Neighbors

So....

The same neighbors (who rent out their property to the lady who let her dog crap all over our yard) also have a huge driveway (it's completely paved between their two houses) that they plow. Into our yard. It is illegal to plow across a street but they do it every time it snows - and leave us a giant snow pile that doesn't melt until July. And last year they plowed our back "driveway" which left a pile of yard in the middle of the lawn that also got plowed. We think they think that if they plow our "driveway" (which we don't use) it makes it okay for them to plow all of their snow into our yard. Well this year the van is parked in the back because it is out of commission. So they plowed their snow halfway across our yard!! It is pretty much in line with our house. (There's at least 40' from our house to the street.) We are kind of appalled. So - what do we do?!

In other news - it is a snow day, which means I get to stay home and play with Charlie all day!!!!

AND. This is my 300th post.

Snow Day!

Hillcrest hasn't had a snow day since I started working/student teaching. (January 2010) And probably long before that.

The weather here has been snowy and COLD for the last few weeks, and everyone was hoping for school to be cancelled, but it never was.

So this morning I got up, bundled up for the -16 weather, and headed to school. I had lots of stuff to do, so I got there early - as has become the usual. I had been there for about 45 minutes when Chad called me to tell me that the internet was saying school was cancelled in our district. It was still early enough that no one else would be at school yet, so I didn't know. He called the district office to make sure and then, "COME HOME! IT'S A SNOW DAY!!!"

I didn't think it was possible, but I think snow days are even more exciting when you're a teacher than when you're a student. The best part was that I had a bunch of stuff to do for finals/new semester starting/Gem State Honor Band (which I got put in charge of) - so I stayed at work with the heat pumping (why is the heat on if school is cancelled? I don't know, but I'm glad it was!) and worked. I got home just at lunch time, having put in 5 hours of work and finishing 99% of the stuff I had to do. And then I got to spend the afternoon snuggling Charlie and running errands. It was grand.

And since I finished so much work at school, I now have an evening to do pretty much whatever I want. Jeopardy! here I come!

I need to be going to bed soon since I have to get up early tomorrow to go back to school.

Things I will miss about being at home all day:
1. Charlie, Chad and Lady
2. Eating whenever I want
3. Using the bathroom whenever I want

I really hate timing my bladder to the school bells. It was worse when I was pregnant, but it's still pretty annoying now to have to wait until my lunch hour and then elbow my way through the crowded hallways and still try to get back with enough time to eat lunch.

Also -
Charlie had his first birthday at the beginning of December. Yay Charlie! (Pictures hopefully coming later)

Some quick notes about Charlie
1. As of then, he had 6 teeth. Now he has 7.
2. Charlie was just beginning to walk around the time of his birthday. As of the 23rd, he decided he was ready to dive in. Last week he spent a lot of time walking and now he's almost a pro. He's probably 75% walking and 25% crawling around the house. He has learned how to stand back up when he falls down.
3. Along those lines, Charlie got his first pair of bona fide shoes over the Christmas break. $6 at Ross. Can't complain.
4. Charlie loves playing with Lady and all of the cool new toys he got for his birthday and Christmas.
5. Charlie loves to say "Bop" and then giggle like it's the punchline to a really funny joke. When he wakes up in the morning, he rolls over, sits up, purses his lips, and after a sufficiently pregnant pause, lets out a "Bop" then scrunches up his nose and giggles. Good morning to you, Charlie!
6. He loves bananas. Eats them 2 at a time.
7. Is big and strong. The doctor says he is perfect physically. And he commented that he seems to be a happy guy and "I'm not just saying that - he seems to have a really good personality." Aww. Well, I think so, but I'm kind of biased.
8. Charlie is a happy boy. If you smile at him you will pretty much always get a smile back. Makes him a hit with the ladies. (And the babysitters!)
9. Falls asleep on his own in his crib at about 8:30 after stories, song and prayer.
10. In the last week has started waking up multiple times a night again. This development is not pleasant. Two nights ago I woke up in a puddle of water that leaked out of his bottle. Last night he came into our bed and I woke up at 6:00 in a puddle of pee after trying to get him to sleep for about 2 hours before that.
11. Charlie spends his days emptying boxes that hold his toys and winter hats/gloves. He also clears out the bookshelf that holds his books. We wonder if he wakes up and goes "Every day I move these off of here, why do you keep putting them back?! That is NOT where they go!!" If he can get into the kitchen, he pulls out the mixing bowls, and all of the pots and pans. He gets in the drawer and pulls out the ziploc bags and the saran wrap. This is not so bad because, if you'll remember, we trained the dog to close kitchen cabinets and drawers. So Charlie goes and opens them, and Lady comes running to push them shut. I knew that trick would come in handy...
12. He is in mostly 18 month onesies at the moment, but some of the 18 month sleepers are too small. Luckily mom and Mollie sent 2T/24m reinforcements. 12 month pants are fine for now. But we bought him an adorable overall set for Christmas, and we should've brought it back for a bigger size because he's only worn it twice and it's pretty tight around his bum.

Alright, that's as much of an update as I can provide at the moment. Christmas will have to come later. Time to get ready for school and get to bed.

Happy New Year! (My first post of 2013! Woo!)