The last week before break...

Friday...the start of a glorious two weeks off!  I could not be more excited!  The last week of school is always SO crazy busy...and the kids are WILD!! And for some reason, I was up every night til past midnight...Thursday it was 2 a.m. Crazy I know!!  But it was a fun week!!  Here are a few of the highlights!!  It's the (mostly) Christmasy edition!

1.  Polar Express Day!  On Wednesday at my school was Polar Express Day! It's a day where the kids come dressed in their PJ's and watch The Polar Express and do some fun activities to go along with the book and movie!  Naturally, the teachers join in on the fun! Hey,  when I can wear PJ's to school I am all for it.  I wore my Christmas pj's from last year's first annual Christmas Day in PJs!   Being the library/tech teacher I do not have a homeroom class of my own, but one of the first grade teachers invited me into watch the movie with her class.  I went in on my prep and was able to stay a little while before my next class.  My favorite part was watching the kids yell at the screen... "GET ON THE TRAIN!!" I also enjoyed the hot chocolate.  One little girl, who's new to our school this year, exclaimed, "This is the best day at this school so far!"  It was really cute!

2.  My BFF bought an apartment!  My best friend recently bought an apartment and moves in on January 15th.  This week she asked me to write a character reference for her, for her co-op board.  While I was happy that she asked me, I was a little stressed too!  Don't get me wrong, I could totally do it, and I know her better than anyone, 32 years to be exact, so I wanted to get it perfect!  In all actuality, I probably stressed over it way more than I needed to.  In the end, I got it done and it made my heart happy to hear that she loved it!  WHEW!!

3.  Christmas Gifts  I am always so flattered when I get gifts from students!  I think it is so kind of parents to think of the "specials" teachers in addition to the classroom teachers!  I got great gifts this year!  And so many were Pinterest inspired!  Gotta love it!  One of my faves though, is my Peapod gift card!!  If you have been following my blog, you know my love for Peapod!!

4.  Ugly Sweater Day Not only did I get to wear my pajamas to work this week, I also got to dress down on Friday and wear my Ugly Christmas Sweater!  I got this video game inspired one!  The tech teacher in me thought it appropriate.  I received lots of compliments on it!

I really need to start taking pictures first thing in the morning!!

5.  Christmas on the Blog!  This week on the blog I linked up with my girls from the Style Me Challenges to reveal my gifts from the Secret Santa Exchange and give a little tour of my house all decked out for the holidays!  Come on in!!  More fun to come on the blog now that I'm on vacation!!  Woo Hoo!!

Happy Weekend!
Katie

Linking up today with:

Lauren Elizabeth for High Five on Friday
September Farm and The Farmer's Wife for Oh Hey, Friday!

April and the girls for Five on Friday

Jennie for Friday Favorites

Getting back to my roots!

Those of you who know me, know that when this idea for a blog started, it was a total joke!  Read my first ever post here!

I call the blog Mishaps and Mayhem of a Solitary Life because that's me!  I've told stories on here that are just my funny ramblings and people seem to like it.  As of late though, I feel like my everyday mishaps and mayhem have been overtaken by my love of all things link-ups!  So I thought today, I'd share some stories of silliness that have happened over the last couple of weeks in my solitary life!

If you follow me on facebook, twitter or insta...none of this will be new to you, but if not, I hope you find a lil' tidbit in here that has you laughing a time or two!!

Some of you may have heard me talk about my roomies over the last couple of weeks in my Friday 5's.  Their visit was a rather short-lived stint and they have since moved on!  It was a crazy, chaotic few weeks with them here but I enjoyed their company and my sister's fabulous cooking. HA!  It was always the big joke that anything she cooked for dinner, she was sorry wasn't my usual bowl of cereal or pop-tart!  While they were here I had kale for the first time, ate spaghetti squash at least 100 different ways and tried 3 different soups and stews.  My sister is a great cook...and she loves doing it.  I on the other hand, do not!

But just the other day, I decided I would try and make a spaghetti squash. So I ordered one in my Peapod order.  Wait...I must stop the spaghetti squash story right here for a second and talk about my Peapod order!

This was my first Peapod order in over two months. Because they were living with me I didn't have to place any orders. But when I got a $10 off coup for being a follower of Peapod on Pinterest (WOOHOO!!), I thought I'd start up again!!  I was having my friend and her daughter over on Friday and needed some snack foods anyway!  I placed a quick order for delivery on Thursday after school.  I only order on Wednesdays or Thursdays because I know that MY GUY delivers it.  He knows where I live and has no trouble finding this new place.  I've had serious issues with other Peapod guys in the past!  Grrr...
Well wouldn't you know...the guy gets here, drops my groceries and turns to face me...and it's NOT MY GUY!!  WHAT???  I'm not gonna lie...my heart broke a little!  Where is MY GUY!!??? The next order I place is going to be on a Wednesday because I know he delivers on Wednesdays too!  If it's not him...all hope is lost!  All hope of what?...I'm not really sure!  LOL But he was such a nice guy!  And, the one time I wasn't home to get my order, he left it for me!!!  How could he leave without saying goodbye???  HAHAHAHAHAHAHA....reading this back, it looks a bit ridiculous so I'm gonna get back to the spaghetti squash!

Well, I got one with my order!  So I decided to bake it up according to my sister's instructions. She told me to bake it a bit first so then it's easier and soft enough to cut, so I did that!  But baking it first means that when you take it out to cut it, it's going to be flaming hot. so I put on my brand new Pampered Chef oven mits and got down to it!  Now there's something I forgot to tell you!  The thing was as big as my head!!!!

I wasn't kidding!
I texted my sister this pic when I asked her how long to cook it!

So I had a heck of a time trying to cut it! Even with the biggest, sharpest knife I had, I struggled.  It was actually a time when I thought to myself...maybe this solitary life does stink!  I wished I had a man cutting the damn thing!  But anyway!

I got it cut...length-wise, (after I started cutting it wrong!), threw it back in and baked it up some more! It took FOREVER!!  But eventually it finished, and I scraped it!  It turned out just ok.  I could have probably left it in even longer, but it was getting on 8 o'clock at this point.

I really liked though what I mixed with it and it gave it tons of flavor!I sauteed up a bag of baby spinach in a bit of olive oil and sprinked it with Italian seasoning, feta cheese and sea salt!  Super yum!  I think next time I'll pick out a much smaller squash at the store and not rely on Peapod to get that!  I might be breaking up with Peapod anyway!!

Other things of note:
Only I would wash my brand new cell phone charger in the washing machine!!
Or go to a formal school function with half the back of my dress unzipped!!  GULP!!
Or get smacked in the face TWICE by my mailbox door!!  ONLY ME, PEOPLE, ONLY ME!

I promise I will continue to document the mishaps and mayhem more!  But until then come back tomorrow for another 5 on Friday! Lots of blogging going on for me this week...click here to read any you may have missed!

Thanks for always reading and laughing along with me!
Katie

Never a dull moment....

Well it's only Tuesday and there's already been so many blog-worthy happenings this week, I just had to share!! After a quiet weekend in my humble abode, things really kicked up a notch on Sunday night when at about 11 p.m. I heard a police helicopter hovering over my apartment with the spotlight shining brightly. Wondered what it was all about but went to sleep anyway!! Found out yesterday, the cops were looking for a suspect in my area!!! GREAT!!! Lol....luckily he was found! (Not in my apartment complex!!!) :)

As if that was not enough excitement for one night, I was awoken at about 3:30 a.m. by the sound of sirens and flashing lights lighting up my bedroom!! Naturally, being half asleep I did nothing for a hot second, just laid frozen! I wasn't sure...maybe I was dreaming!! Then I got my wits about me and sprung into action. I looked out the window and it was a kind of quiet chaos but I still couldn't see anything too clearly with all the flashes...and perhaps my sleepy eyes! Then I heard someone say "over there on the right!!!" I freaked a little because I live over there...on the right!! I jumped out of bed and threw on a pair of pj's fearing that they would come knock on my door and tell me I needed to leave my apartment. (I didn't think it appropriate to answer the door in a tank and boy shorts that said "sure thing" across the ass!!) I sat up for a while and waited...no one came to my door, so clearly, I wasn't in any danger! But I looked out the window again and noticed that every door I was looking at was closed! People were sleeping!! After a while, all the police, ambulance and fire vehicles left! I am thinking that perhaps one of the old folks in the place had an episode and had to go to the hospital but I don't really know at this point...and as I have already established in previous blog posts, I am not too social with the neighbors!! When I do find anything out, I'll be sure to share!!
Now that I think about it, maybe I should reconsider my purchase of a house in this area! Hahaha

So after a not so great sleep, I wake up to, chirp...low battery! Chirp....low battery!! And let me just preface this by saying I have four devices on my ceiling within inches from one another and out of those four I have had to change 3!! On to the carbon monoxide detector. At six in the morning I didn't want to deal with it so, I thought, let me just take the battery out and deal with this later! So I untwist the thing and I see no batteries, only wires!! So I didn't know what to do. All of a sudden the detector started GOING OFF...yelling...Carbon Monoxide warning! Something to that effect! Again I panicked!!! Thinking that the thing was connected to the alarm and the fire department was on the way! After chirping low battery 100 times before I left for work (during which my tourettes was back in full effect...only this time I added YOU after my usual tick word!!! ), I figured it would die totally while I was at work. I believed my thoughts were correct because I hadn't heard it all night. But NO...6 am today...I hear chirp...low battery! FML

What else happened last night...well I got another Peapod order! Note to self...never get a delivery on a Monday Again!! I knew when I ordered for a Monday it would be a problem as I had never had a delivery on this day. I do the texts updates, so I got one saying, "your delivery is next" ...fabulous!! So I get my clicker, coups and tip ready and position myself at the window! Well, I see the truck fly by my gate! I thought, ok...he'll turn around! 15 minutes later...he flies by again! And again! I am not kidding when I say he passed me by 7 times. And stopped only after I ran out flailing my arms. So when he finally arrived, he didn't pull in! He parked his truck in the middle of the road! A MAIN ROAD!!! Then he comes in drops my bags and tells me he has to go get my iced tea mix because it fell out of the bag...like into the main road!!! And he was not friendly!! I am gonna stick with my usual Wednesday/Thursday guy! He's friendly, knows where my apt is and waits around while I cut coupons off the items he just brought me!! :)

To relieve my stress of the day...I sat down watched The Voice and ate Ben & Jerry's FroYo that came in my PeaPod order!! I highly recommend it by the way!!!

It's safe to say this day has been much better!! I'll even go so far as to say one if the best that I've had since moving here! While I was taking out the garbage tonight, a high school boy who lives here, stopped me and asked if I would like him to take my garbage!!!!!! At first I declined, because he had stuff in his hand. But he said it was ok, and that he would totally do it!! If you know me and have read my blog before you know what a big deal this is and how much I hate going to the big, gross, dirty ass dumpster!!!!!!!!!! I resisted the urge to ask him if he'd like to take out my garbage every other day for a small fee! LOL

Thanks again for reading my rants! If your having a week like mine, hopefully this was able to make you laugh a bit! Until next time...

My worst nightmare...

My worst nightmare came true!!  Last Tuesday after the long weekend, I overslept...like severely...I woke up and saw my clock said 7:20 and had a lil' heart attack!  So needless to say, I was late to school (even though I live so close!!)  It was 8:00 as I am waltzing down the road and as I go to cross the street a student and his mother (and their damn dog!!!) see me!!  This child is a wonderful boy who I had as a second grader last year.  He is a ball of energy and was so excited to see me, (because really...he couldn't believe his eyes!!), he was hootin' and hollering that he saw me and waving hello and screaming my name!!  Of course I said good morning to them...and their little dog too, as I ran passed them to get over to the building!!  Later I saw his mom when she came to volunteer for lunch and she so kindly asked if I needed a ride home that day!!  LOL  She also said she told her son to stop bugging me because she saw my determined look and my fast pace!!  I just have to laugh!!!

Wednesday I walked to school in the rain!  it wasn't bad at all...I went 23 days with no rain, so I can't complain, And a little rain never hurt anyone!! 

Thursday was such a fun day.  I was dreading the day beforehand but I had a fabulous day at AdventureLand with the 7th graders.  And I went on a ride...yes, singular, 1...the one ride there that is a roller coaster and not so spiny!!  It was a split second, rash decision, but I did it!!  Friday my back and neck began to hurt though and I thought to myself...you're not as young as you once were!!  :(

I do have to say I had a great day and not to be bias, but I think the kids from my school are the BEST!!  They enjoyed it, were kind and respectful to all their teachers and they actually wanted to hang out with one another!!  They did not run around, yell and scream or run away from the chaperones ike so many other students I saw there.  All and all a good day, but FREEZING!!!

You might notice that this is my first post, where I did not mention my beloved Bravo.  That's because as I write this I am waiting for my first PeaPod delivery!!  I hope it is all it's cracked up to be!  My sister, who uses it regularly said to make sure I had all my coupons and a tip ready!  What is she crazy??...of course I know I have to tip the guy!!! 
Well of course I know this, but this guy is not getting my $20 for a tip!!  I searched through every purse to find random dollars but to no avail!!  I needed change of a $20!!!!  SO I thought to myself...just go to Bravo and pick up the things you left off your Stop and Shop list!!  Nah...didn't wanna do that!  Than I thought, lemme head to Roast for a cup of coffee, it is windy and chilly and I could use the warm-up!  So off I went, with just my $20 in hand (thank god I wasn't abducted!).  On the way to Roast I passed a little shop called YoChi!!  For a split second I thought I couldn't possibly get fro yo at 5:15 before dinner, but then I thought...this place is much closer and will have me home much sooner, to wait for my delivery!!  So in I went!! 
Ahhh....the joys of living alone.....Yo Chi for dinner!!  I had intended on saving it, but frozen yogurt is never the same from the freezer!!  :)

I chose the late delivery because I got $2.00 off my order, but I,m  not so sure I'll do this again because it is getting dark and I can't really see and I have to buzz him in!!  My email said I can track my delivery but I can't seem to find it!  Oh well!!

Nothing more to report...Mondays are always my worst days...writing this and recalling all my laughs helped to lessen the blow...hope reading this did the same for you!!

Until next time!!

7:30 Blog Update!

My PeaPod order has arrived!  That could not have been easier!  However I am now drowning in plastic bags!!  And as I was happily putting the groceries away, I realized something!!  I got the big boxes of PopTarts because the 12 pack was on sale this week (same price as the 8...can't beat it!!) and I thought to myself, since I had YoChi before I'll have a PopTart in a bit!  Only problem is.........................I DON'T HAVE A TOASTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  What an idiot I am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAHAHAAHAHAAHAHAAHAHA