awhile. It is even worse when you hear her brother saying, "Oh my gosh...moooooommmmmyyyyy!" When I went running upstairs this is what I saw... Evidently our sink had a major boo-boo that Zoe just had to make better. Let's pretend not to notice that my fashionable daughter is wearing a disney pj shirt with her ballet skirt or the very messy kid's bathroom!

I have been meaning to share with you just how wonderful my friend, Bek , is!! The other day, when things were not going well with my Board's, work was rolling out of control, and I wasn't feeling well, I got this in the mail... Yes, that would be a whole box of brownies!!! My oldest friend (no, not by age...she is actually young friend) obviously knows me better than anybody had sent me this gift from heaven. There were many different kinds of brownies from mint chocolate, coconut, peanut butter, white chocolate, chocolate chip, and more. Every one was absolutely delicious ...soft and chewy. If you have a reason to send somebody something to brighten their day you should definitely check this out . Forget the flowers...send chocolate!!! Thank you so much Bek (and Josh too for knowing me so well!). I love you and am so blessed to have known you for practically my whole life!!! I can't express in words how much the surprise meant to me. You ROCK!!!

Sorry for my spotty posting lately. Now is the crunch time for my National Board's as my goal is to have everything boxed up by Saturday. I have two of the four entry's packaged up already!! I can't believe that I am almost finished with the portfolio process. It is so nice to see that light at the end of the tunnel getting brighter and brighter. I signed up for my assessment center in May and then I'm done! Then it is just the waiting game since I won't get my score until November, which stinks because patience is not something that I was blessed with. State test is this week for my class so that has been a bit stressful too. My kids are doing great though, I am so proud of how hard they are working. Hopefully we will see some great results when we get the scores in May. (What is it with scores taking so darn long??!!) Today was a break day so we all took it easy just reading and doing some light math. I like these days when I can lay on the floor with...

Cause that is what I have been the past four days. I woke up feeling just peachy on Monday and by the time I got home from a late meeting that night my throat was killing me and I was shaking with chills. Tuesday morning I woke up sweating, but determined to get to school because it was the day before state test. I finally gave in by mid-morning and took the afternoon off to come home and rest, promising my students that I would be there the next day. Thankfully Dave was home because I literally walked in the door and straight to bed for the remainder of the night. I gave in to taking some medicine because I knew I had to be at school the next day...there was not any way I was not going to be with my students on the first day of their state test. I woke up on Wednesday and felt even worse. My throat was on fire and it hurt just to breathe plus I was still shaking with chills. I went to school though and supported my students on their test. Thank goodness my student teach...