oh,...that was easy

So...I finally got the sidebar to pop back into place. I went to Blogger's help forum (I'm ashamed to admit that I had to ask for help! haha) But... I found out that the reason the sidebar went to the bottom of the blog is because I put pictures on the blog that were too big! So I resized my pics and magically the sidebar popped back up! YAY!

OK...enough about that.

This morning I went to the Valley Park with Cassie and walked around the trails. It was a long walk....over an hour! :) I've been walking walking walking lately! Now, I'm going to head over to Winfield with Jesse to see if I can get into WHS to see my classroom. I kinda doubt it because I called over there and no one answered...but I'm going to try anyway.

such a beautiful day!

Today the weather was stunning. I went to Poca Middle to sub for Ms. Richards. The kids were so sweet and all happy to see me. I missed them! (I should say, SOME of them...hehe) It was good to see all the teachers too.

After that....I came home and ran outside. It was lovely. :) Jesse and I grilled burgers and then went to the valley park just to walk around a bit. When we got there, Sarah, Jay, and Caylan were there with their friends Jackie, Eric and their daughter, Madison. So we talked to them and I played with Caylan a little bit.

Then Jesse went to go workout at Ty's house (which is where he is right now) and I drove my little butt over to the Teays Valley McDonald's to get me a vanilla cone. It was a tasty 150 calories....just wish I had another!

Tomorrow I'm going to be at Winfield Middle again....for the same lady!! She's not been to school for 2 weeks! I think I'm going to get lunch at McDonald's tomorrow!! yummmm... I'm thinking grilled honey mustard snack wrap and a fruit & yogurt parfait.....or maybe a grilled southwest salad. Those are so good!

ok, I'm hooked....

I wasn't going to get my hopes up. I wasn't even really wanting this job. But... now, in my second week of teaching Reading to 6th graders....I really, really want this long term job!! Yeah a few of the students drive me crazy...and yes, 2 of the classes make me want to pull my hair out at times....but I really like this job!! And for the most part I REALLY like these kids!

So now I'm in trouble. I have to bid on the job...and I really want it. (The VP told me today that he wants me to get the job.) But... now, I'm going to be upset if I don't get it. :( So please pray that I get it!!

Well... this weekend was really good, but too short. I can barely remember it! Saturday I don't think I did much of anything.

Sunday was church, lunch at my parents', shopping with my mom (she bought me a new purple purse!), baked pumpkin bread, and then Jesse and I went to Brian & Jessica's house and had a late dinner.

After school today I went to the valley park and ran...by myself. No Amy. I guess shes never gonna run with me again. :( She said she was too busy. But I enjoyed my run nevertheless.

After that I cooked some turkey taco salad.... and then we went to McDonald's. Jesse got a ice cream cone and I got a non-fat, sugar-free vanilla latte.




oh yeah, in case you ever have read this blog and wondered to yourself, "What in the world is Jillian?" Heres a small taste. I started out with workout 1...now I'm up to workout 3.







I really need a new hairdo and I'm struggling to figure out what I want to do. I don't really want bangs...and I don't want to go too short (cause it makes me look 12!!) but...here are a few ideas.

Is that your eye or an egg mcmuffin?

Sunday night... I was sitting on the coach, playing on the computer.....and my Kitsy came and slept on my lap for awhile. Shortly after that my eye started itching....and I shouldn't have. But I scratched it.

Shortly after that, it started to burn..and itch more...and then it started to swell.

It got so swollen that it was almost swollen shut.. I made Jesse go to Kroger and buy me some Benadryl. I took 2 of those...which may have helped, but I'm not really sure because 30 minutes later I was snoring in my bed.

When I woke up it was still swollen. I got a couple of sub calls but they were all crappy ones that I woudn't want to do on a normal day, let alone with a red, itchy, swollen eye.

Later that morning I took another Benadryl....and then slept from noon to 2:30. The pills seriously made me feel woosey and drunk. They are great sleeping pills though.

At 4 I was supposed to run with Amy....but I was feeling rather sluggish. Plus she called and said she needed to go be with her mom for awhile, so we didn't run.

I attempted to run around here, but it didn't work....so Jesse and I went for about a 2 mile walk instead.



While I was in the shower on Monday night I got my 1st and only sub call...it was for Mr. Hopkins, the Band teacher at Buffalo High School.

So, thats where I was today.... It was basically a babysitting day of me watching long-haired boys play hackeysack. But... I got to leave early at 2 pm. :)

After school Jesse and Brian went to play tennis at the park...and I went with them and ran around 5 miles. Then I cooked a new recipe, baked salmon with a honey mustard pecan glaze. It was pretty good.

Just a few minutes ago I got a sub call for tomorrow.... I'll be teaching 2 classes of Intro to the Majors and 1 PE class. I'll be reporting about how that goes soon.

I'm looking forward to the end of this week... Thursday and Friday I'll be teaching Spanish at the middle school where my mom works...and then on Friday night my friend Cassie and I are making plans to spend some time together!!

hangin in...

I didn't get a job on Tuesday, but I had a really good day! I got up and ran at the park with Jesse (ok, so he sat at a picnic shelter)...then Jesse finally got my car inspected. It had been expired since Sept. began! Then we went to Walmart and got my oil changed while I was shopping. I had a full day! Then at 5 I went to work at Cracker Barrel. I was there from 5 to 8 and I made 36 dollars. I'm done with that place.

I took a job for today at an Elementary School. I didn't like that so much! I taught music to 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, two 1st grades and Kindergarten! The teacher was WAY anal and left crazy detailed plans. Her room was SO cute, but everything was SO perfect it was kinda creepy.

It was the fastest time has ever past while I was subbing, thats for sure! But it wore me out! I tried to run when I got home but it felt like my legs weighed 100 lbs each! I still ran some but I power walked mostly..about 5 miles. After dinner, Jesse and I went for another walk too. I think it was about 2 miles, so I think I did ok for today even if I didn't run!

Just a few minutes ago I finally got a phone call for tomorrow! I'm doing DRIVERS ED!! AHH!! At first I was like....NO!... I can't drive with kids! But then Jesse reminded me that I would probably be teaching in the classroom..and I was like, "oh yeah, I forgot they did that" Duh! I'm hoping that he has planning period for 4th block and I get to come home early!!!

So, I'll let you know how that goes tomorrow! (pray for me)

1st & 2nd Sub Jobs in Putnam Co.

On Wednesday I went to Poca High School and subbed for the Art teacher there. It was a really good experience. Everyone there was super nice and sweet. The VP herself walked me up to my classroom and unlocked the door. I had a good day. 1st & 2nd blocks had about 23-25 students but 3rd block only had 11. After 3rd block I assumed that I would be able to leave since 4th block was the teacher's planning period.

So I walked down to the office with all of my things. I went to the secretary and told her that I was finished for the day, handed her my sub-folder, and asked if there was anywhere else that they needed me. She wasn't sure but she went to go ask the VP. The VP told her that they might need me and asked me to go sit in the teachers lounge next door. So I did that...and then I chatted with another teacher who I happened to go to school with back in the day.

15 or 20 minutes later.... I'm still sitting in there waiting...and thinking, "Gee, if they really NEED me, why am I sitting here?"

So I walked back in to the office....and the secretary says that the VP must have forgot about me. So we walked to her office but the door was closed.... bad news. She was in a meeting with some troublemaker and what appeared to be his grandmother. Great... So now I didn't want to just bail....but I was contemplating it. When I finally got to talk to her, she said that they didn't need me after all. So I left. My last class was over at 1:55 pm. I sat down in my car at 2:50pm. Almost an hour.....sheeeeesh.

I had a terrible headache when I got home...but I went for a jog anyway. I had a feeling it would make me feel better...and I was absolutely right! I only ran about 4 or 4.5 miles.

I got another call at around 6:40 last night. Jesse answered it and wouldn't let me hear what it was. He accepted it and didn't tell me what it was!!

I had to call back to hear where and what I'd be doing. The recording said, "Hurricane High School, 7:45 - 11:32 am," Then it said the teachers name and she said what she teaches... which sounded like a huge mumble. Jesse knew the teacher and knew what she taught the whole time cause he went to school at Hurricane. I'm still not sure what she said on that recording, but she teaches Language Arts to students who are BD or LD and maybe MI.

I was scared to go at first....but it wasn't too bad. I was hoping that she'd be a traveling co-teacher (cause those jobs are cake since theres another teacher in the room!) But...she had her own classroom. There was an aide in the room for the 2nd block....but he slept the whole time!!!
And then when he did wake up he went and got a lunch and ate. Then he took his tray out of the class and never came back.

Luckily the students were very well behaved, especially the 2nd block. After 2nd block, I got to leave! What a short day!

I went over to the valley park and attempted to run after that. It was too hot! Plus, I never run very well over there because of the soft gravel trails and of course the massive hills.

When I got home...I ate some lunch and then did my Jillian DVD again. I'm getting much better at Level 2. My arms used to shake and I used to follow the "beginner" chick. But now, I'm following the "advanced" chick and I'm doing GOOD! So.. I think it may be time to move on to the dreaded Level 3!!!

Now... I am just waiting on the phone to ring and tell me where I'm going to teach tomorrow. I'm pretty sure that I'll get a job for tomorrow since it is Friday! So far though....no calls.

doing nothing...still busy

Lately I haven't been working (because I'm waiting for Putnam Co. to get me set up in their substitute teacher system!) but I still feel like I've been very busy. Its funny but I find more time to blog when I'm working.

So...this week has been fun! I enjoy not working..hahaha.

On Monday... which was Labor Day... We all (Jesse's family) went to Jesse's Mom's house in Charleston..... We had a cook-out and swam in the pool. A bunch of them (not me) took rides on John's 6-wheeler out in the woods. It was a good time.

After that...we all came back to Teays Valley and the boys played baseball at the Valley Park. While that was going on some of the ladies took Luke (Mike & Alyson's dog) over to the Wave Pool for the Annual Dog Swim. It was CRAZY over there! I never would have imagined that SOOOOOO many people would bring their dog to swim in a pool. It was so crowded...there were dogs jumping over the edge....fetching floaty toys...crapping in the shallow end!...it was insane. You couldn't have paid me to get in that water.

On Tuesday.... Jesse and I went to the library and then we hung out with his Mom who was babysitting Caylan at Sarah & Jay's house. On Tuesday night I made (a healthier version of)Broccoli Cheddar Chicken Casserole and a delicious salad. It was all so good, in fact, that we decided to have leftovers on Wednesday night too.

On Wednesday I decided that I wanted to drive to Marshall so I could use their computers. I needed a web publishing program and access to my V-drive. I want to make a website for my new Mural Painting business that I'm calling "Murals By Erin" (Even though its against the acceptable use policy at Marshall to host a business website on their server, Ooops!....its only temporary... I'm going to buy a domain name eventually)

Well, I made a website and it looks really REALLY good ( I think) but when I got home and tried to pull it up the links don't work.

If you are curious...you can view the sites...just realize that the links don't work.

http://users.marshall.edu/~browning28/murals

http://users.marshall.edu/~browning28/murals/abouterin

http://users.marshall.edu/~browing28/murals/murals

http://users.marshall.edu/~browning28/murals/caylansroom

http://users.marshall.edu/~browning28/murals/otherart

I can't wait to get it all up and running. I need some more business!! :) Let me know if anyone wants a MURAL!!












Also.... please notice that I have placed a "Followers" gadget on my blog. Its in the top-ish right hand corner-ish. If you read my blog... click the link, its pretty cool!! Thanks!

Back in WV

So... Friday was a crazy busy day!!

We woke up at 5:30...packed up...got a wonderful cup of coffee and the most delicious lemon-filled doughnut EVER from the breakfast buffet....and then, we were off.

Jesse drove most the way... I drove the last 2 hours.

Then I had to get dressed and put some makeup on and head out the door again for my first teaching job interview. Jesse drove me there. We went down Johns Creek past Hannan so I could see how far it was and what the road was like. It took 25 minutes to get to Hannan...but it took 50 minutes to get to Point Pleasant!! :(

My interview took only 20 minutes.. Afterwards I could have kicked myself because I know I could have done better! Oh well! I really hope that I get the job, but they didn't tell me anything. So, I guess I'll be getting a phone call soon.

On the way back to WV on Friday I called the VP of Huntington High School back. He said, "I owe you a big apology" He said he got really excited and thought that he was going to be able to hire someone young and full of energy and he started calling people and leaving messages. But...when he got to the end of the bid sheets he saw that he had one from a Cabell Co. teacher who was under contract and had 33 years of experience!! OH WELL! I guess that ones out.

I even asked him if the other teacher had left a position open....and he said that she had been teaching something else for the past 33 years. so POO!

On friday night I made pizza and we just hung out and watched the Olympics. We both fell asleep really early on the couch.

This morning... I had breakfast...did my Self; Sculpt Sexy Legs Fast DVD....took a shower... went to the library and got a new DVD, a cookbook and a new James Patterson book. Then Brian and Jessica stopped by ..when they came in Brian made a comment (as he has at least 4 times) about 2 of my prints on the wall being crooked. It made me really upset because he was like "I've been gone for a month and you STILL haven't fixed that." So I was like, "I DO FIX THEM ALL THE TIME, BUT THEY MOVE EVERY TIME YOU HIT THE LIGHT SWITCH OR CLOSE THE OVEN DOOR HARD!!!!!" and I said, "ITS GETTING ANNOYING AND I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT AGAIN!" I was very mean...and I felt bad about it later. Sorry Brian!!..... at least he won't say anything again! hahaha..... I wish I could have said it with a little more tact. ***note to self: work on that*****

After that craziness....we went to Jaiden's 1st Birthday Party at the Valley Park. The boys played tennis...Jessica and I sat and talked. They are going to "adopt" Mike & Alyson's dog, Wilson since they don't want him anymore. I can't wait to hear how that's going.

For the past hour and a half I've been sitting, watching the Olympics and looking up recipes online. My back hurts.