A&A on a GORGEOUS Thursday!

Well, hello! Wow, it's gorgeous outside! Chillin' on the patio with my laptop as we speak... er, as I type. Nothing awkward about today, so let's get to a few things that are. ;)

Awkward:

-completely flaking out on last week's A&A. But you know, I was with family and got so caught up, I didn't even realize it was Thursday. It wasn't until I got home Friday afternoon, logged onto my Dashboard and saw all your other posts that it even occurred to me! ;) I was getting some totally awesome family time, though, so I hope you all forgive me. :)

-My camera breaking AGAIN! The shutter won't open. :( Funny enough, it was in David's possession when it stopped working. Why is he always the one to lose or break my cameras? ;) Oh well, it just means he gets to buy me another. woohoo. It's really throwing a wrench in my daily routine, though! I am doing a 365 photo project and taking one picture for everyday in 2011. Without my trusty camera, my cell phone is being forced to substitute. Just not quite the same.

-Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence" ringing throughout the 4th grade classroom I taught in on Wednesday. Grrrr.... I KNOW I put my phone on silent!!! Of course, the ringing is followed by a chorus of, "Ooooooh, Mrs. Martinez, we are not supposed to have cell phones!!!". Oops. Kids, I know the rules... it's my stupid phone that doesn't.

-the bug that flew into my Scentsy when the wax was melted, and me not noticing until today when I find a big, black spot hardened among the red of my Perfectly Pomegranate. Ew. Had to heat it, let the wax melt, and fish it out. Ew.

-Our FIOS DVR. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Verizon FIOS, but lately the DVR is giving me a headache. First of all, the % full gage thingy is wrong. Please explain to me how two 30-minute episodes of Jeopardy causes my DVR to be 86% full. You's a fool, FIOS. Which means that if I have more than 2 hours worth of programming in it, it reads as full and won't record any more. Boo. But today.... ooh, it made me mad. I recorded Top Chef last night and come home all pumped to watch it... All Stars season and they pick the final two for the finale. :) The DVR shows that it recorded a full hour of the show, awesome. BUT right in the middle of the episode, before they present food for the quickfire, it SKIPS straight to judging for the elimination challenge. HUH? I missed a food presentation, a judging, an elimination, the premise of the elimination challenge, AND the twist? Psshh... it completely cut out 25 minutes right in the middle of the show. Curse you, FIOS DVR!

Awesome:

-still lovin' my new, short haircut. Especially with the warm weather we've been having, I love that it feels light and easy!

-Spring nail polish! I am on my 3rd bottle (over the past couple years) of my favorite spring shade, For Audrey. Thank you, China Glaze! I painted mine last week. :) Rachel over at Distinct.Style also posted about her new love of this color - it's just too awesome not to fall in love with it! :)

--double awesome: I received my March "Pretty Little Lovely" and they are the sweetest earrings in, guess what color?? ;) They perfectly match my nails, haha! I love how April over at Funky Vintage Lovely seems to read my mind! For the second month in a row, she has sent me a piece in my favorite "color of the moment". Keep in mind, too, that in the "Pretty Little Lovelies" Club, April chooses your pieces for you. So her uncanny ability to send me probably the exact pieces I would pick myself... well, that is just too cool... and WAY awesome. :)

-I had a ROUGH day on Wednesday w/ the group of 4th graders I had. It wasn't a school I frequent, and by the end of the day I was ripping my hair out. I kept thinking how much I miss the kiddos at the school I am usually at. Especially the 3rd graders. They are TONS better behaved than the older group from the other school. I checked my phone while the 4th grade hooligans were in P.E. and, to my sheer DELIGHT, one of the 3rd grade teachers from my favorite school had texted me asking if I could sub Thursday. :) Oh yes, I needed that! Today was AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME. I love those kids so much, and they really know how to make my day. :)

-Increasing our carbon footprint. :) We are already avid recyclers, and I recently invested in a water Bobble since I refuse to buy bottled water. The hubs has been taking the DART train into work much more often, and we also haven't had the heater or air conditioning on since January. :) Our newest effort is carrying our own bags to and from the grocery store. Hubby LOVES this. HE despises the huge collection of plastic sacks that we've acquired, and it absolutely thrilled to see that supply dwindling with each weekly trip to the market. ;) YEAH EARTH!

-You know how much I love to try new recipes!!! The hubs and I LOVE Mexican food, especially enchiladas, but they can really take a toll on the daily calorie count. SO, I compiled a few different recipes and a few of my own touches to make... Cheesy Chicken and Zucchini enchiladas! The trick I used is to grate the zucchini and saute it with a little bit of onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and cumin. Then I mixed it with the shredded chicken and other filling ingredients. So, we still get our Mexican fix, AND there's a green vegetable hiding in there! YUMMY! What makes it EXTRA yummy is that the hubs makes the enchilada sauce for me from scratch the night before... none of that canned stuff thankyouverymuch. :)

Mmmmm, speaking of food.... I am off to make dinner! Waldorf Chicken Salad is on the menu for tonight!