Super Bowl!

Ok, let's try this again....Apparently in Internet Explorer, my blog shows up all jacked up, but it's fine on Safari and Mozilla. Hmmm. So, I'll try it in Internet Explorer and see if it works for the others...phew.

Like most Americans, I was glued to the TV for over 4 hours last night watching the end of another season of football. I was actually into the game this year, having friends from Wisconsin, so it was exciting to see who would win. Seems that not too many people wanted the Steelers to win, mostly because of their quarterback. I really liked some of the commercials last night, but there was a clear winner for me for best commercial. Here are my top 5 commercials:

5. CareerBuilder- Parking Lot

I mostly liked this one because it made Steve laugh so hard. And being over at his apartment complex, those tiny parking spaces...ugh. I could relate to this one so well!





4. Love Hurts- PepsiMax

Steve and I are always giving each other a hard time about the food we eat. In a loving way, of course. We try to help each other out, so this was funny to me. Especially how hard the woman threw it at the end!




3. Doritos- The Best Part

This was one of the first commercials I saw that I laughed out loud. You totally didn't see the finger part coming! Ahhh so funny. "Mmmmmcheeeeese"




2. Bridgestone- Reply All

HILARIOUS! I think we have all had that "oh crap" moment when we replied all, or even thought we replied to all. Whether it be a big deal, or not, it's still a scary feeling. I personally liked the coffee spillage part.




1. Volkswagon: The Force

This little boy was adorable. It wasn't the funniest, but definitely the cutest! But still funny. They unveiled who the little boy was on the Today Show this morning. He's a cutie! I just loved his mannerisms in this commercial. Easily numero uno to me!



What about you? Was there a commercial I totally left out? Doritos had one other I liked too, but the one I posted was better, in my opinion :) Time to hit the gym today to work off that queso and Super Bowl party deliciousness!

los libros

Oh, I am jumping on one of my resolutions (a month late)- to read more! I'm doing a devotional study with some girlfriends and this is the book we are reading:

I'm only one chapter in, but so far I really like it. The first chapter was about being more Mary, not Martha when it comes to being a hostess. Instead of running around preparing things (like Martha did for Jesus and the disciples), enjoy your company and don't sweat the details. A lot of times I take things personally when people cancel with things I've helped put together, or get stressed to make sure all the little things are ready, but really I should just relax and sit back and laugh! Enjoy the times I have with the girls, and the moments I get to see Steve. But most of all, when I'm home in SA, to enjoy the time I have with my parents now. Like Mary and Martha, they had no idea that Jesus was going to die, and I don't know how much longer I am going to be able to enjoy time with my parents. I also had a desire to call my Dad after the last episode of How I Met Your Mother. If you watch the show, you know what I mean!

A "fun" book I juuust started reading (barely through the first chapter) is a Jodi Picoult book called House Rules. Jodi is one of my favorite authors, so I'm hoping this is another good one! It's about a boy with autism who has the ability to help solves murders, but then he is framed for one of the murders. Sounds crazy, but leave it to Jodi to make it a great story (and I'm sure a tear jerker!) She has also written books like My Sister's Keeper and Nineteen Minutes!

I'll let you know how they turn out!

brrr!!

it is very, very cold here in tejas! things still haven't been decided on the job front, but other things are going great! steven has done an AMAZING job of getting my mind off of things.

friday night we stayed at the brand spankin' new W hotel in downtown austin. snazzy snazzy.

then we dropped by the jewelry store (for my first time ever!) and picked up these gorgeous beauties! i am so in love with them. the earrings are a bit different, but you get the idea! i am so lucky :)

i have a really big week ahead but some things i am looking forward to:

* the super bowl! love time with friends and good commercials!

* valentine's day! (i am still accepting ideas for presents for steven! something original)

* bunco! love time with my girls.

* relaxing/chill girls' weekend with some of my best friends!

have a blessed week- stay warm and safe! i hope austin gets some snow friday!!! 

gimme a job?

hi friends,
it's been a weird week around school, that's for sure. on monday night at midnight, the board voted to fire about 55 teaching/librarian/assistant jobs for the next school year. still on the table- closing about 9 (now 12) school in addition. originally, i thought it was one or the other and i would have been safe is they had decided to fire teachers (well, not safe, but more safe) however, that is not the case. it's a waiting game, and i dont like playing it! they will bring up more proposals in the march board meeting (seems like an eternity away) and probably won't vote on anything (i'm assuming) until may or june. in the meantime, around february or march i will start looking for other jobs, just in case. problem is...so are 1000 other educators. guess i need to find another trade for the next 10 years. anybody have any hook up in any industry? all i need is a chance...

or maybe this is my sign to go overseas? god help the usa if they are resorting to cutting education before other industries like sports or entertainment. sigh....
:/

umm, i love you, but....who cares?

so, don't get me wrong. i  love me some O... however, she is a little full of herself, no? last week was the first time i heard about this "announcement" she "needed" to make about a "big" family secret. already, i don't care.

so her "big" family secret came out today, which you can read about here. so if i found out today that i had a half sister, i would one, be pissed at my parents for not telling me, and two..get to know this girl. i feel like this is all a big hoopla in order for people to watch her show and tune into her new network. maybe patricia will get her OWN show on the OWN? fancy that. all i know it i saw this as breaking news on my computer and i just rolled my eyes. there are so many far more important things going on in the world...oprah needs to stop seeking attention and use her fame for more good. i dont think many people actually care about this, am i wrong?

it's a big day

today is a big day...the school board meeting tonight. i won't/can't go into too  much detail because it's all hearsay anyway...but there's a possibility that i, amongst many others, can lose their job in austin isd. rick perry wants a huge grunt of the budget cuts to come from education, why he does, is no clue to me. therefore, our district needs to cut about $113 MILLION. that's a huge chunk of change. there's a possibility about 300 teachers could lose their jobs. there's a possibility that 9 schools- from low performing to exemplary schools,- will close. it's a very tough and difficult time, and some decisions will be made tonight. i'm so glad i will have about 10 girls over at the apartment "watching" the bachelor (i will stream the board meeting from my laptop) so if it's good news, we can celebrate, and if it's b ad news, i'll have someone to console me! i never thought, when i was getting into education, that we would be as affected as other careers from the economy. education is supposed to never go away. i was joking to steve that his program at dell will need to only recruit from people outside of texas, because our future generation of students in texas are not going to have the same options and opportunities that we had. i know kids will still succeed. i know kids will still fail. our standards for ncbl won't change, but the classrooms sizes will be bigger, the support will be smaller. it should be an interesting time, that's for sure. i mean, it only makes sense to cut the most underappreciated, lowest paid job for your children...and pay coaches millions of dollars. makes sense....

on a happy note, the bachelor IS tonight (wine will be a'flowin'), and it shall be fun. i get to see neary's baby girl tomorrow, and laura's dress on wednesday! life is good. even when politicians are not :)

enjoy the day!

recommendation of the day: menage a trois wine- the red or white. steve and my favorite wines (him red, me white). we go through pretty much a bottle a week or two. don't judge. try it out :)

any other wine suggestions are welcomed as well :)

imma nerd.

i just spent a couple hours working on my blog with steven. he didn't even know i had a blog! it was actually very fulfilling, but now i realize that i have a ton of work to do for work tomorrow. great weekend behind, great week ahead. bring it on, monday! i will welcome you early for i have not prepared much at all :)

recommendation of the week: beef cerveza fajitas at polvo's on south 1st street. to.die.for.

tough times for education

...a letter from our superintendent....

Dear AISD Colleagues:

I wanted to inform you as quickly as possible about where we are on creating an
administrative recommendation to close the Fiscal Year 2012 Budget gap,
against the devastating consequences that the proposed State Spending Bill,
made public this week by the House Appropriations Committee, would have on
the operations of the Austin School District. As you may have heard, public
education in Texas will bear the major brunt of the reductions in the proposed
two-year spending bill, which could reach as high as $10 billion. Foundation
School funding, and virtually every grant program to assist public schools, as
administered by the Texas Education Agency, is proposed for significant cuts, if
not complete elimination.
While districts across the state have been preparing for significant state budget
cuts, well-respected education consultant Lynn Moak says the proposed state
reductions are roughly two to three times more significant than what most Texas
school districts were preparing to handle. Mr. Moak was quoted in the Quorum
Report as saying of the House leadership’s proposed budget, “They had a 60-
year commitment to public education, and by not funding at the minimum, at the
base formulas, they’ve failed to meet that commitment. We’ve never done that.
We didn’t do that in 2003 when they had a $10 billion funding crisis. That’s what
makes this crisis different for public education.”
Based upon our preliminary analysis of the House’s spending proposal, AISD’s
budget crisis has become significantly more challenging. No longer are we
looking at a deficit of $54 million, or even $90 million, which some once thought
was highly exaggerated. Based upon the proposed state funding cuts, it now
appears that AISD must achieve reductions of approximately $113 million, to
balance spending with available revenue for School Year 2011-2012. Our
analysis shows that it is unlikely that AISD will be able to absorb all of these
costs in one year. Therefore, we are working to spread the reductions out over
two years, whenever possible.
In the past two years, we have cut $27 million from the Central Office budget, by
eliminating more than 100 positions and enacting a hiring freeze; restricting travel
and curtailing operating expenses; eliminating paper pay checks; moving towards
self-insurance; and undertaking other cost-savings measures. We also have
plans for Central Office to operate on a 10-hour/four-day work week in July to
save on energy costs, and other operational expenses.
Based upon the well-attended series of Employee and Community Forums that
the District held in the latter part of 2010, on-line parent and staff surveys, and
other outreach, we were able to achieve some agreement on additional budget
cuts totaling nearly $25 million for SY 2011-2012. We have just received the
results of a staffing review that we worked on with the Texas Association of
School Boards, identifying areas of campus and administrative operations where
the District is over-staffed and understaffed, as compared with peer districts and
state averages. Those TASB staffing guidelines can produce savings of $4-6
million.
The Administration is proposing that the District’s Fund Balance be reduced by at
least $15 million to help off-set the impact of these additional cuts. Still, very
difficult days are ahead. School closures are still being reviewed. Positions will
be terminated. Programs will be cut, or eliminated. All of this is discouraging, but
as hard as it is, we must remain focused and committed to our main
objective—keeping our classroom instruction strong, and helping our students
succeed.
On Monday, January 24, the AISD Board of Trustees will approve the staffing
formulas that are necessary to allocate personnel to individual campuses. The
recommended staffing formulas will be based upon feedback from our
stakeholder and the findings of the TASB review, as well as the changes to
classroom curriculum and course offerings that will be necessary for AISD to
balance its budget. I encourage you to watch the Board Meeting, beginning at 7
p.m., either on AISD-TV, Channel 22, or the AISD Website at
http://www.austinisd.org
In closing, let me thank you, again, for your dedication to Austin students. While
you continue your daily focus on educating Austin students, the Administration
and Board of Trustees remain committed to considering every option available on
minimizing the impact of these budget cuts on classrooms and staff. I will
continue to keep you apprised of significant developments, as we proceed
through these very difficult times.

Sincerely,
Meria Carstarphen

:(

Eeeek!!!!

OhmyGOD! So ready for the weekend!!! I have the next couple days off for textbook meetings (sounds boring, but they are actually really fun!), then Friday is the Girl Talk concert, and Saturday...the day has come...finally...for the first time in my adult life....I GET TO SEE MICHAEL PHELPS SWIM!! Pending he doesn't get in trouble with the law before then, but still. If you know me at ALL, you know this is huge, and momentous and akjdhflakjdhflkajhdfa!!!! I don't plan on meeting him, buuuuuuuuuuuuut just sayin'...there's a chaaaance.

 Oh yeah, Ryan Lochte will be there too! He's a wonderful swimmer, just really obnoxious. I can't wait to see all the former and current Olympians compete. Should be a GREAT night!

Ready for the Cizzle Bizzle!

That means Cotton Bowl, duuuuuhhhhh.

So excited for the game tomorrow night! I can't decide if I want to watch it with a group of people (mainly non Aggies) or watch it alone haha. I'm very particular about my surroundings and I don't want distractions/haters around!

I hope, hope, pray, pray, wish, wish we WIN!

This is the only (and most recent) blog where I see we are predicted to win. Doesn't matter what people think- 12th man is (hopefully) going to show up!

Gig 'em :)