24 Weeks!

So Jodster asked me to put a belly picture on my blog. I thought, "that's a good idea." But then I always forget to take it. So in 1st period today I had one of my 9th graders take a picture for me. They all thought I was weird. Well, when I told her I wanted a belly picture her eyes got all big, and then I explained that I would NOT be doing a BARE belly picture and she wasn't as freaked out. So yeah, that's me in my classroom this morning. The wierd thing is, I haven't yet gained any weight in my pregnancy--which really IS weird because when I wasn't pregnant I was gaining weight all the time! So today I'm 24 weeks exactly. (Yes, that is a bat in the background. It has "Mrs. Rees' Big Red Bat" written on it. I use it to intimidate students and make them type faster. Well, not really, but the kids live in anticipation that I will. And yes, I said "anticipation" not "fear." They REALLY want me to pull that bat out...but I rarely do. Still, it's a symbol of my power and I keep it in a place of honor!)

Before and After Pictures!

So I'm back. It's been a long, lonely weekend without an internet connection--one of the evils of getting a new house. Of course we didn't think to call super early to get them to come install internet. So we went a WEEK without it. A week! They are SUPPOSED to come today around 3:00--let's see if that happens. But it's Utah Broadband, not Comcast, so maybe they will actually show up. We'll see. Anyway, I thought I'd post a few before and after pictures of my house! Some of you have already seen the before pictures, but on Saturday I cleaned my house from top to bottom and then took pictures! Yes, I'm so proud. Every box is unpacked except for the "junk box" in the computer room--you know, the one you throw everything in that you aren't sure what to do with. Well, we don't know where to put it in our new house either. So it's still sitting there, laughing at me. Anyway, here we go!




Thi is the Laundry room/Bathroom. Not much different except we painted the walls and added our NEW AWESEOME WASHER AND DRYER! We got them on KSL. Front loaders, energy savers, LG Tromm's for $1,000 total! SUCH a deal! They are SO amazing to use!





This is the tumor. Yes, we are still planning to tear it off. But it might be as long as summer before we can. So we painted it. As you can see, Tarzan likes it. He's the only one. Doesn't look so bad now, but it's still ugly as sin from the outside!





This is room we call the "great room" (it sounds so cool when you call it that) As you can see we totally repainted it. And boy was it a pain in the butt! But it sure made a difference! Can't wait to replace those pendant light with something a little less 80's though...




And here's the LOVELY living room! No furniture really for it yet, but doesn't that red wall look freakin' awesome?? Cindy did a fabulous job taping it off so the lines are perfect. man, what a pain that is!





And last the kitchen. Of course we're getting a new kitchen in a few months so it will look much better, but even tearing off the ugly green border and painting it made a world of difference.


So that's my house! We're having an openhouse on Saturday from 4:00 - 8:00 so feel free to stop by!

Tagged! 8 Things...

Thanks for tagging me, Kel! AND I was the first on the list! I'm so honored!

8 TV shows I like to watch - I don't have cable, and my reception is horrible, so lets see if there ARE 8 shows I watch.

1. Pushing Daisies (when I remember its on)
2. Big Bang Theory (when I remember its on)
3. Wipeout
4. Law & Order: SVU
5. Little House on the Prairie (I told you, I only have like five channels. There's nothing else ON! And it really bugs Trevor. Until the other day I caught HIM watching it! Can't convert him to the Brady Bunch, though.)
6. Ummm...News? Watch that a lot!
7. The Office (I used to. Now I forgot when it's on. But I love that show.)
8. Urg! Can't think of anymore!

8 Things that Happened Yesterday

1. Urg. The Server went down and none of my students could log in, and I had to make them read all period every day because there was nothing to teach without computers! And they are STILL down this morning, so I guess we're watching a movie or something. We played Deal or No Deal yesterday and they are all going to beg to play it today but I'll have to be firm. Can't let them have TOO much fun. This is school.
2. I actually unpacked about three boxes that are the "leftover" boxes at the house. The ones that are full of stuff that's not absolutely necessary so they stay unpacked for a while.
3. Played the Sims for as long as I could get away with--while TREVOR made dinner! Yeah!
4. Ate yummy brown sugar meatloaf leftovers for lunch
5. Weighed myself. I look SO pregnant, but somehow haven't gained any weight yet! Wahoo! (Of course, I kinda looked pregnant BEFORE I was pregnant...I've been "showing" for years.)
6. Watched my kitty wander the new house aimlessly meowing for Trevor to come home and wishing he could go outside. But mean Daddy won't let him yet.
7. Used a DISHWASHER. WOW. Haven't had one for 10 months and it was total misery! Oh the miracle that a dishwasher is!!
8. Almost finished my book, "Dairy Queen," which I love and highly reccommend.

8 Favorite Places to Eat

1. Costa Vida (NOT Cafe Rio. Sorry. It's ok but it's not in my top eight.)
2. Del Taco
3. Arbys
4. TGI Fridays
5. Thaiphoon (only when we feel rich.)
6. Indochine
7. Bombay House or Taste of Punjab
8. Olive Garden (it's sad how easy this list was to compile...)

8 Things I Look Forward To

1. The end of today when Ballroom Club is OVER and all I have to do is Ballroom Team!
2. The Talent Show in January when my Ballroom Team peforms! And then it's OVER!
3. My computers actually working again, so I can get back to work!
4. The baby coming. I guess. Actually I'm terrified.
5. SUMMER!!! (Ah, the perks of being a teacher...)
6. CHRISTMAS BREAK! (Ah, the perks of being a teacher...)
7. Getting my new kitchen in March!
8. Getting my CherishBound yearbook printed and in the mail!

8 Things on my Wish List

1. For baby Afton to be healthy and happy when she comes!
2. For Trevor to have a REALLY big month at work so we can beef our savings back up again!
3. A jetted tub upstairs. Really--our tub SUCKS. It's got one of those straight backs so you can't lean back and relax in the tub. I'm just sure a MAN designed it.
4. For the rest of the rooms in my new house to be magically painted so I don't have to do it. We are SO sick of painting!!
5. To have a $10,000 gift card to Home Depot or Lowe's. I get it now. I'm addicted to home improvement.
6. To have the TUMOR removed from the back of my house and everything repaired.
7. To get a second kitty! I'm really pushing Trevor on this one!
8. To magically have money for Christmas. Looks like this year our Christmas is just the house!

And even though it wasn't on the original list, I'm adding one because I feel inclined to do so.

8 Things I'm Grateful For:

1. My husband
2. My healthy baby
3. My beautiful new house
4. A GARAGE. What a remarkable thing a garage is?
5. The practically new FRONT LOADING washer and dryer we got for $1,000 total! AMAZING!
6. My awesome friends!! I love you all! (Especially those who have bothered to read this far!)
7. My new ward. Haven't been to chruch yet but I've met tons of people and you shoudl have seen how many people showed up to help us move in!
8. My job and Trevor's job--they make everything possible!

I have to tag 8 people now, but Kelly got most of the people I konw who blog...
1. Cindy
2. Jodster
3. Rusty (yeah right...)
4. While we're getting unrealistic--Molly.
5. Leslie
6. Nicki. Again.
7. Lisa
8. Umm..I'm out of blogging friends.

The Goldfish Story

So I feel really bad that I don't even THINK to post funny stories when they happen to me. And I really wish I was as good as Jodster and remembered to take in-action photos during the entire event. I realized that this event, which happend over a week ago, might be a fun addition to my blog. This, my friends, is the Goldfish story.
As you know, I teach 7th graders. Every quarter we do this huge project where the kids make soap. See that link for details. After they make their soap as a group, we have a big Soap Fair in the media center, where the kids set up their table and display their soap and poster. Three classes come through and vote on their favorite soap, and each time they get a vote, it counts as a sale. Well, I also allow the kids to give away candy or whatever in order to improve their sales. This quarter I had a kid get the brilliant idea of giving away live goldfish. Now, he didn't actually clear it with me, if it would be ok to give away live animals. He just brought them.

So I go over to his table to see what they are doing. It's 4th period, so about midway through the day. He's got this cardboard box, and in the box is a goldfish bowl full of goldfish--most of which are dead, because these poor buggers have been in his locker all day.

And all goldfish do pretty much is die anyway.

So it's too late to stop him now. He's got these ziploc bags and he's putting a fish in them to give to kids who vote for their soap. What the crap these kids are going to do with a bag full of water and a half-dead fish for the rest of the day is beyond me. Probably put them in THEIR lockers, where they can have a sad end like their brothers before them.

The next morning during 2nd period, we are calculating scores to see who made the most money at the Soap Fair. (This kid's group, by the way, actually made the most money in his class...guess the fish worked.) So during 2nd period I go in my backroom to get something. Lots of the kids put stuff back there after the fair to pick up later. Apparently, this kid did too. He thought it would be a great idea to keep a couple of his dead fish in there.

So it stinks to high heaven as soon as I open the door. My girly 7th graders are all covering their noses, even though they are on the opposite side of the room. I'm TICKED. I called the janitor to come get the fish. It's not like I can just throw them away in the hallway and inspire MORE girly junior high girls to cover their noses and act like it's the corpse of a HUMAN they are smelling.

So this kid comes in 4th period and I let him have it. I was kind of laughing, though, because it WAS funny. Did he say sorry? No, he says, "Oh! What about the ones still in my locker?" I told him I didn't give a rats about the fish in his locker. But apparently HE did. Because later that day, I go in my backroom again, which has been open to air it out, and there's that stupid bowl full of fish in my back room! HE WENT AND GOT THEM FROM HIS LOCKER AND PUT THEM IN MY BACKROOM. Does he learn nothing?? I wonder to myself, at what point is he going to come pick them up? Not by the end of the day, I can tell you that. The final bell rings and those stupid fish are still there. About 10 of them and only one dead. I call him down to my room, but he doesn't answer. He takes the bus home. What is his plan here? When is he gonna take them home? I had to teach ballroom so I left them in my room, hoping he'd come get them. Next morning, I come in my room, and about five are still alive and the rest are dead. How long since they've been fed?

I was done. I flushed them. That's right, I'm a murderer. I took them to the bathroom and flushed them all, alive and dead. And was darned happy about it. The kid seemed kinda relieved 4th period when I told him what he'd done. At least he took the empty bowl home...I fined him $1000 from his winnings of the soap fair. And from now on, NO LIVE ANIMALS ALLOWED!!!

My (our) Halloween Costume

Well, despite my previous post about no costume for Halloween, I did actually manage to make one for myself after all! Trevor did not get a new costume--he wore his musketeer costume to work in hopes of winning the costume contest--which was TOTALLY rigged and unfair by the way. URG! If he'd won we would have gotten Jazz tickets! Anyway, he was cool about it. He's just happy whenever he can wear his Aragorn boots.

As for me, I made the costume that I've been wanting for three years now. I saw a lady at the mall with one like it and told myself that when I was pregnant one day, I'd have a costume like THAT. It cost me $26.00 to make. I painted it all freehand--not the best job in the world, but I liked how it turned out. And it was so comfortable! Too bad it's not one I can wear every year without making some kind of false announcement. So any my friends out there who are pregnant over Halloween in the future--you know where to come to borrow a costume!

Introducing...THE TUMOR!!!

Cindy says I'm gutsy to actually post pictures of the tumor on my blog. Well, no one looks at it this blog anyway, so who cares? Besides--I'm proud of it in an odd sort of way. If it weren't for this ugly little room, my house would have been unaffordable for me and Trevor. This little sucker made it possible for us to buy, and when we tear it down, I will jump for joy--and shed a tear, for the room it might have been, for the idea it was and the reality it wasn't. It WAS a good idea, but badly implemented and badly planned...anyway, here is another HUGE amount of pictures that I took yesterday. I went to the house right after school and didn't come home until 9:30! SO much work to do!





And here are some pictures of the backyard! It's quite big actually, the lot is .23 acres. It just needs some MAJOR pruning and fixing up.









And now some pictures from last night working. We had a lot of MUCH appreciated help from my parents, Trevor's parents, and Cindy. AND little Bethany. She was a great gopher!






Karen and Stan were great helping us out! They spent a lot of time getting the ugly 90's border off the kitchen wall.





Dad was AWESOME. Man, it's nice having a dad who is so helpful and handy! He was constantly working! Mom was a great help too, washing walls and ceilings. What would we do without them?



Cindy stayed the longest--refusing to go until she'd finished priming the tumor. Yeah, we had to prime and paint it even though we're pulling it down in the spring. It didn't smell NEAR as bad once Dad used the shop vac on the carpet...


And here is Trevor painting the ceiling. WHAT a pain. Poor guy!



Last, this is me cleaning the walls in the tumor. Can you BELIEVE their kids wrote and drew and fingerpainted all over the walls? It came up a lot easier than we thought it would, though some of it wouldn't come up at all.

Inside Tour of the Rees Abode

So it's my 5th period right now, which is my prep. Normally I'm bustling with activity. There's so much to do. But right now I'm kinda at a loss. As soon as school is out I'm heading to my house to start cleaning and painting and I'm SO wanting out of here right now! Two more periods to go! And they are my most obnoxious classes, too! So I thought I'd post some of the 50 or so pictures I enthusiastically took last night at the house.

We got our keys yesterday around 5:00, and spent a good hour going over every last inch of it. We were happy to see that the former owners had left the house in very good condition. Sure, they didn't deep clean it or anything, but they took everything with them and left us no junk, AND they left us a lawn mower and a mini fridge and microwave in the downstairs kitchenette. We were pretty happy about that. Then, after we'd been there a while, a neighbor came to say hi. He's the brother of the guy who used to own it, and he confirmed that yes, we get to keep the lawn mower. Wahoo! I think it's a pretty good sign when you are welcomed into the neighborhood literally thirty minutes after first arriving EVER. Trevor had to go back to work for a closing, so at 8:30 we went back to the house, this time with Cindy in tow, to look again. I decided to go crazy taking "before" pictures. Unfortunately it was too dark to take any from outside, so those will have to be added tomorrow. Here it is--the tour of my new cute house!



This is the front room when you first walk in. Isn't the BEST place to put a Christmas tree?





And now what Trevor and I call "the great room" because it's really big and combines with the kitchen. I love this room, and I LOVE the vaulted ceilings. Really gonna suck to paint them though...


Here's the kitchen. Yeah, it sucks. But you know, there are some advantages to that. When the kitchen sucks, you can justify getting a new one. And when you're dad does kitchens for a living and is incredibly talented, it's even better. LOVE the green border and green counters (not). Obviously this was a 90's remodel...



Upstairs there are three bedrooms--I didn't include pictures 'cause they are kinda boruing. They are square and empty. The house has four bathrooms--one in the basement, one on the main floor, and two upstairs. This is just one of them--it is THE WORLD'S SMALLEST BATHROOM!! Seriously. This thing has to win some kind of award for size...




Here's another strange little room. Not sure what the deal is here. It's the triangle room. They actually "count" this as a room, saying the house has six bedrooms. But can you imagine actually putting someone in this room? Even has a closet--actually, the ONLY closet besides the master bedroom that has a bar for hanging clothes. Weird, huh?



Here's the downstairs kitchenette. It's kinda on a weird wall--not sure where we would put a couch. Strange shape, this room. But nice to have a kitchenette!



And now, I've saved the best for last. Behold the Tumor!! This house has an "enclosed porch" that some poor idiot tried to build on the back of the house. Tomorrow I'll post how it looks from the outside--it's AWFUL. But the inside is pretty bad, too. The kids drew all over the walls, it smells, and there's kitty litter all over the nasty carpet. Unfortunately, we'll have to live with this little growth for the whole winter until the spring when we can perform surgery and have it removed. Yes, we're painting it. We can't stand it otherwise. Oh, you should see it from outside...




So that's our house! There are, of course, more rooms, but I didn't want to overload you you know. (All two of you who even look at this blog...) Tomorrow I will add photos of the outside!!