Overdue!!

Wow, wow, wow.  I have neglected this pretty little blog.  Unintentionally I assure you.

What happened was- I found out I was pregnant in September, and I have a big mouth.  I'm no good at secrets, and so I realized if I even opened up a window to type about what I was feeling I would rant on and on and on about how I'm expecting, and being pregnant has really been pretty awful because I was throwing up everyday, but that we were still excited, etc.

I wanted to wait to share our news with the entire world until things were a little farther along.  And now they are and Christmas is behind us and sheesh!  I feel awful for not posting anything for over three months.

Hopefully this will change now.  And I promise I won't only blog about my pregnancy, which, if you are interested is still making me sick, but is going well otherwise.

I sat down at the computer to work on the Phillips Family New Year's letter, but am glad I stopped here first.  I toyed with the idea of instead of sending a full out letter, I just send a list of things that happened of note in 2011, and things we look forward to in 2012.  I like lists.  Let me think of all the blog worthy things that happened between my last blog in October and today that I was too sick and lazy to write about and list them for you here:

1) Celebrated Christmas with my brother and his wife from Nashville and my parents and my little brother over Thanksgiving this year.  The day after thanksgiving.  It was so nice to see everyone together.  It always is.  Next year we are scheduled to all be together over Christmas, and now with the addition of the next generation, things will be even more wonderful.

2) My little brother gave all of the family gift cards from Tisbest.org for our gifts.  It is the gift of giving where you can go online and choose where you would like the money to be donated.  It was really fun and rewarding and made the rest of us feel like schmucks- sort of.

3) We all saw The Decedents together and I cried uncontrollably in some parts, but loved the movie.

4) I took my students to One Act competition in Norfolk, NE on the only hazardous weather day of the season.  The trip was 2 hours out there on bus, but after we performed in the morning, we left early due to snow.  It took us 4 hours to get home.  That amount of time on a bus with 25 high school students talking about zombies, being a sick pregnant woman was not fun.

5) We started watching Prison Break (seaons 1) through Netflix and it is AMAZING.  Its more violent and gory than I usually prefer but I am so glued to each episode!  I highly recommend it.  We only have 4 episodes left of Season 1, then we are on to season 2!

6) I stopped taking care of our house all together.  I didn't clean it for months, I was always behind on laundry, dishes were never all the way done, and I started throwing clothes all over the floor and letting trash cans overflow, which really isn't like me.  It made being sick even worse.

7) Recently my parents came over and helped me get the house all back under control.  I got Laundry all done, folded and put away. Was able to dust, vacuum, and Windex everything. Mom cleaned the fans and scrubbed the kitchen floor (that was above and beyond if you ask me) and we put up a Christmas tree.  Also Dad helped me by a new furnace filter since the last time we changed it was a year ago.  Yeah- it was totally black and disgusting.  Apparently, one should change those every 1 to 3 months.  Woops!

8)  Started reading The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins.  LOVED the first book.  Just finished the second and am starting the third.  I plan to finish them before the New Year begins.  Something else I highly recommend.  (The books... and goal setting).

9) Celebrated Christmas with Ryan's family in Lincoln, though his Mom got the stomach flu and was in isolation in her bedroom all of Christmas day.  We still were able to enjoy time with family.

10) Wrote this blog to recap the past few months.  Don't you love when lists end with an even number?


Now I look forward to a couple days with just my lovely husband.  He hardly gets any vacation and is spending the morning sleeping in.  Since I go to bed now between 8:30 and 10:00 every night... I can't sleep late anymore.  I probably should have been doing laundry or something this morning but this was fun.  It feels nice to be back online.  I hope all (2) of you readers are doing well!

Best Movies A to Z

Its been a while since I've posted anything on here.  Mostly because I've been preoccupied... thinking about... things.  Good things!,that I plan to share with the ENTIRE WORLD soon!  But my coworkers and I have been having some fun at work  lately through our emails and I wanted to discuss what we are doing with you.  We are on a "Best Movies A-Z" kick now (not my idea, but I love it!), and each day are sharing our favorite movies one letter of the alphabet at a time.  Today we are on "E."

I went ahead and made my own full list and thought it would be fun to share it on here.  The movies I like say a lot about me.

This is my list of BEST MOVIES: A to Z

A Annie Hall, Anchorman

B Back to the Future,  Big Lebowski, Big, The Birds

C City of God, The Court Jester, (A) Christmas Story, Crash

D Dances with Wolves, Departed, Dark Knight

E Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

F Forrest Gump

G Grease, Groundhog Day

H High Fidelity, Harry Potter (all of them), Hotel Rwanda, Home Alone, Harry and the Hendersons?

I The Incredibles, Inception

J Jurassic Park

K The King’s Speech, The Kite Runner

L Little Miss Sunshine

M Modern Times, Moulin Rouge, Mystic Pizza (?)

N Napolean Dynomite

O Ocean’s Eleven, Office Space

P Princess Bride, The, Punch Drunk Love, Pretty Woman

Q Quantum of Solace?

R The Rocketeer, Raiders of the Lost Ark

S Star Wars, Singing in the Rain, Schindler’s List

T Toy Story

U Up

V Virgin Suicides

W The Wizard of Oz, When Harry Met Sally, Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? What about Bob? Wet Hot American Summer

X X-Men

Y Young Frankenstien

Z Zelig, Zoolander

What movies do you think I'm forgetting?  What other movies would you add?

Maybe you will feel like making your own list?  Maybe you want to ask your coworkers too?  I'm really enjoying the discussion! 

Have A Great Day: A Recipe

Have a great day that makes you feel good.  I love today.

Here is my recipe for a great day:

First, preheat the earth to 80 degrees.  Make sure that there will be a nice breeze and some shade provided throughout.
While it is warming, go work out with your husband.  A wife, or friend or favorite book would also do.
After the workout, take a long shower, and then put on a comfortable outfit.  Be sure to note how your body feels so refreshed.

Prepare lunch for yourself (and if you wish, others).  Chicken tacos with fresh ingredients will work nicely along side some corn chips and salsa.

Next, WALK to your local movie theatre for the 3:00 showing of THE HELP.  It is a wonderful story, and beautifully put together.  It's ok to admire the costumes and set, but pay attention to the message and the heart felt, honest reactions of the audience members who are experiencing the movie with you.  Note: You might cry.

A scene from THE HELP

The movie should get over just in time for you to walk over to the MAHA MUSIC FESTIVAL.  There, you can say hello to some acquaintances,  friends, and strangers as you meander over to a spot close to the main stage in the shade.  Be sure to notice the perfect temperature, and how nicely the area is suited to the event.

Aksarben Village in the background. Stinson Park

Shortly after the band on the local stage finishes, you will be able to see CURSIVE (or one of your own favorite bands) play an awesome set.  It will make you feel like you are back in college and reliving some happy moments over the years.  Your feet might also bounce, steadily to the beat and an occasional head nod and body bend can be thrown in to give your band viewing experience a little something extra.

Cursive!  (With original drummer and more!)

Finally, walk home hand in hand with someone special and relish in the beauty of the neighborhood.
Let cool and share with others.

Love Is Watching Someone Die

This Death Cab for Cutie lyric makes me tear up every time I decide to listen to the album.  It isn't much anymore because I don't like to think about death.  Unfortunately it is inevitable.  Not only is death inevitable, but thinking about it is inevitable.  I'm typing this entry from room 526 of St. Elizabeth's hospital in Lincoln where my husband's grandmother is getting closer and closer to the ...well... you get it.

My mother's mom died before I was born, my Dad's mother died when I was a sophomore in high school, and my Mom's father died a few years ago, leaving behind his second wife- the woman I grew up knowing as my grandmother.  My only blood grandparent living is suffering from Alzheimers disease.  I've been to funerals.  I've grieved with my parents and my family members, but never have I experienced death as close as I have with Jeannine.

Jeanine was just over at our house on Father's Day.   On the fourth of July, she suffered a slight heart attack and went into the hospital.  Shortly after, she suffered a medium to large stroke and the rest is history. 

Jeannine has three daughters, one of them, being my mother-in-law who lives in Lincoln. The other two live in Tennessee and Michigan and flew out as soon as they heard the news about the stroke.  Naturally, I wanted to show my support for this family and for Jeannine.  I was able to chauffer both aunts from Eppley to the Lincoln hospital.  I've been able to bring Panera bagels for breakfast, but nothing has prepared me for the insanely emotional journey of sitting in a hospital room a the end of someone's life. The conversations, the decisions, the sleepless nights and tired emotions. I never experienced this with my own grandparents because I was always busy in school, and I regret not being able to show this sort of support to my own parents.

What a hard time for any family! Right now, for Jeannine's family.  As a new addition to the family I don't feel like I can even come close to knowing the emotions that are happening.  But I love my family.  I love my husband and I love his family too, and I will be there for everyone that I can be.  This is not something I look forward to dealing with ever again, but I know I will because it is inevitable.  And because when you love someone, you will be with them to the end.

Summer Projects (with Pictures!)

I always feel a mixture of relief and excitement at the beginning of each summer because I know I'll get to do a bunch of things that I've been meaning to get done all school year.  Here are a handful of tasks I'm grateful I got done in the last couple of weeks:

1) Filed Important Papers

I emptied the contents of these drawers...

Spent hours sorting them...

and finally filed them in a nice plastic container!

 I don't know what to do for next year, as my nice plastic container is already too small for this load of documents. What a pain! I did a little research online and a few sources suggested to keep basically EVERYTHING for around 7 years!  Yikes!  What do you do with your important paperwork?

2) Cleaned the Refrigerator
It is embarrassing how long food sometimes stays in the refrigerator.  I keep thinking we'll eat our left overs, and that one tub of dip I bought once is still good... but I finally got motivated and cleaned it all out!

I even washed all the shelves and drawers!!

3) Read some books and plays

It is nice to have some down time to read.  I was able to pick my season of plays for next year early!



4) Kept up on laundry so far

See?  Nothing in the hampers!

5) Tried new recipes
of which I didn't care for, but still...we have all these books for a reason.

There are also a couple projects I haven't gotten to yet...

Notice the treadmill tucked away in the corner.

But I have been able to do some other very enjoyable things...

Like, be around with Tie These Hands as they recorded their newest album "Come On."

And, make my favorite pasta salad!

And, go to the Lincoln zoo with my friend, her son, and my other friend's daughter!
Little kids are so much fun!

We fed goats.

We competed for a prize at the Penguins' feeding extravaganza

We won!  Z was able to go home with a one of a kind bracelet!

So far it has been a wonderful summer.

Next week my projects will cease as I'll be at the International Thespian Festival with my students in Lincoln, but in lieu of productivity, will be some education and some great theatre!

I Played Flute

In our basement, recording flue for Tie These Hands

I've dabbled in a variety of hobbies in my life.  I took tap dancing and ballet classes in second grade,  I tried painting as a hobby in middle school, attempted violin in 4th grade, and joined the band playing flute in 5th.  Fifth grade was also the year I got my first big performance role in a school musical. 

Unfortunately I was unable to carry all of these hobbies through my life.  I had to give up on painting.  It took too much time and I could never draw a straight line.  I felt like I was kicked out of orchestra (I got yelled at every day for not sitting up straight while playing the violin...good thing my parents chose to rent instead of buy).  But for some reason, singing (somewhat dancing), acting, and playing the flute stuck.  Those were my things.  On the back of my letter jacket in high school were the words Academics, Drama, Music.

I'm really fascinated by the fact that I played the flute for 8 or so years.  I never really liked concerts, and always had a hard time reading notes that weren't on the staff, plus most of my band teachers were very unhappy.  When I started high school though, I got really into it.  It could be that band camp was the FIRST thing I did in high school.  It is where I met friends.  I loved marching band.  It had a performance and competitive aspect that I could really appreciate.  I had a band director my first couple years of high school that actually had fun in class, and I began learning to play the notes to the songs that were put in front of me (though I'll admit that I still can't play our school fight song correctly).

I was never good at the flute, but I look back on my years of band instruction fondly, and I think it is something that helped me gain additional respect for actual musicians.  I've been blessed to always be surrounded by brilliant musicians.  I even got to marry one. I think this is why I am so honored that my husband wrote a flute part for one of his band's songs and asked me to play it on the album.  (I know that in reality, him writing that part had nothing to do with me- the song called for some flute.  And I know that in reality, the only reason I'm on the album is because it is being recorded in our house, I have a flute and I don't charge anything).  But regardless of the reasons, I had a lot of fun doing it, and I also gained a lot of respect for this process of recording.

Be sure that you give a listen to the new Tie These Hands album coming out in the fall so that you can hear my big debut!  (And all of their other awesome songs :)).

I Love: (A List)

Today I've been cleaning up my desk area and looking through old folders of lessons and paperwork, and I stumbled upon an OLD notebook (with David Hasselhoff in his Baywatch get up on the cover) that contained some of my poetry from college.  The poetry is AWFUL, but got me through my emotional outbursts for four years.  I think I used the notebook to show students that I valued writing a few years ago... anyway- I stumbled upon a delightful nugget that I thought I would share.  I bet that it is from 2005 or so.

It was a List

.
I Love:

Flowers
Compliments
Non smoking concert venues
50's dresses that accent my waist
Uniball vision micro point pens
Musicians
Scholars
Abby Sheppard's Writing
Open Minds
Writing Poetry
Everything that Michael Ian Black says
Wet Hot American Summer
Weekends with my significant other
Vacation
Breathtaking views
Motivating Students
Optimism
Lists
and The Girl Song by Tie These Hands when played with Ryan Phillips