Blogworthy, Nonetheless

I haven't blogged a whole lot this month. But here are some things that have happened that have been blogworthy even if they haven't gotten their own entry:

- I got power nails! I got them for my parent-teacher conferences, and I got a free appetizer and a discount at Chili's on girls' night, and then I didn't have any bad parent teacher conferences, so I guess they did their job.

- And speaking of that free food at Chili's and parent teacher conferences, I would also just like to announce that my PTA fed us dinner both nights of conferences. And you know that made it all worth it to me. 

- McKen Doll and I went to our ward's FHE for the sole purpose of feeding ourselves, because we heard there would be pizza there. There was, and for some reason, it was the best pizza I have ever inhaled. (Because that's absolutely what I did with it.) At first I got two slices, because I was thinking I would eat one and save the other one for my lunch the next day. But then I accidentally ate both of them.


- And then Kenna and I accidentally each took two more slices on our way out the door.

- There was also that one time when I was so exhausted when I got home, so I was taking a nap, and then my roommate woke me up to tell me that there was free Zupa's at the clubhouse (?!?!?!) so I zombied my way over to the clubhouse and helped myself.

- I got some presents for the ladies I teach with. As a true daughter of my mother, I gave them all nail polish and toe separators with a tag that said "You have "nailed" teaching! It's great to work with you. Thanks for helping me "polish" my teaching!"


- One of the nail polishes was a really great color. So I accidentally painted my nails with it.


- And then the next day at school, I accidentally improved on my manicure by putting glitter on some of my nails. While I was at school. And while my kids were also at school with me.

- Then this boy saw my nails and, remembering when I had power nails the time before, said "That's so much power in your nails!"


- There was that one day (yesterday) when my desk looked like this:

And that was justttt fine.

- We had our Christmas party in class, and the room moms who put it all together threw away all the leftover frosting. I'm talking like, 5 containers that were still halfway full. So I pulled them out of the trashcan and then this conversation happened:


Student: Miss Connor, what are you doing?
Me: Hmmm? Oh I'm.....there are box tops of these.
S: Oh! We need to cut those off!
Me: Yeah! Can I borrow your scissors?


After I had cut them all off....


Student: Now you're going to throw them back away?
Me: What? These don't go in the trash.
S: Oh....I thought they were thrown away.
Me: Oh, no! Look how much is left. There's still a ton.


And you better believe I am keeping those.

- Also can I just say that the room moms in charge brought in sugar cookies and root beer floats for the snack after we were done making the gingerbread houses. I was so nervous, you guys. I just thought, "There is no way that my children are going to listen to a word I say for the rest of the day." But I was wrong! They did. I just love my kids so much. They are the nicest little class and I never want them to go to 3rd grade.

- I got an email from my principal. She informed me (and the rest of the teachers) that there are some mice in our school. In the first grade hallway, to be exact. I was pretty on edge after I heard that....and this poster in the front office only made me feel a little bit better:

- I went to my ward's talent show. It was.....something else. I mean wow.

- My school does something called "Battle of the Books" every year," where you read about 5 books and then you have the chance to sit on stage and do sort of a game show thing with buzzers and questions about the books. Anyway, to kick it off, they had 5 teachers participate and show how it's done. The announcer lady said: "Okay! So whoever wins is going to be crowned the queen of the book challenge! And she will receive a crown and a cake!"

My head snapped up. "What??" I whispered to my intern friend. "The winner gets a cake? I didn't know that! I might have participated if I had known I could get a cake!" She kind of just gave me a weird smile and we went back to watching the battle.


In the end, I watched with envy as they placed the crown on Melissa's head....then with confusion as they draped the cape around her shoulders. No one came forward with a cake. At this point it occurred to me that maybe, the winner gets a crown and a CAPE, and maybe I might have to work on my listening skills.


- The North Pole wrote a letter to my class.

I told my kids that if they were super-duper good, we could probably help Santa out. Sorry if you think this was a little manipulative of me....but it worked pretty well :)

- I lost my voice. Teaching is greattt when you have no voice. This conversation happened:

Student: Miss Connor! One time, I lost my voice.
Me: Oh yeah? Where did it go?
S: I think my stomach? Actually no. It went on vacation.
Me: Well how long was it on vacation for?
S: Like, a week.
Me: A week!? I can't wait a week for my voice to come back!
S: Maybe it will come back sooner. Like, maybe your voice can't afford as nice as of a vacation as my voice did.


- After I lost my voice, I went to this Christmas singalong thing that Larry H. Miller does every year up in Salt Lake. It was sooo cool! I just felt a little depressed that I couldn't sing along.

- That depression was alleviated because someone handed me a donut right when I walked in.

- I got lost on my way home from Walmart.

- Then, the next day, I got lost on my way home from the payroll office. Where I happened to be because apparently I never got paid in September! So I had to go and pick up my check. You know that's a merry Christmas. 


- The Jew came to town for a day! She helped out in my classroom all day. My class loves Miss Julie, and thankfully, she doesn't try to distract them....unlike SOME people who visit! You know who you are. (Not you, Aunt Carol. It's not you either, Mom.)



I think we're all caught up now....now that I'm already back in Maryland. Maryland, my merry land. It's good to be home :)

Mother of Mine

When I was younger, people often told me that I looked like my dad. Obviously my dad is handsome and stuff, but now that I am older and people have started telling me I look more like my mom, I am quite happy about it. She is pretty. And a girl. And if I remind people of her in any way, I am flattered :)

One time when I was little, I remember staying home from school because I was sick. Or "sick" maybe? Anyway, my mom brought me a pink tray with coloring books and crayons and a plate of eggs, and I just sat there being "sick" and taken care of. I think that's why now, I love taking care of people when they're sick! And not to brag, but I think I'm pretty good at it. 

Every year, my mom likes to take us to Larriland Farms to pick strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and whatever else is in season and sounds good. We will make jams, syrups, and anything else with those jams, and it is always so yummy. 

My mom is nice because she's my mom and my friend. I remember the day after I got my first boyfriend, and I txted my mom all excited. She called me right after I sent that txt. I love thinking about that conversation because she was so excited for me and we just talked like she was one of my friends my own age. 

When I was in Florida, my family drove down to visit and left the Sabie car with me for the rest of my college program. When my program ended, my mom and Julie flew down and drove back to Maryland with me. We had a great time because my mom is such a fun travel companion! We could have just driven straight from Florida to Maryland, but instead, we stopped by a plantation and went to St. Augustine's on our way home. 

She let me drive super-fast, and just appreciated it. She engaged us in fun conversations. We logged our trip in a little notebook. We introduced her to music that we liked. 

My mom is a great mom. She loves being a mom! I love that she loves her job. I never ever feel like she would rather be anything else than my mom. I have grown up believing that the job of a mother is the best job there is, because my mom believes it. 

She is a mother to seven of her own kids, but she is also an honorary mother to many people. This picture is us with our honorary brothers: the Pest Control Boys of 2009. Kelly and I met them in our singles ward when we were home for the summer, and had them over for dinner almost every Sunday until they left. They loved our family and especially our parents. I love how my mom welcomed them and cheerfully fed them. She is an example to me of great generosity and hospitality, because boys can eat a LOT.

Birthdays are special to my mom! Every year, she cuts out signs like the one above for our birthdays. When I was at college, she sent me my own letters so I could carry on the tradition. Besides this tradition, we like to go around the table and give everyone the chance to say what they love about the birthday girl or boy. My mom comes close to crying every birthday :) We also read what my mom wrote about our birth, and it is so beautiful and nice. 

My mom always wants to improve at something. I don't know where her number is.....maybe she didn't participate in a race in this picture? But whatever. The point is, she runs. She used to walk every morning, but she's gradually built up to jogging and running. She is always setting goals for herself, which inspires me, because she is never just stagnant. She works on earning her Young Women's medallion, and when she finishes, she starts over. She reminds me that no matter how good you are, you can always get better at something. 

My mom is cute with my dad. They are so cute I want to die. One time, I was driving with my mom and "Falling for You" by Colbie Caillat came on the radio. She called my dad and the following conversation happened:

Dad: Hello?

Mom: Hi Sid! I'm just driving with Heather, and there's this cute song on the radio, and I think I'm Falling for you!......Hello? Sid?

Dad: I gotta go. *Hangs up*

Mom: (all sad) I think he just hung up on me....

Later, my dad called back and explained that he had been on a business call and just quickly answered my mom's phone call, but then got flustered and didn't want to say anything romantic so that his business buddies could hear, so he just said he had to go. I still make fun of him to this day about that. 

My mom makes me feel like I am great at anything I do! She always encourages and supports me, whether I am trying to learn a song on the piano, about to go take a test, working on becoming a teacher, or trying out a new hairdo. She asks me for advice. I even gave her a few piano lessons! She was such a great pupil :)

Before I went back to college for my second semester, we had a great photo shoot in the BWI airport. Also, my mom said that she was sad that we were going back to college, but she was also happy, because she knows that it is a good thing. 

My mom had a GREAT time at college. Ah de boys loved her and tried to take her on dates and stuff. 

But she only looks at one boy like this!

My mom is a good daughter. She loves and respects both of her parents, and they always say she was the perfect child. Which must be why she got 7 perfect children :) Karma can be a good thing sometimes....

One time, I was in the kitchen doing homework or cleaning or eating or something, and my mom was in the next room over, reading a book to Sarah. The book she was reading was called "Oliver Pig at School" by Jean Van Leeuwen. It is about a pig named Oliver and his first day of school. He worries about normal things, like who will be his friend, if his teacher will be nice, and how he will get on the right bus to go back home.

I heard my mom reading in the background and didn't pay too close attention. Then I heard her voice start to quaver a little. Then it rose in pitch. 

"What if no one talked to him on the bus?" she squeaked. "What if no one talked to him all day?"

We make fun of her for it, but secretly, I realize that I am turning into my mom. You know why? Because the other day, I read the 5 classroom rules that my 2nd grade team came up with, and I started crying a little. Because they were so darn cute. 

And you know what, I am fine with turning into my mom. She is a darn decent lady, and I love her :)

Happy Mother's Day! Thanks for birthing me!

Thanksgiving with the Pooles

I'd like to call this, "Arizona Turkey."

Once upon a time, there was a depressed family called the Pooles living in Pennsylvania. It was nice that they lived so close to the Connors, because that meant that they got to spend every Thanksgiving together. This year was no exception.

The Connors planned to leave at 4:33 am on Wednesday, but as was tradition, they did not leave until 5:21 pm. They were just too busy trying to run, moon their teachers, and pack the police officers in Coco that it was difficult to get out the door. However, they were finally able to get on the road.

As can be expected around a holiday, traffic was fat! In Dad's car, they passed the time by listening to music from the sphincter checker and waving at hookers in Hummers. In Mom's car, everyone enjoyed (or ignored) an iridescent reading of Pride and Prejudice by Nicole. They may or may not have been treated to a surprise visit from Ecoli Imishi, who left everyone's pinkies prancing.

When they got to Aunt Carol's house, the first order of business was to go and watch "Tangled," a gaseous new Disney movie about a princess, poison sumac, a ghastly outlaw, and a wicked witch. Everyone agreed that it was a great movie. Afterwards, they brought Israel into the football room with some delicious taco salad. They finished up the day with movies and visiting, and then all the girls fell asleep on a nitrogen-filled matress with a fire by their breasts.

On Thanksgiving day, Uncle Brett and Jacob went to play lacrosse. It was sleeting police women outside, so Melody farded about Jacob all morning until they got back. She knew that he was wearing nothing but a tenta (tank top) and must be freezing! Luckily, Jacob was too manly and was fine.

Right after breakfast, the preparations for Hannukah dinner began in earnest. Everyone pitched in, whether they were making an oil & sweets salad like Heather or breaking onion soup dressing on the rolls like Julie. The meal turned out absolutely pretty, and all agreed that it was a Temple Square turkey year. From the 1,000,042-lb turkey to the beautiful fuscia corn to the fierce company, everyone had at least 8 things to be thankful for!