My brain is farting out on me. I need some different ways to describe someone smiling. I’ve got grinned, corners tugged upward, you know, the basics, but I feel like I’m getting redundant and using a lot of cliches. I’m on my first draft, so I’m not stressing about it right now, but I’d love to hear some ideas of how to describe a smiling person!
Archive for November, 2009
i smiled
November 15, 2009so what do you think?
November 13, 2009Yesterday’s comments made me wonder what other’s think about this subject:
Is it good to see kids reading period or is it the quality of what they are reading that matters?
my name is amanda and i’m a twilight fan
November 12, 2009Ok, I know a bunch of you AW peeps will want to throw stones at me, but I can’t help it. I’m not apologizing either! K?!
I love it. Love the books, love the movie, love it, love it, love it. In one week, a big group of teachers and I will be going to the movie at midnight and I can’t WAIT! I guess this all goes back to being a 13 year old at heart, but I’m just so excited!
But whether you like the books or not, you have to admit it is nice to see kids and adolescents reading again. It seems as if Harry Potter really got it jumpstarted for this generation, but I’ve noticed my students attacking the library when we go in and I have a constant stream of students wanting to go. When I pulled all of my books out of storage last week, the kids couldn’t get out of the boxes! They were sneaking out of their seats just to dig through what I brought! It actually made me tear up in the middle of the classroom like a big ol’ dork.
Anyway…I can’t wait for next week. Go Team Edward. ;)
golden apple
November 11, 2009
He called me a stupid, smelly, donkey butt!
Gosh, they’ve gotten creative. ;)
vintage – first chapter
November 10, 2009So, I decided it would be good to put my first chapter out there for people to see, but I wanted it password protected so that random Joe’s couldn’t read it because…well…I just did. Plus, I found the nifty password feature on my blog and wanted to use it. Got a problem with it? Huh? Huh? Do ya?
Anywho, if you are interested in reading it, just comment with your e-mail address or e-mail me (amanda[at]amandaplavich[dot]com) and I’ll send you the password.
decide my future
November 9, 2009So, I’m really stressed out. I’m working on my master’s degree (to be done this coming summer) and the doctorate program at UTC is currently accepting applications for the fall. My husband is really pushing me to go for it, but I just don’t know. I’m a teacher, so education is really the only way to up my salary. So, I’m going to list my pros and cons and you can decide my future for me (purely for entertainment purposes…I actually can make decisions for myself…I think…what do you think?)
Pros:
More $$$
I will be able to make my husband refer to me as Dr.
More $$$
Obviously, the knowledge would be greatly beneficial.
Opens me up to a variety of administrative options
More $$$
I will be making doctorate pay by the time I am in my early thirties
Cons:
Costs $$$$ (I do get in-state tuition, even though I don’t live in Tennessee)
Time consuming
We are planning on adding #2 to the family and maybe #3 during the course of the program
I heard through the grapevine that if I am not in a leadership position, I won’t get the salary increase.
Opens me up to a variety of administrative options, but do I want them?
I’m afraid it will hurt me in getting a job if we end up moving some day (yes, I know, teaching is really weird like that…it’s all about the budget)
I don’t know…some days I’m all, “Yes! I’m going to go for it! However, most days, I’m like, “No, I don’t want to do this for the next 3-6 years.” Ugh, so what would you do if you were me?
I took my poll down because I made a decision. I’m going to get my Ed.S. degree and I can use those credit hours toward a doctorate if I decide to get one (but I have to do it through the same school, but it’s no biggie). Yay for decision making!
hallo, deutschland!
November 9, 2009The Berlin Wall fell 20 years ago this week, and hearing about it made me reminisce about 2007-2008. We spent most of my son’s first year of life living in Germany. My husband played professional basketball there and, though I was horribly homesick, it was one of the best experiences of my life.
Living in a foreign country is totally different than visiting. Simple activities such as going to the grocery store were an adventure. It was so neat to see the different brands, recipes, foods, etc. and to try things you wouldn’t normally. We would pop into random restaurants just to see what it was like and the people were so welcoming and friendly! We would try to speak our craptacular German, but people were so willing to help us and speak English when they could.
You could drive down the road (while driving 100 mph) and see castles. I so don’t get to do that on I-75 cruising through Atlanta. We could hop in the car and be in Berlin, Dresden, Prague, etc. in just a few hours. We took a few long week ends and spent them in Prague. I mean, really? Who gets to do that? I drive 4 hours from my hometown and I wind up in Tuscaloosa, AL. Not knocking Alabama, but…
Anyway, a few pictures! < — this experience is what also prompted me to learn about photography…my pictures just didn’t capture how cool it was in person
Random Germany Pictures
What happens when you realize that 24-hour (and open on Sunday) Wal-marts don’t exist in Germany and THEN you realize they have a holiday called Man Day and everything is closed Monday, too. I have to say…it worked pretty well! Nothing like a maxi pad, burp cloth, and athletic tape. Yep.
R.I.P. Lavelle Felton :(
kick bootie target day
November 8, 2009So, I decided to try and get some Christmas shopping done. I’m usually awful and it sneaks up on me. So, I took my coupons and headed to Target today. Woot-woot!
I’m making reading the theme this year for my son, apparently. He’s two (and adorable) and loves letters, numbers, colors, etc. Here is what I picked up:
Tag Jr. (On sale for $28.99 – $15 off with my coupons) and two books ($10.99 each – $3 off each with coupons)
Then I got him this Leap Frog Fridge Phonics thing. He loves his magnet letters and this plays a little song with each letter he sticks into it. It’s pretty cool! (no coupons, but it comes with a free Tag Jr. book, so it’s kind of like a coupon, I guess):
I also picked up his Christmas Eve pajamas, so I’m doing pretty good! I’ll get a few more little things and more stocking stuffers (I got some wooden planes in the $1 bin, too). But yay! Christmas progress!
Oh, and I changed my mind today. I don’t think I’m going to get the MacBookPro anymore. Instead, I’m going to get the giant monitor desktop Mac thing (I’m very technical). I realized that portability really isn’t a big deal and the big monitor, extra memory, cheaper cost, etc. just made more sense. So, when I finally find a place to put it, I’m pretty sure this is what I’m getting:
It’s going to be so AWESOME for editing pictures!
my writers survival list
November 7, 2009The Absolute Write November Blog Chain theme this month is to list your writers survival kit, of sorts. Benjamin Solah passed it to me and so, here goes it!
Ok, let’s talk about the first thing: a computer.
Mine is dead and I haven’t had time to buy a new one, yet. This has seriously hampered my writing, as you can imagine. Mine meeting it’s beverage death couldn’t have come at a worse time, so I’m majorly behind in my NaNo manuscript. I’ve been bringing my school lap top home when I can, but it is still different than having your own. So…yeah. A computer.
Second: time.
This one has also been tough for me. I wear many hats (teacher, photographer, mom, writer, superstar), so time is limited. I’ve tried to
set aside the time after little man goes to sleep, but I get up every morning at 5:30 and have been falling asleep around 10:00 pm as a result. That doesn’t really leave me much of a writing window. I forced myself to stay up late last night and was finally able to make some good progress, so I think I’m going to have to just make myself sleep deprived for the rest of November if I want a prayer of winning. We’ll see!
Now for the thing that I have a lot of: support.
I’m very lucky that my husband is supportive of my exploring this new venture. He’s known I’ve enjoyed writing as long as we’ve been together and he’s pretty proud of what I’m creating. I think everyone needs at least one cheerleader in their life if they are going to try their hand at this. Thankfully, I have quite a few cheerleaders that keep me going when I feel like a giant dork and want to quit. I think anyone reading this can relate to that moment where you tell yourself, “You suck, you need to quit.” Having people in your corner to keep you going is pretty much essential.
Lastly: food.
I’m a snacker when I write. I love having a plate of chips and dip, a bowl of popcorn, whatever beside me while I write. Now, this may not be so great for the waistline, but whatever. It keeps me happy!
Next up is: Angyl78
1. DavidZahir – http://zahirblue.blogspot.com/
2. shethinkstoomuch – http://shethinkstoomuch.wordpress.com
3. Lost Wanderer – http://lostwanderer5.blogspot.com/
4. aimeelaine – http://www.aimeelaine.com/
5. Ravencorinncarluk – http://raven.youareannoying.us/
6. Bsolah – http://www.benjaminsolah.com/blog/
7. Charlotte49ers – http://www.amandaplavich.com/
8. Angyl78 – http://jelyzabeth.wordpress.com/
9. truelyana – http://expressiveworld.com/
10. Claire Crossdale – http://theromanticqueryletter.blogspot.com/
sour cream soup
November 3, 2009This is a recipe from my husband’s family in Croatia. I asked for tips and was told not to substitute low-fat options. Like Paula Deen says, “I’m your cook, not your doctor.”
SOUR CREAM SOUP
2 sticks butter
2 large onions
(Sautee)
Add:
3-4 chicken breasts (bone-in, with skin)
2 cups water and salt/pepper to taste
(Simmer covered for one hour)
Add 4-5 potatoes sliced crosswise over chicken plus an additional cup of water
(Simmer for 30 minutes)
Remove chicken and potatoes from broth. Set broth aside. Remove chicken meat and discard bones.
Blend two cups sour cream and two cups milk.
(***important*** stick sour cream and milk into microwave and knock the chill off; then add a little bit of broth in at a time in the bowl – you are basically bringing the mixture to the temperature of the broth - if you just dump it into the broth, it will curdle)
Mix into broth slowly while simmering.
Add 4 tbs. vinegar to broth.
Add potatoes and chicken back into broth and heat through.
This is one of my husband’s favorite foods and something I’m sure we will pass down for generations. :-)
