A Tuesday Giveaway!!!

Today is Tuesday!

That means a few things if you live in the "Nuthouse" (get it? cause we're Squirrels) 

Anyway- you know it's Tuesday here because one out of three Littles will come home and tell me that it is Taco Tuesday Fundraising night for our cluster of schools at the taco joint down the road. 

We also know it's Tuesday because I will tell that Little "No." 

It is Taco Tuesday for all 3 schools and they have 4 parking spaces in front of the  building. 

Nope.

You can also tell it's Tuesday because two out of three Littles will get off the bus with two things in mind.

1.) I have to get a snack before I die.

And

2.) I have to remind Littlest Little that it's Towel Tuesday! 

I swear, if they worried more about what they were responsible for instead of what the others were.....you know where that's going, right?

Littlest Little has limited chores. Cause he's little. (Duh?) He's getting bigger though- so along with trash, we gave him another chore which is to wash, dry, fold, and put away the towels in their bathroom- on Tuesdays.

It's a pretty big deal- to him. It may be a BIGGER deal to the other two, cause they feel like they're supervisors now! (We know my thoughts on "supervisors")

"Don't forget the towels! It's Tuesday! Did you get the towels out of the dryer? Remember to fold them in thirds"

(Hmmm- they sound like someone else I .....nevermind)

You also know it's Tuesday around here cause We The People get the TV back tonight!!! There is nothing but football on the tube Sat- Mon!!! Ugh. It is a small celebration when you realize that you get to use the remote!! 

I am gonna watch the crap outta some Dateline and 20/20 and maybe some Snapped! (He hates those shows..... Cause he thinks I'm taking notes!)

Watching football over the weekend though DID give me the opportunity to play around with some yarn ! At the urging of Mrs. Wheeler- I started making  pumpkins. And they turned out pretty cute! 

While I listened to him go on and on about this player and that coach, I just crocheted away.

Here's the result:

I added them to my Etsy, too this weekend.

 

And then turned my kitchen table into mailing station!!

Even though Halloween is only a couple weeks away, it will be Fall for a while still!

I plan on adding several more styles and colors....maybe even some turkeys and trees!  You can follow my Etsy to see when they are added.

To share  all this pumpkin  cuteness a little quicker- I'm going to send one to one of my Etsy followers, one to a FB fan page for my Etsy shop, and one to a Pinner! Check out the Rafflecopter below to see how you can enter!

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/d9321e6954/

 

I'll announce the winners as soon as the contest ends!

 

So now this hasn't turned out to be such a bad thing that he had the remote all weekend!!

I can't wait to come back and announce the winners!

Have a Terrific Tuesday!

Interview with A Squirrel

This evening finds the Squirrel household in the middle of Fall Break.

Do you get a "Fall Break"? I know there are a lot of schools that are out just for the Columbus three day weekend.

Not us- they give us a whole week.

That is one weekend + a school week + another weekend = 9 days.

Nine days that we are home together.

This time last year,  I was singing the praises of this break. I couldn't wait to have the time off after the nine weeks to recuperate. And the Littles were uber excited, too.

 

This year has proved to be the same- for them. They could not wait to get off the bus Friday so they could have these nine days to sleep in, stay up late, and hang out. And they have done exactly that.

They sleep pretty late. They stay up way too late. (And I am also up late- so that is some super quality time that we are having together (insert sarcastic face here)).  And they are hanging out. At home. In the house. 

It is chilly and drizzlely and cloudy and drab. So no one comes to the door to invite them to go OUTSIDE and play. Boo. I mean, I am all about friendship and bonding time. And I am sorry that they are not getting it because of this wretched weather on this nine day break that we are having together.

Do you see where this is going? I'll just end that with, It's been a long break so far.

 

I have made use of this time at home looking around online for jobs that are available in my area. I have gotten my resume all pretty and professional. I've even uploaded it to a few openings. I even got a "first round interview" for a state job that looked pretty good.

Have you looked for a job lately? Whether it's a teaching or non teaching position? Have you put yourself out there? It has been a long time since I have - and it is a little different.

 

For example, this "first round interview" that I speak of is what they call it. What it really is though is a list of 20 questions that enable you to shoot yourself in the foot and disqualify yourself from the position immediately so that they don't have to meet with you.

Some of them were your run of the mill things I remember hearing while sitting across from a real live person a million years ago like "What do you think your best quality is ?"

I thought that was easy enough.

I am a brutally honest person. (I left out brutally). But that's a pretty good quality to have  in an employee, right? I threw in few other descriptors so that it sounded cool.

And then I was stopped in my tracks by some of these other questions.

 

What type of supervision do you like? What frustrates you most with a supervisor ? How do you handle it? What type of person is the hardest to work with? Why do you think that is? How do you stay organized? How do you feel about deadlines? What is your working style? And then the dreaded- What do you consider to be your two biggest weaknesses?

 

What the what?

 

Let's take this from the top.

 

What type of supervision do you like?

Well, honestly, (I already said that I was honest) I kind of like to be unsupervised. And is it really going to matter? If I say I don't like them, will they go away?

 

What frustrates you the most with a supervisor?

Um, the part where they are supervising me- we established that, right? I mean, tell me what you want me to do, then let me be and if I do it- we'll be happy together.

 

What type of person is the hardest to work with?

The one that's always hanging around- you know, the supervisor guy.

 

Why do you think that is?

Cause he's creeping me out.

 

How do you stay organized?

Depends, what am I organizing? Seriously, are we talking writing down appointments, or am I sorting beads? Am I taking notes? Writing a grocery list? Or organizing my thoughts? Cause I can write a hell of grocery list- the kind that takes The Mr. down every single aisle and the items seem to fall into the cart because I have organized this list so flawlessly. On the flipside, I can  forget what I am saying 12 times in the same dinner conversation because there a million thoughts in my head and I cannot express one coherently.

 

How do you feel about deadlines?

Well I'd rather they not be so concrete. I like a little leeway in my deadline. I like terms like "around 12:00" and "near the 16th" and "some time tomorrow". Those are all perfectly good deadlines.

 

What is your working style?

Um, I'd say I am "Glitzy Transitional". I figure it's MY style and I can call it what I want.

 

And then comes the question that ensures you will receive the "While we thank you for your application....." email....

 

Your weaknesses.

I HATE this part! I have always hated it!

It never fails that I would sit across from admin during an eval and throw myself under the bus!

"What do you think your weakness was for this lesson?"

And then I would INEVITABLY say something that she hadn't noticed!!! (Way to go, Squirrels!)

 

It's the worst to have to think of things that are wrong with you and then tell them to other people who do not know you.

I should have put something like "I have a need to become closely attached to my supervisor". Maybe that would help me out in that department. Because no one is going to write "I have a tendency to be late three or four times a week and I like to steal post it notes for my collection in my junk drawer at home." Ugh.

 

I am very curious to see what the "second round interview" is like. Will I have to get out of my "kajamas" for it? That would be pretty sweet if I didn't. I also can't wait to find out how many rounds there are! And is there a bonus round? A speed round? If so I will just yell BIG MONEY! NO WHAMMIES!!! That should make me a shoe in, huh?

 

 

Who knows? It's a crap shoot.

We'll see what they all say when they write me back and thank me for being so honest!

 

Well it's time to start thinking about how the Squirrels are going to spend DAY SEVEN of our WONDERFUL Fall Break together! Hope you have a great weekend coming up!!

 

 

 

A Squirrel-a-versary

So here it is - three years since my very first blog post! It doesn't seem like that long. 

Maybe because my blog has been so dusty and neglected as of late. I totally blame social media ( blame shifter)- seriously! 

I think of something and then BAM! I can post it on Instagram- or BOOM! I can put it on FB. And it's so quick and easy.

Technically, the blog is easy, too. It all comes from my phone. But my mind is more likely to throw out a random quick thought vs a long commentary. And for those of you who know me, quick and random are the way my brain usually works! 

It has been an adventure of sorts being out of the classroom this year. It was a hard decision to make- but I'm very confident I did the right thing. I was reminded of just "how right" I was when I was putting away a few things in my room today and opened a drawer of my jewelry armoire. 

What I saw was a little alarming. (Don't worry, it's not anything bad or inappropriate). I opened the drawer to put away a bracelet and here it was. Boom.

My One Little Word card that I made three years ago when I did the OLW project with my first grade class. I made each person, including myself, a card to carry to remind us of the word we chose. 

The word we chose that would make a change in our lives.

My word was Prioritize. It was my goal to change some things in my personal and professional life to ensure that I was putting all the right people and projects first.

Just sitting down and making that list back then was such an eye opener! I "let go" of sooooo much drama! I realized that much of the hard work I was doing was SELF INDUCED! While there is definitely a set of standards I was expected to meet- I was piling on even more. 

So I fixed it back then.

I made changes.

I left bags of school work AT SCHOOL. And I opened my eyes and realized that what I sometimes thought was my worst, was someone else's best- and that was ok! 

I was (and still am) happier for taking a breath and working through all of that. 

My OLW card popped up a year later when I switched purses. And then again on the dryer one time. Once I found it in the junk drawer in the kitchen. 

I'm glad it doesn't have a "formal home". If it did, then I wouldn't get these great reminders every once in a while.

So much has changed in the last few years. And I can attribute that to prioritizing AND to that sweet reminder charm that was under my card- 

HA HA!!! Gotta love a squirrel! 

I'm sure I said it at the one year mark and then again at the second- this little blog had made such a change in my life! I've learned so much from so many and have made some lifelong friends! Love you ladies!!

Hope this day finds you right where you want to be, my friends!!