No Way Jose!

Randy hates shots, needles, blood, etc. He would be a terrible doctor! Last time he had to give blood, he passed out. What a wuss!

Well he didn't sleep one night last week because he had to give blood. His company and insurance performed wellness tests on all their employees.

He got his results back today and get this...

He is overweight!

Umm...I don't want to know what they would say about me.

I could barely believe it. His risk is a "high alert" for his BMI.

Some stats: He's 6 foot tall and weighs 190 lbs. His legs look like noodles.

I would demand a retest! Stay away from wellness tests. It could get ugly.

bad wife of the year award

Well I couldn't take it anymore. Pooh bear had adorned our mantle for long enough. If you aren't a frequent visitor of my blog, let me recap.

Pooh bear is Randy's childhood best friend. He loved, correction loves, this stuffed toy. Now this is coming from one of the most unsentimental people I know. Pooh bear was discovered this summer when cleaning out Randy's childhood home. Ever since these two have reunited, they have been inseparable. Pooh bear stares at us and all his scariness every day. He now lives on our mantle. I think it might be possessed. Do you need a reminder of what it look likes?





Eek, it like watches me whenever I walk by it. I'm terrified of Pooh. Can I admit that I think it looks a little possessed? Maybe deformed? Maybe not the best resident of our mantel?
So does it make me bad wife of the year by removing it from our mantel? Nope, because it's worse!

Besides I've tried to causally remove Pooh, and I got this, "What were you thinking? Pooh needs to be on the mantel."

Umm I was waiting for the "he's part of the family" comment.

So I know what you're going to think when I update you on Pooh's current status.

"Pooh murderer!"

Well, not exactly. I snuck Pooh upstairs because the phrase, "out of sight, out of mind" could work for me here.

Let's just say the responsibility definitely shifted from me to Mopac.

Since Pooh is so scruffy and dingy and since Mopac is so intelligent, she definitely made a logical connection... She thought it was her chew toy!

I'm telling you nothing gets by this dog. Well she found where I placed Pooh, and took it upon herself to finish him off. I came upstairs last night, and she was violently shaking Pooh like it was a t-bone steak. She was grunting, drooling, and pawing at his barely attached limbs. Granted, Pooh is used to this type of love and affection. If Pooh could talk I'm sure he was saying, "End this now, just go ahead. It's been 27 long years of pain and agony. Just look how I look. I'm as depressed as Eeyore."

Well Mopac is doggone lucky she has stolen her daddy's heart. He didn't even fuss at her. I managed to wrestle Pooh away in the nick of time. I know you're all very concerned of Pooh's health status, but we have not planned a proper burial service at the time. I think he's going to be fine. Heck, he might live for another 100 years. Shoot, he might reappear on our mantel as my punishment for my "reckless care with Pooh."

Ooops! (Nice try little Mo!)

Prayer

I should be in bed. Really, it's 10:40, but there's something about avoiding the inevitable...Monday morning. I hate Mondays. The weekends go so fast and the work week drags so slowly. So by posting blog post 2 of 2 for the day, it avoids thinking about tomorrow.

Sundays are filled with this slight dreadful feeling due to the upcoming work week. But my favorite part about Sundays is church. I love that we have found a church home where we are excited to attend. God is definitely moving in that building. One of these days I'm going to throw my hands up during a song. I know, as Randy always kids me, "Look at my little Catholic girl."

We feel truly blessed to be apart of a church that encourages, motivates, and pushes us.

Today in church we focused on prayer. One of the big questions I've always had was, "Why do we need to pray when He knows our every heart's desire?" Throughout the years, I've discovered it's not for God to draw near to us. He's always there. But it's for us to draw closer to Him. I took so many good notes, and my prayer journal will be hearing from me this week.

The big theme around prayer was doubt. Doubt is one of the biggest obstacles to our prayer lives. It is what prevents us from connecting to Him. We doubt God in so many ways. Shamefully, I doubt Him. I doubt His power, His grace, His plan. Doubt is not something that will go away on it's own. Doubt will only leave when we make a conscientious decision to say, "Doubt will not control my life." Trusting in Him is difficult especially for control freaks like myself.

The take home message was...
"In order to be connected to God, you have to walk through the process. That process might be painful, it might be one full of agony. What we endure, makes us stronger."

My prayer for the week is this...

"Lord thank you for your perfect plan for my life. Draw me near to You, so my doubt is stifled. Please help me accept your plan while I endure the process."

"So what can I say
What can I do
But offer this heart O God
Completely to You

So I'll stand
With arms high and heart abandoned
In awe of the One who gave it all

So I'll stand
My soul Lord to You surrendered
All I am is Yours:

Sorrowful Sunday

Well the Longhorns lost yesterday. Sad, I know. Now most people have moved on to focus on other things, like NFL and fantasy football. Not us. Well, more like, not Randy.

See, when the Longhorns do badly, or heaven forbid lose, my beloved hubby gets depressed. He sulks, doesn't eat, and gets even more quiet. I know that's hard to believe since he's so quiet to begin with, but it just breaks my heart. He reverts to this infant-like state that just stirs that inner yearning to comfort and coddle.

Randy doesn't coddle.

Nor comfort very well...

So I let him sulk.

There was a reason it was cloudy in Austin this morning. God was mourning as well.

On to TX/OU weekend!

Pecan Street Birthday

Well I'm now 27 years old...(insert groan here). So I've been thinking all week, "What fun things can I do to forget it's my birthday?" Overall it was a great birthday because well, I did fun things!

Our assistant principal led the sixth and eighth graders in a very loud "Happy Birthday" song at lunch. Super sweet:)

My office was t-peed by my lovely co-workers. I love how they've included me in their little family. How did they get me to leave my office? It was a mean trick. One of the AP's came in with this serious face and said we have a student emergency. "I need you to come with me right away to the academic wing." Well I immediately go into counselor mode and start thinking of all the awful things that could have happened. What a mean trick! But it did get me out of my office stat!



Last night we went to my favorite Tex-Mex restaurant in Austin. Matt's El Rancho is amazing! I think they have the best salsa in town. I know you're wondering if it's better than Chuy's? That's a hard question, because I love both for different reasons. If I was forced to pick, I'd go with Matt's. Stop gasping! It's close people. I feel so ashamed to give Chuy's the silver right now. Maybe we should eat there tonight to lessen the shame I'm feeling right now:)

Today was definitely the highlight of my birthday weekend! Jana and I went to the Pecan Street Festival. Sixth street was formerly called Pecan Street, and twice a year they have a festival with all these amazing vendors. Mostly all of the items are handmade. If you scroll up to the picture of my office, there is evidence of purchases from Pecan Street Festival. I know you all want some of those circle rugs, but I scored those from IKEA:) The Longhorn on the wall is actually a copper wire bent and then wrapped with burnt orange beads. I paid way too much for this several years ago. Every fall and spring, Jana and I visit the festival to spend our paychecks. Well we both got paid this week. Let's just say I spent quite a lot. It's an in-person etsy experience.

But in all fairness, it is my birthday weekend. And I did get some birthday cash that will go toward my purchases. And the last two or three times, I didn't buy anything. And this year they had tons of new vendors making it one of the best.

Check it out!



Okay, okay I didn't get this at Pecan Street Festival. But I did get it when we took an a.c. break in this amazing store on Pecan Street/6th Street. Austin, Texas is the coolest city I know. Why? Because they have a hot sauce shop...with samples...in the a.c. I wasn't going to buy any, but I left with two jars. That salesperson was good. Did you know that the green salsa won first place at the Chronicle's salsa festival this year? I have no idea if he made that fact up, or if there were only two competitors, but it worked!

Marblies are the coolest things ever. They are figurines made from marbles. I know, it's the cutest thing ever! I can't wait to put it by my computer. I think I'm going to call him Mevo. You know a word blend between marble and Bevo. Sometimes, my creativity just blows my mind!




The rest is jewelry I fell in love with and couldn't fathom leaving without owning. I already have certain outfits pictured with my new jewelry! Plus, it's all handmade. You can't buy this stuff at Target people!



Hoot wouldn't love these earrings?



For a more sophisticated look...


Carved out of wood! I could barely believe it myself!



I did plan on ending my birthday weekend with a pedicure, but now I'm thinking that might not be such a great idea.

Oh by the way, I'm kinda regretting not buying the cute little bobby pins I saw today:(

New Calling?

So let me sum up today for you in two words...

it sucked!

On the way home from work, I saw the Jiffy Lube person standing by the road waving his "manager special's" sign. I actually thought, "Hmm that looks stress-free. I wonder what they pay?"

I did, like really, I thought about pulling my car over and inquiring. I mean, I know it looks boring, but hey I can make that fun. I could sing and dance, maybe dress up. I could take this notion and go places! The only stress that person encounters is the thought of "hey I hope no one gets distracted, runs off the road, and hits me." Other than that, you just wave the sign.

I could do that gig.

My current gig, however, I'm not sure if I can do that.

Maybe God is telling me something. Maybe this is my trial preparing me for His will. Maybe he wants me to work at Jiffy Lube or enjoy discounts as a Hobby Lobby employee. There are tons of possibilities.

supercalifragilisticexpalledoses

that title is how my life feels right now...
I'm not sure if I'm coming or going. I did two days of guidance last week, and I was off on Monday. I went to the beach this weekend and chilled. So work kicked my butt today. I worked 11.5 hours today. I'm so behind on voice mails and emails.


I'm not sure if I'll ever get through my mountain of work. But just so you know, I'm still important. People need me all the time. It's a little frustrating and endearing all at the same time.

What I'm enjoying right now while I'm chugging through my emails...

The movie "Mean Girls!" Oh how I love this movie!

The mom is by far the best!

"Hi it's nice to meet you. There are no rules at this house. I'm not like other mom's. I'm cool."

5 minutes later, "Girls it's happy hour."

girl in movie, "Is there alcohol in these?" (referring to the drinks mom just brought in, ironically enough this is coming from Lindsey Lohan. When is the last time she didn't want alcohol in her drink? Just sayin' Oh how they grow up so fast!)

Mom: "No!! Would you like alcohol? Because I'd rather you have it here than elsewhere."

This is a good laughing preview for tomorrow night's "Modern Family" premier. I love, love, love Modern Family. I can't wait!!!!

I'll leave you with an engineer joke.

P.S. If you don't laugh, don't read my blog. That's how serious I am about this joke. Partly because it's true and partly because it's making fun of Randy:)

How do you tell the difference between an introverted engineer and an extroverted engineer?










The introverted engineer only looks at his shoes. The extrovert looks at everyone else's shoes.


Ahh what a scream!!! Speaking of scream, halloween is coming up. Oh how I ramble. I'm really going now. Peace out yo!

My Occupied List

Things I'm looking forward to this week.

1) Working happy hour tomorrow to get some of this grad school work completed. I love study groups!

2) 1/2 day training on Wednesday! I get an afternoon break. And the training is near my old school. I'm definitely going to pop in and see some of my old teaching pals and check in on my 7th graders. I miss them! I got an email from one of my kiddos two weeks ago. :( Makes me miss teaching!!!

3) Decorating for Halloween. I can't stand it anymore. I have tons of stuff. My new rats and bleeding red wax candles deserve to be showcased. HEB better have some pumpkins!

4) My birthday is on Friday! I'm not too excited that I'll be 27! Doesn't that sound so old? But I am excited to share my special day with my mom and celebrate with friends.

5) Pecan Street Festival on Saturday with Jana! I love arts and crafts or as Rands calls them "arts and crap."

Have a great week!

Chef Chat

It's been awhile since I've posted any recipes. So you're getting a whopping two! I made these things this week, and they were pretty tasty.

I have to say, I love recipes. But what do I love more? Not following them! Yep, you read that correctly. It is so liberating for this uber strict rule follower to break a rule. I mean what's a little non-measuring going to hurt? Granted, nothing tastes the same twice, but I get this skill from my mother. Do you know that she doesn't even own measuring spoons? I don't know how she bakes things! Once again though, your favorite dish might not be your favorite on round 2.

So I find every which way not to follow a recipe. I love shakes of this, and pinches of that. And can we talk about omitting things? I love taking things out and adding something that's a left-over or a staple in the pantry. I know you must be drooling now:) We usually eat around 7pm if you want to stop by.

A new twist on breakfast!
Bacon and Egg Quesadilla (perfect for I'm tired of cooking the same old thing all the time. And everyone needs a breakfast dinner at least once a month!)

large tortillas (1 per person unless you want left-overs for breakfast in the morning)
eggs (I have no idea how many, umm let's go with 2 per person)
bacon (2 or 3 strips )
Shredded pepper jack cheese (follow the rule here, you can tell)
1 can of black beans-rinsed and drained

Cook your bacon. Reserve some bacon fat (you should take your dog for a walk after this one, and it won't be so bad, or you could do that spray 0 calorie butter but why?)
Scramble your eggs in a skillet over medium-low heat. (I mix mine in a bowl first with salt/pepper/milk)
Transfer eggs to a bowl and clean skillet.
Butter one side of each tortilla and put scrambled eggs/bacon/black beans and monterrey jack cheese on on side.
Place in skillet (butter side down) that's on medium-high heat and fold up one side. Flip after a couple of minutes (I don't know when. Just check and if it's lightly brown, flip). Cook on other side.

Smash an avocado with lime juice, salt, and cumin. Serve avocado smash and salsa with quesadillas.


Monterrey Chicken Casserole (my additions/omitions (is this a word?) are in parentheses)

This recipe won the grand prize in the Ortega Simple Mexican Meals Cookbook. It was good, but not grand prize worthy. There are many other recipes in the book that take the gold. But that could be partly to blame on my deviance in the kitchen. Maybe you should ignore the parentheses and go with the original recipe.

-1 lb. (4 cups) cooked chicken breast meat, cut into 3/4 to 1-inch pieces

(I used 2 cups chicken breast meat--we're not feeding an army here)

-1 bottle (16 oz) Ortega taco sauce

(love this stuff- buy Ortega!- I actually used an 8 oz. bottle bc that's what I had. I was not going back to HEB. So you're thinking that I must have 1/2 the entire recipe since the chicken and taco sauce are off...I didn't!)

-2 cans (4 oz each) Ortega Diced Green Chiles (Hill Country Fare taste just the same)

-1 cup frozen whole kernel corn

-3/4 cup instant rice
(confession: I can't use instant rice. I just can't! How hard is it to make rice? I don't own instant rice. My mom would be so ashamed if she raised me to cook with instant rice. I think it's gross and rubbery. I went all out and used my leftover Spanish rice from the night before.)

-1/2 cup water (I think I filled the empty taco sauce bottle up 1.5 times.)

-1 can (2.25 oz) sliced ripe olives, drained (omit, I hate olives as much as I hate instant rice!)

-1 pkg. (12) Ortega taco shells, crumbled
(I used some tortilla chips-less crumbling work)

-2 cups (8oz.) shredded cheddar cheese
(Look at the recipe title, it says "Monterrey" in the title. Shouldn't this be Monterrey Jack cheese instead of cheddar based on the title? Why can't people just follow the rules when it comes to recipes? I'm not a poser, so I used Mont. Jack.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine chicken, taco sauce, chiles, corn, rice, water, and olives in a large bowl. Spoon into ungreased 13x9 baking dish. Combine taco shells and cheese in a medium bowl (unless you like washing dishes, just put the shells and cheese on top. You don't need to mess up another dish.) Sprinkle over chicken mixture.

Bake for 30-45 minutes or until top is golden brown. Top with green onions, tomato, and other desired garnishes (i.e. lettuce and sour cream).

Let me know how it turns out!

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Homework!

Ugghh I hate the sound of that word. I desperately need to do some of that tonight. Monday night will be here before you know it, and I have a professional disclosure statement with my name on it. Actually, this is all I have on it at the moment;)

I also have tons of reading to do.... The topic is solution focused small groups. I'm about to start some counseling small groups. I love that I work at a place which fosters counseling practices within the school curriculum. Next week I'll be visiting all of the classrooms and doing guidance lessons. I'm really blessed to be able to have the support of my principal and colleagues to foster development in the personal, social, and academic domains.

Are you bored yet? Man aren't you glad I rarely talk about serious stuff? But seriously, I am super passionate about counseling. I have good days and bad days. It's so hard to learn a new job. Not only are you learning the ropes of your job, but the system as well. Not to mention getting to know teachers and kids. This has been the hardest part. It's hard to build rapport and relationships with students when you see them randomly in the hallway and 20 minutes at lunch.

The conversation I'm sick of having...
Me: "Hey how's it going?" (clearly I don't know their name, because I would have said it after the word "hey.")
student: Hi Mrs. Lueders, do you remember my name?

groan....why do they all want me to know their name?....There's one of me and about 500 of my kiddos.

Me: "Your name is Awesome!"
Luckily this has worked so far. I know my days are numbered. I took an old yearbook home tonight, so I can start learning some names that way. My goal is to know all of their names by the end of the year. Think I can do it?
Sure! Do you know how many synonyms there are for the word "awesome?"

This is when I'm thankful for my weird name. Penny! See how easy that is. Not many Pennys walking around. If they are, they have four legs (dogs) or using a walker (old person). Common names are tough. I've met a gazillion people with the same first name. Future parents, name your children unique things so their school counselors can remember it....like Oprah or Juniper. That would be helpful...Thanks!

Well my rambling can only take me so far. I'm stalling. My homework is feeling the love!

today has been....

total crap!

I'm ready for bed so tomorrow will hurry up and be here. Everything about today sucked!


The only highlight was my Pottery Barn rats came in the mail:) That and Randy wants to ride around and look at the retention ponds because he knows they are flooded. Don't be jealous you don't have words like "retention pond" floating around your dining room table.

But back to my crappy day, did I mention it was CRAP!
Yah just so you know, it was! c-r-a-p!

Century Post

Can you believe it! I have blogged 100 posts! A huge shout out to my dear friend Leslie who started me on this blogging adventure. I have discovered etsy, blog layouts, followers, and tear jerking blogs just by knowing her. She's taught me everything I know:) I love you dear! Kudos to you for helping me unleash my inner blogging self. I am now obsessed with blogging.


Happy Labor Day people! Enjoy your fabulous day off by heading to Chick Fil A! Wear a sports team shirt and get a free spicy chicken sandwich! I recommend it with the Chick Fil A sauce! Yummy! Thank you Chick Fil A by providing the most free food out of any other fast food restaurant. Oh yah and for saying things like "My pleasure" when I say thank you or "may I refresh your drink?" We are so above the word "refill." :)

Today I'm working on some guidance lesson plans and creating the ground work for my next arts and craft project. Hint: it deals with Halloween! I can't wait to feature it in my upcoming "Crafts with Penny" blog post.

Randy is fixing our toilet upstairs. It's been leaking. I told him about a week ago. What does he do? He puts one of my tupper ware dishes under the leak to catch the water. Fabulous! So we are heading out of the house this morning to go to Lowe's to finally purchase some replacement parts. I very sweetly ask, "Do you need to write anything down or take a picture of the part?" He confidently says, "It's a standard part."

Well Randy bought two parts because the "standard" part comes in 4 different varieties. He mentioned to me he might need to go back later for the other 2 parts. When asked why he didn't just buy all four options, his response had something to do with the word "pride." I couldn't hear all of his answer because I was to busy laughing and playing the "I told you so" song in my head. It's my favorite song!

Happy Labor Day!

Football season!

Can I just tell you what a good mood my husband is in these days? I am loving it over here!

The announcers, the play calling, the everything! We are way excited over here.
We even went to a Friday night football game. We watched Belton High School take on Austin High!

Do we know any players on the team? Nope!
How about, did we go to school there? Big fat no!
I know, We must like the school colors? Uhhh...Austin High is maroon (yuck) and Belton says things like "Go Big Red." Gross!

So why were we at this random football game.....

Oooh I know!

The Belton quarterback is committed to come to Texas NEXT year!
DUH!!!
Yah, and Austin High School has this amazing wide receiver. He's a junior, and Randy wants him to come to Texas so badly in TWO years!!!

We are into following recruits over here. I could care less! But the game did go into overtime. It was exciting with the teams scoring 60 something points. I don't know the exact score. Can you blame me? It was near 11 o'clock, and the game was still not over. Butt burn was definitely my diagnosis.

Randy in the car....
"I wonder after the game if the Belton quarterback went over to the star from Austin High and tried to talk to him about coming to Texas?"

P: "I'm sure no one else in attendance tonight had that same thought."

R: "You don't like it when past UT players go over to each other at the end of NFL games and talk."

See, he said at the "End." That means it's over....kinda like my attention span. I don't stay around to stare at Espn's Erin Andrews while she interviews former Longhorns slapping each other on the butts. This hot chicka is usually doing something glamorous after a game, like washing the dip dish.