Halloween--Work Style

Halloween at the junior high is pretty fun from the front office staff's perspective since we get to see all the kids come and go but don't have to deal with any of the pesky teaching/learning.

My favorite costume by far this year was M.C. Hammer done by one of our hilarious student (he has so much personality I would not be surprised if he ends up being famous). He burst into the office in full costume and even had the sides of his head shaved. He had the music playing on his phone and fully danced it out in the office...I love this kid!

For our costumes this year one of the new secretaries (Tiffany) came up with the idea of all the secretaries being inmates (which we kind of are) and took on the job of buying the painter suits ($4) and stenciling "Inmate" on the back and on the leg. She also took mug shots and posted them in the office windows between the paper bars she hung up.

It was pretty funny getting everyone to pose for these and of course she hung mine right in the front because she said it was her favorite (i.e., most hideous).

We posed for this group photo and I am highly disturbed to see what a bruiser I look like! I wore tattoo sleeves all day and couldn't believe the kids thought they looked real.

 

Tiffany wrote "Go to class" on our knuckles and may have to do this more often since we say it so much.

Whitney stopped by the office during lunch and totally nailed her mime costume this year.

Five for Friday--I'm So Far Behind Edition

I am so far behind with blogging these days. We had the cousins here 2 weekends in a row including Conference Weekend, we helped Adam and Amy move, Randy turned 45, Whitney turned 13, and Landon just had his last football game. I have oodles of pictures but have had a crazy couple of weeks. 

1. Whitney has been wearing these fashion glasses lately, so when she stopped by the office Wendy grabbed these purple frames from the lost and found and put them on me. It was a random and funny moment, plus Whitney actually cooperated for the photo.

2. This was taken at our local Chili's...it seems like a back-handed compliment, but maybe I'm just reading into it. As we were waiting to be seated a group of women came in asking to be seated at the bar and were informed that the American Fork Chili's is the only one without a bar area (though they carry alcohol).

3. I found this picture on my camera and think it's hilarious...Whitney and her slime. 

4. Our shadows at Landon's football game last week...we look like fat cartoon characters.

5. I have never seen a sign like this before and immediately picture misfits sprinkling wild flower seeds on the turf football field. I pointed the sign out to Randy and he informed me it is about spitting out Sunflower seeds. Who knew?

12 on the 12th--October Edition

{click to enlarge}

1. Cathy is in town from Saudi Arabia (!) so we planned for an early morning walk but I only had a half hour so we sat at McDonald's and talked.
2. Whitney's illustrated birthday card for Randy.
3. Randy's box of birthday Raisin Bran...he can have this any time of course but I bought it special for his birthday since no one else will eat it.
4. Family photo in the car before heading up to help Adam and Amy move.
5. Lori and I boxed up stuff from the kitchen...moving is overwhelming even when it isn't my own move!
6. Lori and I stopped at Einsteins for a snack before heading over to the help unpack at the rental house. We don't have an Einsteins close to us so this was a treat.
7. Adam and Amy's "new" house has a pool!!
8. Upon arriving home Whitney immediately drew this picture of a cat using her water bottle...she's got skills.
9. I started a new book in the cozy (A Virtuous Woman by Kaye Gibbons).
10. Randy took a birthday nap.
11. The four of us went to Chili's for Randy's birthday dinner.
12. We stopped at the church to pick up all the primary teacher bags so I could clean them out and put the new class rolls in them (it took me 3 hours!).

Life Update--Phone Style

On October 2nd I went to a Secretaries Conference in Park City along with 4 other ladies from work. The highlight of the day was the scenery on the way there!

The Conference itself was okay, but it was a long time to sit and the room was freeeezing! (And you know if I was cold everyone else was downright frigid.) I kept looking around at all these women who are used to being so busy and thought it was a colossal waste of time. It's nice to recognize secretaries, but I don't think having them sit in a room for 5 hours is the way to do it!

I saw this Personality Test on Facebook and was immediately drawn to tree #2...which one calls to you?

Apparently this means--2. You are a fun, honest person. You are very responsible and like taking care of others. You believe in putting in an honest day's work and accept many work-related responsibilities. You have a very good personality and people come to trust you easily. You are bright, witty and fast-thinking. You always have an interesting story to tell.

Landon's football game on October 3rd was a freeze-your-nards-off event that meant I needed hot popcorn and hot chocolate...the only problem is that I either scald my tongue on hot chocolate or have to wait until it's just warm chocolate so mainly holding the hot cup was soothing.

I love the view at his home games, especially with the leaves changing on the mountains and the temple in the background.

I'm happy to report that my Secret Pal has been pretty good to me and that I'm enjoying being in charge of the whole thing. I've cracked myself up by sending a couple "inspirational" emails with quotes in them to help nudge the slacker pals (why do they even sign up?).

I used these 2 quotes:

"Generous people are rarely mentally ill." --Karl Menninger

“I got him a cool gift. I got him a pack of razors, and a really furry dead cat.
”-- Jarod Kintz

Since Adam and Amy have been in Europe (I'm so happy for them...) we had the girls here two weekends in a row. I picked them up Friday after school and enjoyed this lovely view from their front porch.

It's amazing how much talking one little girl (Megan) can do!

Lori and I went out for awhile Saturday evening.

Fall is officially upon us and is so beautiful! I was driving home from work and had to pull over to take this picture.

I found this note on my computer at work, so sweet.

Whitney and I met with her school counselor this week for a routine check in (they do that with all the 7th graders!).

I proposed that we take a self-portrait after our meeting and this is what we got...remember how Landon used to hug me in the middle of the hallways at school when he was in 7th grade?!

I spent most of the next day (which was my day off) listening to this!

And planting these.

I don't enjoy having this on our counter but our dishwasher is so lame that we haven't used it in over a year!

This week's installment from my Secret Pal.

Lori and I went out yesterday as part of Fall Break.

I texted this picture to Landon to see if he would wear this shirt ahhh technology.

Lori and I saw "Gravity" which proved to be a stressful movie. At one point I leaned over and said, "next time maybe we can see a movie about being stranded in deep water with sharks".

Later we picked up Whitney (who had stayed at Lori's place to play with the cats) and went to Michael's, Gordman's and Hobby Lobby. Even though my last sewing project was an exercise in swearing I am going to try again but this time with Michelle's help. There are so many cute fabrics how can I resist?

We spent a long time looking at all the cute miniature stuff because Whitney is always thinking of stuff for her Barbie creations. Of course I was drawn to the tiny good mail packages available and told Whitney she should make me some!

Whitney and I stopped at IFA for little pumpkins and these orange wheel barrows caught my eye.

I was scrolling through all my Instagram posts and am smitten with these little grids. I took screen shots of them just because they delight me so.

Conference Weekend

The first session of Conference this morning was soooo good! I was surprised to find these beauties already made and being circulated on Facebook.

 

Creative Friday--2 for the Price of One

For our September 20th activity we originally planned to go to Sundance to ride the ski lift and see the Fall colors, but after going on outings for 3 weeks in a row we had a hankering to stay in.

I picked up some Cafe Rio and drinks and we had a long, leisurely lunch and life catch-up; it takes us about 40 minutes to eat all of that.

We both wrote several notes...I'm loving these colorful cards Michelle gave me for my birthday.

Eva came home from school and was instantly bored (how can this be?!).

That girl has some serious attitude.

Michelle made my new favorite treat, Paula Deen's Butter Bars.

Servings: 6 to 8 servings
Prep Time: 30 min
Cook Time: 40 min
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients 

Cake:
1 18 1/4-ounce package yellow cake mix
1 egg
8 tablespoons butter, melted
Filling:
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 16-ounce box powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer.  Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan.
In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth.  Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter and beat together. 
Next, add the powdered sugar and mix well.  Spread over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes.  Make sure not to over bake as the center should be a little gooey.

These are sinfully delicious, easy to make (I've made them twice) and make your house smell like heaven!

For our September 26th gathering we went to DP Cheesesteaks for lunch, then to TJ Maxx and Hobby Lobby.

Michelle embraced the peppers!

 It is so unusual for me to be shopping for fabric that Michelle insisted on taking this picture. I was rather embarrassed to be doing so, but have now decided that I should always carry large bolts of fabric in front of me so I can hide my gut and chins!

I wanted to make some fabric coasters like the ones Michelle gave me a couple years ago. It makes perfect sense that coasters would be fabric. I thought these would make for a fun, little gift for my co-workers who are always battling condensation from their beverages.

There were so many cute fabric choices, but ultimately I went with basic black and white.

These are the fun items I bought at TJ Maxx. I'm always looking for cute gifts for my Secret Pal and I always find good things there. Of course I find stuff for me too.

I put Washi Tape on my keys (as seen on Pinterest) and am delighted with the result even though it's not as cute as the one I saw online.

Michelle printed some faux library cards for me to use for bookmarks (also for my co-workers)...the girl has skills.

I wrote a couple notes and put together a little good mail package.

I snapped this while Michelle was lost in thought while on the phone.