Mel's Box of Chocolates

You may have noticed that it has been a few days since I've been around and to say that things have gone crazy would be the understatement of the year. The worst part of it is that my grandmother passed away late Monday night. She has been sick for awhile, although the doctors couldn't find a diagnosis for what was wrong. She would have these heat flashes that were so intense she complained that she felt like her body was going to explode. She went to the ER a couple of times and after the episodes they would have a really hard time getting her blood pressure back to normal. At her last appointment though they thought they had discovered the problem, which was a rare diagnosis that I am not even going to attempt to share. Honestly, I am not sure what the final word was that did cause her to die. Anyways, what was so crazy about it was that she and my grandfather were planning to come to Maryland for my brother's high school graduation this weekend. They were expecte...

Happy Memorial Day!! My brother is a Marine and fought in Iraq. He was injured on his second trip and came home with a purple heart. He is one of the lucky ones though as he has fully recovered. There were many who never even got to come home!! As you enjoy today, don't forget to take a moment to say a silent prayer for those who have served our country and for those who are still fighting for it today. Freedom is NOT free, but rather is gift from all of those who have given so much. All Gave Some, and Some Gave All

Goal check: Eat 5 fruits/vegetables a day - Not quite (cherries, salad, carrots ) Eat 0 candy bars, cookies, cakes, brownies, etc. - I think I'm seeing my problem (two rice krispy treats and 4 cookies at school :-( Eat WW fudge bars for a treat - once again I didn't need one...see above goal Walk at least one mile a night - Well I didn't use the treadmill, but I went clothes shopping for about 2 hours while chasing two kids so that has to count for something!! Complete 50 stomach crunches a night - CHECK! Tomorrow the kids and I are headed to New York for the day. We are all very excited!! They have never been so we are planning on doing the carriage ride in central park, visiting Toys R Us , FAO shwartz , and American Girl . We also have tickets to see Mary Poppins on Broadway. Of course, I will be stopping in Anthropolgie and Sephora cause a New York visit just wouldn't be the same without doing so. I figure that chasing the two of them around New York City ...

So here are my daily goals: Eat 5 fruits/vegetables a day - CHECK (cherries, tomato, salad, grapes, carrots) ) Eat 0 candy bars, cookies, cakes, brownies, etc. - NOT SO GREAT (one brownie and two rice krispy treats :-( Eat WW fudge bars for a treat - didn't need one...see above goal Walk at least one mile a night - walked 2 Complete 50 stomach crunches a night - DONE Well I made 3 out of 5...not too bad for my first day. I did so well during the day and then tonight I made a dinner to take to Joyce and well when I picked up one package of brownies I just had to pick up another and hubby made both...the rest is history! Of course Zoe has also been wanting to make rice krispy treats so she and daddy made them tonight as well I had to try her handiwork too. Not excuses just plain facts. Tomorrow is a new day and I'm aiming for at least 4 out of 5! By the way I decided to go ahead and ditch the old Nike+ graph and set a new goal. I haven't quite figured out what ...

You probably have noticed that it has been awhile since I've tackled a Weight Watchers post. Part of this is because I decided to go cold turkey and cancelled my weight watchers online membership. Why do you ask? Well I have to confess that I was not using it nearly as much as I should and began questioning myself about why I was paying $16 a month for something I wasn't using. Now I am a strong believer in the program...how could I not be considering I lost over 40 pounds using it?! It is great for people like me who cannot "diet" by taking something away. The program taught me more how to control my portions, to really look at what I was eating and its nutritional value, and finally to understand how certain foods affect my body. However, the last few months I found myself getting very frustrated as the scale was consistently staying the same even when I would stay within my points and was walking my butt off (literally). In turn I found myself snacking more often, ...

'Cause I don't think I could have lasted one more day!! Now I'm off to enjoy some of this...

so little time... 217 items in my Google Reader Pack sleepover bags and soccer stuff for kids to take to Grandma and Grampy's tonight Clean out shed Yard sale tomorrow morning - Must. Get. Signs. Create class movie for end of year gift to my students Upload lots of pix Shop for graduation gifts Plan parties for school Shop for teacher and para of the year baskets and a baby basket for school Stay SANE! On the upside Dave and I are actually having a date night tonight!! My in-laws are home from Florida and are watching the kids tonight then taking Dyl to his soccer game in the morning so I can run the yard sale. Maybe I can tackle creating my movie while I'm making money tomorrow. I can't wait to kiss some of my junk goodbye!!! Happy Weekend!!

I don't know what is wrong with me this week, but I am pretty sure I am going crazy. Ask anybody who knows me and they will tell you that I am a got-it-together kind of person. I thrive with organization and my calendar is never out of my reach...yes, you may even say that it could be to the point of mildly OCD behavior. I lead a busy life and don't have time to waste so I'm pretty good at juggling. However, this week I seem to be doing this... Here are just a few of my blunders... Daycare asked me yesterday if I was going to pay this week or just double up next weeks payment. I asked, "Didn't I pay you"? Obviously not considering it was Wednesday and she was asking where her money was. (Thank goodness we have a nice home care provider who just laughed my foolishness off!) Yesterday I had a meeting after school at a different school. I was almost there when I had a sudden thought that I was going the wrong school. I tried calling a couple people I knew who wer...

Yesterday a Nor'Easter decided to blow its way into Southern Delaware which resulted in flooding roads and schools dismissing early...YEAH! (I have some pictures on my phone and as soon as I figure out how the heck to get them out of there I will share the visual!). The kids and I happily made our way home early going through some water, nothing too bad, and ended up home safe and sound. We had a nice relaxing night and I even cooked dinner, which means I must have really been in a happy mood. The kids went to bed, I did some partying , and then was off to bed myself with thoughts of school being delayed dancing in my head! Skip forward a few hours to my alarm clock going off and the news reporting that the two roads I take to school are closed due to flooding. There are trees down, power outages, and people still in shelters after being evacuated the day yesterday. My mind starts racing...Oh those poor people...YES, school will be delayed (I know, I'm shallow like that). So I...

It began with a cup of coffee and this Then I went off by myself for an hour to get this done Dave and the kids treated me for lunch. Nothing says Happy Mother's Day better than steamed crabs and warm hush puppies!! For dessert hubby made these decadent Ghiradelli double chocolate brownies with chocolate frosting on top. Can you say YUMM-O??!! And now I am cuddled in bed watching my Sunday night shows. Relaxing after a relaxing day! Hope you all had a very Happy Mother's Day too!

Last weekend my parents came to visit and watch the kids while I took my Board's test. After the test on Saturday we hung around the house and played some Wii, then went out to dinner. It was a pretty low key day. On Sunday it was absolutely beautiful so after playing for awhile at the local park we decided to walk to the beach. Now I am lucky to live close to the beach, but it is exactly 2.34 miles away and walking that while pulling kids in a wagon can really wear you out. It's okay though because once we go there we all took a break and enjoyed a huge bucket of Boardwalk fries and lemonade. Pretty much eating all the calories we had walked off and probably a few more to boot. Anyways, it was a gorgeous day and the exercise felt wonderful.

Okay so I probably shouldn't have saved this post considering Sophia has made her arrival already, but it still was fun so I wanted to share!! My sis-in-law and brother are expecting their first baby any day now. I truly mean any day too considering she is now having regular contractions. Anyhow, two Saturday's ago I headed to their place in Virginia to host a baby shower with one of her friends. It was a great girl's day out as my mom also came and of course Zoe had to get in on the girl action. Chandler, the other host, insisted on making all the food (whereas I was all about the trays from Giant) and can I just say that I have never had such yummy food at a shower. She made homemade quiches and banana bread, I whipped up some spinach dip, we had fresh fruit, a fruity punch, and ice cream cake to top it all off. Of course, we played games too including the one where you have to predict how big the belly is. You know cause every mom-to-be wants to stand up in front of peop...

Look what the stork dropped off very early this morning... Sophia Rose Lightfoot May 7, 2008 - 12:01 am. 8.2 lb and 20 in. Okay so it was a bit harder than that, but my sis-in-law rocked and she and my brother are now proud parents!!

When I got home from my test on Saturday there was a note from a local florist that they had tried delivering flowers, but nobody was home. I called the florist and they said that they would bring the flowers back that afternoon. This was the first time I had ever had flowers delivered to my home so I was pretty darn excited. My mom, being the optimistic person she is, thought they were from Dave and went on about how nice that was of him. Of course, I knew they were not from my husband! He is a great guy, but cheap, and sending flowers is right up on the top of his most wasteful ways to spend money. So who was right? ME of course. My wonderful girlfriends sent me this... to congratulate me on completing one of the hardest things in my life. Isn't that one of the most beautiful boquets you have ever seen. Today when I came home from work it was the first thing you smelled! To all my girls: You all rock and I love you each to pieces. I am truly blessed to have such a great core gro...

Last week kicked off Dylan's spring soccer season. It looks like there are a lot of kids in his age group this season, but not many coaches. There are actually only three teams, which means each week there will be at least one team who has to sit out a game. Plus since the teams are so big there will be at least a whole extra team sitting on the sidelines. I even considered taking him out because I am worried he will never be playing, but he does enjoy it so we will see. You know I have to have my soccer star on the field...no really I just need him to run his little self out so I can continue my Saturday afternoon naps!!!

I have had a couple emails and phone calls inquiring about the test so I thought I would post and be done with it. Basically...it sucked! And that is probably putting it mildly. Now I realize that I am my worst critic, but I can honestly tell you that for one exercise the only way I am getting any points is if they give me something because there were words on it. Otherwise I will get a big fat 0. To give myself some credit my test that analyzed student's reading skills I am pretty sure I nailed...then again reading is my most favorite subject and the least of my worries. I also believe that I did relatively well on my art and health tests. My science test...probably not too bad although I am sure not nearly as scientific as they hoped it would be, but I think I at least touched on the concept they were looking for. My social studies...let's just say "war" and anybody who knows me and my lack of history, wars, dates, etc. can infer the rest. Not as bad as my ...

I woke up to the sun pouring in my window, the birds singing outside, with a slight breeze blowing the curtains, and snuggled next to Zoe's warm body. It would normally be the perfect way to start a Saturday morning and at first I woke up calm and peaceful. Then I felt this weight come over me. I think I know how Eeyore feels with that black cloud always hanging over his head. My cloud is the assessment center for my National Board Certification . Today is the day when my candidacy officially ends. Today is the last day that I have to prove that I am an accomplished teacher and therefore qualify to be known as a Nationally Board Certified Teacher . To say I am a bit nervous would be quite the understatement. It always amazes me the confidence that people have in me as they all believe I will be fine and I am constantly questioning myself! I guess we are our worst critics though! Anyways I am taking this at 9am and the test center is about an hour away so I will be leaving fairly so...

Tomorrow is the day I take the assessment portion of my National Board's. I am a bit nervous because I feel that I haven't spent nearly the time preparing for this as my portfolio. This part is weighed less than the portfolio so I am sure this is the case with all candidates, but still. The test is on the computer and I have 6 tests that are 30 minutes each. They cover health, reading, science, history, art, and math. The content is so broad and could be teaching anything in these areas for students from early elementary to middle school. Yeah...that is what I'm thinking too. At least I am a pretty quick and accurate typer so this will work in my favor. Now I just have to focus on my content! Once I submit these assessments though I have officially completed the National Board process. Then it is all a waiting game to see if I will pass and become a Nationally Board Certified Teacher!! Doesn't that just sound so impressive...I can even put NBCT behind my name on educat...

The great thing about living in Delaware is that we are only about 2 hours from DC, Baltimore, and Philadelphia so we have the best of both worlds with our rural beach area, but city life nearby. I grew up in the suburbs of Baltimore so we visited DC often. We would visit the zoo, White House, monuments, memorials, and of course the Air and Space, Natural History, and American History Museum. I enjoy walking the mall and just looking at all the architecture. However, in all the visits I never went in the Natural Gallery of Art . Honestly, I wasn't ever interested, but lately I have been thinking it is time for me to become more cultured. Maybe it has something to do with the thirtieth birthday approaching quickly...nah!! Anyways, every year my 3rd graders take a field trip to DC at the end of the year. This is by far my favorite field trip because many of my students have never left the city where they were born and they are always so mesmerized by the tall buildings (we don...