Several Things In No Particular Order

CONGRATULATIONS to my cousin who got engaged on Friday. By the way, cuz, in the rare case that you may have not known, Friday was officially "Pi" day: 3.14! Isn't his fiance' lucky? He's such a kind, and good person. His inside matches his outside. Same is true with the bride! And, doesn't Grandma look so pretty, too?! Hopefully I'll get a picture of the couple together to share soon.

You kind readers may remember about a year ago when I so proudly posted pictures of our new entertainment center. I mentioned that the hole for the TV was a little too big for our current TV. Remember?....

We moved up in the world a little today...

This TV is a much better fit for the hole. We're really excited about it.

(We put in "Blades of Glory". Very funny movie, by the way.)

Here I am with Rollei, enjoying the big picture!

I just think this is funny. Rollei hangs out of his bed about half the time.

This is our Spring Break week. We're glad to have a much-needed break to relax. My sister's family is visiting, so I'm glad to have some time to hang out with them. Todd has several photo settings this week, also.

Hope you all are having a great week!

Second Place

I am not competitive.

We had a chili cook-off at school on Friday. Participation was "optional," but if everyone on their team participated, then everyone on the team would be allowed to wear jeans for the whole week before Spring Break. For those of you who don't know, allowing teachers to wear jeans is HUGE. So, my participation was a little forced.

Thursday evening, I went to Wal-Mart and bought all the meat and supplies I needed for the great chili cook-off. Todd came with me. We like to shop together. We busted our budget on stuff that night. We finally got home, then around 9:30, I started to cook.

As I browned the meat, I realized that I hadn't bought any tomato sauce! Neither Todd or I was willing to go out and buy tomato sauce, so I had to deal. I had 1 can of pre-seasoned tomatoes for chili, which also called for the addition of 1 can of tomato sauce. I used a can of petite diced tomatoes instead. I sprinkled in a little garlic powder and cumin.

To make this already too long story short, I won 2nd place in the competition. The kids loved the chili. Of course, the room was nasty from them eating in it (Breakfast in my room starts tomorrow and I'm thrilled!). As they announced the winners, the kids SCREAMED and ran to hug me all at once. I tripped and almost fell with all the kids attached to me.

One of my students was Principal for the Day because he reached "Star Level" with Reading Counts. He promptly brought me my prize ($15 for Saltgrass Steakhouse). Then one of my girls found her Perfect Attendance ribbon and gave it to me. She said, "Mrs. K, I'm so proud of you! You make really good chili."

Oh, and Rollei must have been really hungry Friday, too. He stole my new small loaf of white bread off of the counter and ate 3/4 of the loaf! He looked a little tubby.

Have a great week!