Christmastime

I actually went to bed at 8pm last night, and then I slept for a solid 13 hours.  That goes to show you how exhausted I was after this semester. 

When I woke up this morning, I felt well-rested and energized.  I had a plan and I was determined to carry it out: wrap my last present (I very nearly forgot about my sis-in-law!), visit with the parents (who are picking up the midgets this afternoon...HOORAY!), clean the apartment (the kitchen in particular), fix Taco Soup (so that it'd be ready for dinner), AND make a double batch of peanut butter fudge (one with creamy and one with chunky peanut butter)!

It's 3:30--when I'd normally be getting ready to leave school if it were a school day--and I've accomplished everything on my To Do List with the exception of cleaning the bathroom.  I've got to say, I'm pretty flippin' proud of myself.

Tomorrow is the Great Dipping Extravaganza where I'll spend all afternoon over the double-boiler dipping Christmas-shaped pretzels, Ritz peanut butter sandwiches and peanut butter fudge.  It's going to be a great Christmas!  :)

By the way, if you love fudge but find the chocolate version a little too rich, try the peanut butter kind.  It's super-easy, and when you dip it in chocolate, it tastes just like a Reese's peanut butter cup!


Peanut Butter Fudge

Ingredients:

4 cups white sugar
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
1 (7oz.) jar marshmallow creme
12 oz. (about 1 and 1/2 cups) peanut butter
2/3 cup all-purpose flour

Grease a 9" x 13" pan and set aside. In a saucepan, combine milk, sugar and butter. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in marshmallow creme and peanut butter. Once combined, gradually stir in the flour. Spread into the prepared pan and refridgerate to cool.

The end is in sight

There comes a point in each Semester where I just don't think that I can do it anymore: get up at 5:45, get to school at 6:15, spend 7 hours of my life on my feet trying to motivate teenagers not only to succeed but to succeed and meet MY high standards all the while repeating myself ad nauseum, come home and eat as quickly as possible so that I can spend my evening grading and lesson planning.  It exhausts me just to TYPE it let alone live it day after day.  Teaching, if you're doing it right, is EXHAUSTING, and right now, I'm BEAT. 

That sounds like 'whining', but it's honestly not.  It's simply a (long) list of facts. 

Another fact to add to the list is that no matter how hellish some days are, there are still amazing moments tucked into each day that remind me of why I originally began teaching. 

All that being said, I need the next two weeks to re-energize my batteries, because this bunny is running low on power.

A new leaf

Today I took what I consider to be a radical step in letting go of my past: I cancelled my myspace account.

It's been on my mind for some time, but I could never quite convince myself to permanently delete those memories. There are blogs, pictures and comments there that used to sustain me and keep me sane; now, keeping it alive (albeit inactive) seems a bit like living with a corpse in the house. The stench of death and decay have finally become overwhelming, and as wonderful as that time in my life was, it's dead and gone. Time for the proverbial phoenix to rise from the ashes!

As I'm also coming out of a week-long depression, it also seems appropo to begin again somewhere new (or newish).

I'm writing this time not for a boyfriend or a laugh, but for me...and that feels good.

I don't expect to write anything insightful, but as I'm driven by the overwhelming need to write, I plan to post whenever the mood strikes.