All Done...

Well, I am officially done teaching my class for the year. Every year I say I won't ever teach it again because it can be so frustrating...but...I always end up going back. All I have left to do is grade the rest of the papers they turned in (which is going to take me a bit because I got behind when I got sick) and turn in the grades.

I mentioned before that I am surprised by what 18-year olds are doing nowadays, and I continue to be. I guess I must be becoming the old fart I never wanted to be. I always thought that the fact I was young looking, not really THAT old and surrounded by college students meant that I was in tune...but my experiences as a child and teenager were much different then the average person, and in reality, I was probably never in tune (I was such a goody-goody!).

It frustrates me to see that this is our future, and I hope they change. It also scares me for if I have kids. I don't want them to be druggies or drink a lot or have sex when they are in middle school. It amazes me how quickly things can change in our world and how accepted things can become that were once so Taboo. Sometimes it makes me just want to stay in my own little piece of the world and shelter myself...so I'm not so shocked.

With the end of the class I was hoping for more free time. Traditionally, around this time, I would be getting ready for a six-week break...where I would spend the majority of the time selling Christmas trees. I am not doing that for the first time this year, which is sad and I'm not sure how I am going to handle it yet. The free time I was hoping for will most likely not come, as I will likely pick up more hours at work (I'm hoping to know my schedule soon...is it wrong to hope I don't pick up more hours?). There is just so much else I want to do. I want to get the house unpacked and the rooms finished. I want to work with the little horses to get them used to loading in to the trailer and unloading. I want to sit with the wolf pups and I want to read some books. I want to find a job that I actually like...so that maybe then I won't mind spending half my day there.

Mostly I want to understand what the heck I'm supposed to be doing with my life!!

Dear Mr Police Trooper,

Thank you for ruining my day today. $109 is not easy to come by you know, and could pay for many NECESSARY items like food and gas. Thank you for pulling me over, when yes I might have been going somewhat faster then I should have been going, but had zoned out while chewing on my Twizzler, instead of the person who was driving much faster then I was (yes, I saw him pass me not too long before you pulled me over). Thank you for not taking in to consideration my perfect driving record when deciding to give me a ticket, or the fact you falsely accused me of having a bottle of alcohol in my car.

Thank you for making me think that next time I feel crappy, I should just stay home and in bed. And next time my hubby is home sick and I just want to stay home with him, that that is what I should do.

Does it give you joy to charge people outrageous fines in an already poor economy? Ponder that Mr. Police Trooper, while sitting in your cruiser eating your donuts. Some of us actually have to get off our butts to make a living.

Yours Truly,

Wolf

Dear Diary...

As I was cleaning last night, I came across my first diary. You know, the ones with the my diary lock that you really can open no matter what? I got this diary when I was 8...and never finished it...even though I wrote in it until I was 14 on and off. My problem was probably that I had several other diaries/journals and I never knew which one I should be writing in... :) Reading back on these entries made me laugh, as did seeing how my writing style changed over the years. I laugh when I think about what I thought was important to write about, or even how I thought I had to act "cool" when writing in a diary. Ah, the days when I had no clue about life...

I thought I would share an entry with you all. This is from the first year I had the diary, and pretty much every entry from this period of time was the same...I was 8, and I apparently couldn't spell.

Wensday, Aug 6, 1990

Dear Diary,

Today I went to
my cusins Lauren
We are spending
The night at her
house. Her pet
Nekki is hear and
she is a cat.
I love Lauren
and Nekki. Well
my cousen calling
me to go to bed,
Love,
Wolf

A New Blog

Just wanted to let you all know that I have started another blog (Don't worry this one will still be going!) to document me and B's every day life with our amazing wolf dogs. So, if you want to take a look, just go here!

That was rough...

I obviously haven't posted much the last week. I have been beyond sick. Today is the first day I feel somewhat normal, and even that is not that great. The cold I have had has got to be the worst cold I've had in a long time...it's hung on for a week and a half so far... A few things that have happened I haven't been able to post about:

1) Two of our horses got gelded. Talk about an experience. I never thought I'd watch or see something like that. I'd hate to be them.
2) I had to cancel my class last week. Twice. Because of my cold. I have never in the four years that I have been teaching canceled a class. Yeah, I felt like crud.
3) I slept over 35 hours this weekend. It was heaven. But I got nothing done.
4) I called off work on Thursday, only to be made to feel guilty. I go in to work on Friday because I know it will be hard to cover my shift, and receive two messages on my cell phone from work (I don't get cell service at my house) about how they need someone to cover people that have called off...one being from Thursday asking me to work longer hours on Friday. All I could think was "do they not realize how sick I am?" And then I was thanked for coming in on Friday. I would think it to be a bad thing that I came in and could possibly infect the kids, but what do I know?
5) I have officially quit my job, effective January 1. I wish it was effective before then. I really don't think taking this job was the right decision in my life. It is good to get out of the house, but bad to feel as though my talents and smarts are being put to waste and are certainly not appreciated. Funny how that doesn't happen when I'm a stay-at-home-wife though....
6) I survived the busyness of advising time despite being sick. Advising is the only reason I didn't call off work more last week. I had no time to make up those appointments.
7) Only one more week left of teaching my class! Yay! But that doesn't mean more freedom, because it is possible that I will be taking on more hours over the next month... Boo!
8) I find myself wishing more and more that I had more time to do all the things in my life that I would like to try. I don't get why life has to be so overcome with ridiculous things.
9) I'm not a fan of the colder weather. I miss being able to go outside without a coat and without my fingers freezing.

I'm hopeful I'll be able to post more this week now that it seems I may be getting better (I'm crossing my fingers!).

I've Been Picked

I apologize for the lack of posts the last few days. I have not been feeling well. I have a sense that it might be because of the children at my job. One sneezed in my eye last week. Another spit right on my lips. Today a kid wiped his VERY snotty nose on my pant leg (and I had to keep those pants on). And wouldn't you know that I have come down with an evil cold that is downright killing me.

Anyway, Yaya over at Yaya Stuff has picked me to be a part of her game TAG.

Here are 7 random tidbits about me:

1. I absolutely have to eat breakfast food to start my day. Even if I wake up very late in the afternoon, I have to have some sort of breakfasty type thing. I cannot eat anything else...I have no idea why.
2. I've applied three times to Survivor...needless to say, I've never been picked (I believe I would totally win).
3. My dream country to visit is Switzerland.
4. I used to LOVE scary movies...in fact I laughed at them...they never scared me. Then I watched Wes Craven's New Nightmare, and after that I could never watch another scary movie without it seriously affecting me (I mean, I even jump at kids movies sometimes...)
5. I was a gymnast until I was 6, at which time I switched to figure skating.
6. I've run two marathons, and as much as I would love to run another, I think I busted my ankle so bad when I was thrown from the horse this summer that it might never be completely healed!
7. I'm a packrat. I can admit it. I have the hardest time getting rid of anything. Especially clothes, because if they still fit, why get rid of them?

And now I tag:

Ann at Pottamus! Where?!
Donn24g at Serendipitous Landing
Imperfect at Beautifully Imperfect

Grocery Shopping and Deer Carcasses

Sundays are my day to go grocery shopping. Today was no exception. I got up with B (even though I have not been feeling well the last few days...hence the lack of posts) and went in to our local Kroger. We have a few grocery stores in our area, and a Super WalMart, but I have always chosen to shop at Kroger...I always felt it wasn't that much more expensive, and the fuel rewards sure were nice as gas prices were skyrocketing.

Today though, I was slightly disillusioned. I have been trying to be more frugal the last month or so when it comes to our grocery purchases...been clipping coupons and paying attention to items that are on sale. I'd love to one day be able to save more then I spend...but that day is probably a ways away. Anyway. I have been saving quite a bit when I have been shopping...around $50 every time, but I am still spending over $100...a week. For two people. That is WAY too much. Now granted I have been trying to stock my pantry (and freezer...we have lots of meat, bread, Gatorade and canned veggies), and trying to get stocked up on cleaning supplies...but I don't think I need to be in the $100 range every week. My goal is to spend $50 a week and no more. I have no idea how to get that low. But am thinking meal planning will be my next step. And sticking to only the things we absolutely NEED for the upcoming week.

So, why am I going on and on about this? Well, I was excited about the 10 for $10 sale at Kroger the last few weeks. Lots of stuff on sale. Like Gatorade. Today was the last day Gatorade was on sale, so I stocked up. I paid for my stuff (was unhappy with how much I spent, even though I saved so much), took it to the car and then went to Walmart to pick up chicken for the wolf pups. Well, on my way to get the chicken, I saw Gatorade in Walmart. I decided to take a quick price check. Well, wouldn't you know. Gatorade was $.98! And it wasn't on sale. $.02 cheaper than the sale price at Kroger! $.07 cheaper then the regular price.

Ok, so I know that $.02 is not a lot. But that makes me wonder how many other things at Walmart are much cheaper. And if it really is worth the gas savings to shop at Kroger. What do you think? Is it worth shopping at Kroger for the gas savings, or would Walmart save me enough on groceries that it erases the gas savings?

So you may be wondering why Deer Carcasses is in the title of the post. Well, that is something else that applies to being more frugal. We have to feed the wolf pups chicken (meat really, but bulk chicken seems to be the cheapest), and chicken and meat in general, is not very cheap. Especially not in the amounts we have to buy it. We have always known that a lot of people who have wolves feed them deer. We put our name on the deer kill list (for those of you who don't know, this is a list of people that they call when someone hits a deer on the road) a few months ago and never heard anything. B found out a few days ago that if we found a deer we could just take it as long as we notified the proper people, so we no longer had to wait to be called. Well, B comes home today. And he has a deer. Now I don't do well with dead things. Granted, I may be a "farm girl," but we never killed our animals or hunted. So that was not a part of my life growing up. I cry if I hit an animal on the road, and just don't deal well with death in general. So even though I was happy we had a deer...I was not too sure I wanted to be a part of it. I challenged myself to stay as B cut it and got the meat. It was not easy. I did not like the smell. I did not like to see the dead animal. But, at least it in his death, the deer was providing for another animal and not going to waste.

The wolves loved the meat. And from the deer, we got enough meat for them for the next 10 days. I'm sure they are going to like the break from chicken! :)