Daily life » Hip to be Mom

I’m done with classes. I can’t believe today went that quick. It’s such a relief but I will miss my students for sure. Some came up to shake my hand. Some said they hope I’ll be teaching them next semester. A few said they wanted to take me to try the food from their country.

I really enjoyed this bunch of kids. Well, technically not all of them were teens, I had students in their 20s and 30s. Just some really nice people to work with and a few naughty ones too but I will miss them just the same.

Anyhow I came home, dropped off my bags and took the girls straight out to lunch…

… at Nando’s, one of our favorite places where we even have a table we call our own. We haven’t been there in like months. Love their grilled vegetables and peri� wedges.

What the girls and I really enjoy is the luxury of just sitting back and having a leisurely conversation over an unhurried lunch. This is probably the best time of the year for us to be able to do that. The holiday season is truly just that for us, the holidays where the girls are completely free from anything to do with school and homework.

I’ve never ever signed them up for any holiday classes or school camps of any sort. Come on, don’t be ridiculous, I would never do that to my kids ! The holidays are for kids to be themselves, to hang out, to do the stuff they’re too busy to do during the school year, and to pursue new interests if they so choose.

Such as canine psychology which Skye is so into these days, and exploring fashion and nail art which is Raine’s area. As for me, I’m giving my girls baking lessons at home even though I’ve never attended a single baking class myself, ho ho ho! Stay tuned for where we went after lunch.

Since I took on my teaching gig, my gym time has suffered. a. lot. Initially I thought I’d still be able to squeeze in one or two mornings a week. Turns out that between my class schedule and Raine’s, and all my class prep work and her assignments, midterms and finals, there hasn’t even been time for me to cook a proper lunch some days.

That’s not to say we haven’t been eating though. Me and the girls have been baking up a storm. Baking is therapy for stress but bad news for the waistline, and ours have expanded as a result of gobbling cheesecake (so good, so good!), blueberry cream cheese muffins (not so much) and biscotti (so addictive it’s hard to stop at one).

I do need to get my butt out of this chair and to the gym because I’m starting to feel like a deflated helium balloon. It’s not so much the guilt of eating those goodies. Let’s be honest here, it’s the holidays, right? and how often do I even eat cookies and cake – hardly ever, right ? Yeah, but the truth is I hate feeling lazy and lethargic more.

The good news is I have just 2 more classes this week and I’m done, well, except for grading the finals! Which means I’ll have all the time to go back to my beloved routine of working out and not having to rush around with my wet washed hair afterwards. Even Tyson, our beagle, has been looking at me lately with a tilted head like, gosh Mom, what the heck is up with that crazy hair-do?!!

Since I featured some gift ideas and stocking stuffers for the girls earlier (and some of you moms said you wouldn’t mind receiving some of those funky items yourself), I decided I didn’t want to leave out the guys. So I went window-shopping again and picked out a few items, which if I were a guy (or a tomboy ), I would love to receive.

Spicoli 4 Shades
I like that these are shaped like the Rayban Wayfarer.

Bolted Wallet
Love the clean lines on this wallet. Such a nice change from the regular old leather wallet.

Switch Blade Keychain
Practical functionality, what’s not to love?

Jibby Fedora, Men
Reminds me of Johnny Depp .

Gudauskas Brothers E-Street, Men
My teens are big fans of Vans super-cool 2-tone shoes.

Vans has some pretty cool stuff and my teens love their wallets, T-shirts and of course, their shoes. Now you can receive a Free $15 eGift Certificate and Free FedEx 2-Day shipping on orders of $75 or more at Vans. Be sure to use the code – THEBLOCK – at checkout. Offer ends December 16, 2011.

Need a break

Posted by Clairity Comments Off

Dec 092011

Whew, glad the weekend is here. It’s been an incredibly crazy week in the Hip household.

Raine is smack in the middle of her finals AND trying to plan her schedule for next semester.
Is this National Sign-up Week or what? Entirely too many things to sign up for, none of them free!
We shifted office at work temporarily due to remodeling. Now my desk is reduced to 3 files sitting at the corner of someone’s desk.
Skye and I baked a lovely blueberry cheesecake but we had a biscotti disaster. Lesson learnt: Don’t bake if you can’t focus on measuring ingredients.
I’ve been feeding my students lots of candy. I need a sugar fix but decided, better them than me!
Someone please remind me to pick out Christmas cards for Steev’s roomie’s parents and uncle, and make guacamole before my avocados go bad.
At least my phone did me a favor and died again. I’m in no mood to take calls.

The girls and I’ve been doing a ton of baking lately. Blueberry cheesecake, holiday biscotti, chocolate chip cookies. I have an electric mixer but I wanted to give my arms a good workout. Look what happened…

My Thanksgiving chickey (yeah, we decided to “pardon” the turkey) is in the oven. And my roast potatoes, carrots and celery. I’m doing a Roast Chickey Rosemary this year and it’s sizzling beautifully as we speak. Woohoo, can’t wait to get into that cranberry sauce.

So while waiting, let me just say I am thankful for my teaching gig which requires me to work only 3 days a week, 4 hours a day. It’s a schedule made in heaven because it still gives me time for gym and my mommy taxi runs. And I love my bunch of international ‘kids’ who make my job so much fun it seems even less of a job.

I’m grateful for my kids, great memories, love and the fun we have. I’m thankful for my blog commenters and readers, my followers and my tweeps. So let the holidays begin. Happy Thanksgiving, happy holidays and may your shopping cart be delightfully full this Black Friday. If you’re shopping from home (like me), you might want to check these out.