I lost a whole week of January, and it still seemed like it kind of drug along. The first week back was a slow transition into teacher workdays. All of our regularly scheduled meetings and meetings and meetings were cancelled. One of our SPED paras passed away on NYE night. He was such an amazing, wonderful man. Almost our entire campus attended his memorial service.
The next week my partner was sick and then hospitalized. I was going out of my mind because they could not get her body regulated. I was terrified she was going to die.
Then the next week we had MLK day followed by an ice day. Then I was sick with the flu that then turned out not to be the flu but some other unidentified thing. I was out basically the whole week.
I went to my first diabetes class and learned in just my Whataburger meal alone I’m eating 3-4 times the amount of carbs I should be consuming in one meal. Did you know a roll from Texas Roadhouse (or other comparable steakhouse) is TWO of your three allowed carbs?!?! Y’all. I’m gonna die. My entire food group is carbs…and ground beef. Girl likes her hamburgers. I am trying to really watch my portions and also what time I eat. I have three more classes to go to.
I thought I was going to get all my credit card debt paid off this month by transferring my balance to the credit card I have a 5.99% lifetime APR on. NO. That was false. A lie. While I still would have taken advantage of that offer at the time, it did not specify that it was in fact not for my lifetime, but the lifetime of that balance transfer. I was kind of pissed after being so positive and hopeful that I was finally going to get everything squared away, especially since I have to buy tires this month. I was going to use my income tax refund to pay for that and put the rest on my loan payments. That won’t be happening. I do feel a little better though. My laptop will be paid off this summer and I only have about $1800 left on one of my loans, so there will be more money I keep come summertime. I did change up what Plexus Products I am purchasing and dropped the cost by $50. If I still am not seeing improvements by June (1 entire year taking the products), I am going to cancel it all.
I have also been losing my mind over UIL. I’m the coordinator for my school and we had a pitiful turnout this year. So many of our kids didn’t show up to the competition. Next year my school hosts the competition and we brainstormed some ideas to put in place for next year to be better. I am starting to also see small gains with yearbook. We have 6 pages submitted and several almost ready to go. We need to work on some more!
@sissybearla
Average Rating: 4.3
Pages Read: 629
Favorite Book: Saturday at Sweeney’s
November Visits – 1,547 | | December – 1,082 | January – 1,886
Reviews:
The Hiding Place | The Master of Strathburn | Saturdays at Sweeney’s | The Scot Beds His Wife
Bookish & Blogging Posts:
Blogging Goals | 2018 Challenges | My FIVE YEAR Blogoversary & Giveaway | Sexuality in YA | Best Moments in Blogging | Favorite Time to Write Reviews | December Chit Chat | 2017 Year in Review
Personal Posts:
My Bullet Journal 2018 Set Up | Foods Reminding Me of Childhood
I was out of the starting gate at a blast when January started, and then I ran out of steam somewhere around the 15th. I’ll have to kick it up this month.
- Goodreads – 3/50 completed
- Alphabet Soup/A-Z – 3/26 completed
- Audiobook – 0/8 completed
- Bookish Resolutions – Met all blogging goals!
- Bookopoly – 3/24 completed
- Discussion – 1/12 completed
- Full House – 3/25 completed
- Mount TBR – 3/60 completed
- NetGalley – 0/50 completed
- Reading Assignment – A for January
- January BINGO – 6/25 completed
- Winter BINGO – 9/25 completed
- COYER Winter Switch – 7/25 completed
I didn’t make too big of a dent in January like I had hoped, but with UIL now over I am going to crank up the reading!
One of my favorite comfort foods to this day is one from my childhood. I will eat it any time of the year, regardless of weather. Spring, summer, or winter because that’s all we have here in Texas. Beanie weenies were a cheap eat that my mom would make for my brother and me when we lived in the old house. Today, I make it using one can of Van Camp’s Pork and Beans, trying to pull out the little fat chunk, and three to four hot dog weenies (depending on brand and thickness).
One post I read recently was from Beth @ Fueled by Fiction. It was an old post I missed, but she recently mentioned it. The title caught my attention: 
I have tried until I am blue in the face sharing with my students and their parents the many benefits of reading, especially last year. This year is slightly better. When Rachel @ Confessions of a Book Geek posted about 
This next one is actually a blogging tip from Karen @ Kissin Blue Karen. Back in November she shared 
Nereyda @ Nick & Nereyda’s Infinite List shared her
Today I’m excited to celebrate my Five Year Blogoverary! Five years!! Wow!! Where has the time gone?
This was the first Christmas I actually got to spend with The Man. He always flies home to Boston for the month. Our holidays were low-key and simple. He got both of us FitBits and I have been tracking different things, like my sleep and food. I got some other practical gifts, like a fuzzy bathrobe and the pregnancy pillow! No…we are not pregnant. The Man got it in an attempt to better my sleep – and my snoring! I have liked it for the most part. Often I’ll lay in bed at night reading or playing my game before going to bed, and it’s perfect because I have a pillow on each side to support both my arms on and can relax a little more. The Man says he thinks it’s helping with the snoring as it’s been much quieter most nights.
While I only met one of my challenge goals, I did fairly well on several others. I was disappointed I didn’t meet my Goodreads goal this year, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles. I did read a fair number of my holiday reads, and I was impressed with my numbers for NetGalley. I hoped to get to 35 books (and I would have if I’d met my Goodreads goal), but I’ve got a plan for my 2018 challenges in place. I’ll be saying goodbye to the Shelf Love challenge while adding a few new ones that help me focus more on my main goals.
I am SO glad I participated in the Black Friday Book Bonanza Giveaway Hop! I was on the fence about participating, and I am glad I did. I visited every blog participating in the hop giving away items, and I had a SURGE in visits, too. Like, look y’all! I haven’t had more than 1,200 visits since September 2016. It’s amazing – and I hope all the new readers and followers stay around now that the giveaway is over. Hiiiiiii!
Girl of 1000 Wonders 