Secret Santa

Thanks to Ray's cousins I was introduced to this new website, secretsanta.com. It's very similar to evite except it's for secret santa, white elephant, and other ways of gift giving. The only thing that I have to warn ppl about that makes this site different from evite is this: When you hit the "Finish" button you don't have the option to view the final product before sending it out or just naturally return to the design page. It automatically sends the invites to the ppl! Imagine my horror as I hit "Finish" and it says the the invites were successfully sent! I was missing one email (which I was planning to get from Ray) and I had still planned on passing the idea by Ray before sending it. Well, I guess we're doing a secret santa exchange now!

New additions to the Nguyen family's Thanksgiving menu

Pillsbury Garlic & Butter Croissants are FRICKIN' good! The pumpkin cheesecake by Cheesecake Factory ain't half that bad either!

I just joined Contours Express, which is a competitor of Curves. After my extremely long hiatus from the gym I decided that I needed to get back on track. Turning 30, the wedding, and just feeling "dumpy" were my main motivators. A co-worker recommended Contours. I came in yesterday to give it a try. I was happy to see that the machines they had were ones I've used before. The concept of Contours and circuit training is that you rotate from weights and cardio in 45-second intervals. They play music overhead and every 45 seconds a voice comes on that tells you to rotate. It sounds kind of silly but it's not. I found that I was breaking into a sweat after a little over 6 minutes of working out. I also like that the commitment is only 30 min., 3 x week. I hope to go at least 4x a week but knowing that the commitment is that low makes it doable. So I'm signed up and I've already been there twice. I hope to go again tomorrow.

Things I learned in marriage class

1. The five languages of love that help make a big difference in communication
2. Try to talk about your issues instead of holding it in and letting it boil up
3. You may have to stop doing something that is not wrong in itself but beacuse it's causing hurt or anger or sadness to your spouse.
4. Sacrifice. If you truly believe that marriage is for eternity this may make you think twice before cheating or hurting your spouse in any way.
5. As boring as it was we did learn something and it doesn't hurt that they fed us In-N-Out!

Today was spent cursing at a printer, trekking to two different office supply stores, and making coolio magnets that came out a lot better than I imagined. Thanks for all the help, sexy mama. We appreciate it a bunch!

NEVER leave sweets in the fridge where I can see them.........

.....I think I ate too much cake........

The hazards of teaching......

Day 1:
Student won't let aunt leave. Student is screaming bloody Mary and clutching onto her for dear life. Several attempts were made for aunt to leave but student just bolts out of the classroom and holds onto aunt.

Day 2:
Student has a repeated episode. This time, instead of letting it escalate like it did the other day I just have the morning teacher take him to the principal's office. I have the responsibility of 19 other kids. I can't cater to one child who has serious attachment issues.

Day 3:
Aunt tries to sneak out of the classroom right away. Student freaks out when he doesn't see her and bolts out the door. I watch in horror as he runs out of the kinder yard towards the street. Thank God the morning teacher was on the sidewalk and saw him. He was brought back and I had to literally pull his arms off his aunt and physically held him as his aunt left. As I'm half-sitting on the floor with my arms around this student all I can think about is, "Man, his tiny legs are really close to my vulnerable spot!"




Ahhhh....Kindergarten........

Getting old

So my 30th came and went. I don't feel any older and I don't feel much younger than I already do. But I came to realize my maturity level has grown in the past few years. I go to Vegas with all these expectations of what I was going to do there. Drink and party 'til the break of dawn. What I ended up doing was spending a lot of time finding a nice place to sit and just talk with friends. My sister was the one that actually had the "Vegas experience," but then again she is only 22 with many more years of immaturity to enjoy! Even though I didn't go clubbing at the trendy spots like I hoped or went on the masquerade float, or do a whole lot of other things I am pretty content with what I did end up doing.



Cheers to my 30's.