An Ode To The Men I Work With

An Ode To The Men I Work With

by Erica Jacquline

I am writing this poem for the men that work at my school.
Women have dominated education for years so the fact that you work here is pretty cool.
Let me first say I am glad we are such great friends
Because of that fact I know that after this poem I will not need to make amends.

I am writing this verse because there're some things I need to say Some things that cannot be said while we gather and pray. One of the topics of my forthcoming discretionShall include the communal commode which is not a lunchtime conversation. You see the bathroom is one that is shared, And the ladies on staff are really quite scared. From the shavings in the skin to the seat that is left upUs ladies are afraid to finish more than one coffee cup. 

While I am at it I am just so amazed You made it to work at all, sometimes you look quite dazed. Your shirts are all wrinkled and on Mondays you wear jeansBecause your "Domestic Engineer" did not have time to finish the laundry, whatever that means. OK, OK my gripping is done, Let us reflect on the times we had some fun. There are all the times we went out to lunch, And the only thing on the menu I wanted was Hawaiian Punch. 

My favorite lunch memory I can recallWas the time we went to the Chipotle by the mall. You were not there so we gave you a callYou were at the Chipotle on by the gym, that detail was small. 
I must admit you have taught me so much About sci-fi, comics, and Batman at lunch.I will never forget the time I said I liked Thor's butt.And you were all awkward and yelled "what the what?!"

You guys make work fun and you gave me baseball ticketsEven though sometimes you are not really "with it" When I hang out with you I will never frown, But for the love of all that is holy put the toilet seat down!

You can read more of my take on menial things and the humor I find in it all on my blog Erica Jacquline.  Follow along on Bloglovin - Twitter - Instagram

 

I wrote this post for Endlessly Beloved this week, but I liked it os much I thought my readers would probably respond to it better.  And I was not sure that many people saw it so I would share it here for a little Sunday Funday action.

PS - to the men that I work with that actually read my blog, I only included you in a work poem because you have been some of my most loyal readers this year.  Thanks for all your support and encouragement!  You guys really make work much more fun everyday!

Teacher Fashion On A Budget

I have tried to write like five posts for today and my brain is just not working right.  I am going to blame the mountain of work that I have had on my desk at my real job for the last day, month, year.



Sweater - Target // Pencil Skirt - Old Navy - similar here // Shoes - Roxy

Who are we kidding. I am so entertaining this photo would never happen in real life.  My Psycho Psychology class is just so sweet they thought it would be the funniest thing in the world to pretend to sleep.  I don't get it but it made their day.

Here is  my teacher fashion on a budget.

I decided I really like this outfit and I will pretend to be a fashion blogger and tell you where my outfit came from. I work at a private school.  The subtext of that statement is I make less money than the underpaid public school teachers.

Shopping on a dime, looking professional, and young are my priority when it comes to fashion.  I love these sweaters from Target.  I have three in different colors.  They are so versatile and go with a lot.  Plus in Southern California there is not a lot of weather so this sweater is all you really need on those "winter" days.

The skirt from Old Navy has been in my closet since my first year teaching in 2007.  This thing goes with everything and will not wear out.

The shoes from Roxy I actually bought at Ross.  They are not the most professional shoes in the world, but on long teacher days my feet do not hurt and they are pretty cute too. That is all I have for you today.

What is your favorite piece of clothing that you found on a budget?  Where would you recommend shopping?  What is your favorite comfortable item that you make work with a work wardrobe.

Penny's Prerogative

Hey everyone.  I loved all the feedback I received from my post yesterday about starting a blog. Thank you so much for your kind words and different perspectives on the topic.

I am here really quickly to tell you about the best idea woman I know. Well this week she was great, we will see how she holds up during the rest of the Olympics.  Her name is Madi and she blogs over at And So I Did.

Here are two examples of her great ideas at work:

1. She bought a BBQ grill for her husband for Valentine's Day.  Maybe you haven't figured out why this is so great yet…. HE has to cook for her that way!  Genius I tell you. Genius.

2. She suggested Penny write a post explaining all the weird searches that lead the fine folks of the internet to my blog.  Penny liked this idea so I am going to pry her off the chair she is chewing on so she can write out today's post.

I present to you Penny's Prerogative, a post in which Penny the Puppy explains the google searches that lead to my blog.

Hi friends! It's me, Penny the Puppy taking over Erica's blog again.  Sometimes when she looks at the results for searches that lead to her blog she becomes confused and then won't throw the ball for me.  I decided this was just too complicated for her small brain to process so I would let her sit back and watch some Olympic Figure Skating while I solve the riddles of the search queries and then make her throw my Penny-sized tennis ball for two more hours.

1. Guys tank top at school

I am pretty sure this search was about why guys should wear tank tops to school and the searcher was not looking for Erica's Tank Top Rules for Men.  I will tell you why guys should wear tank tops to school, so I can bite their tiny muscly arms better.  Please keep it up and ignore everything Erica tells you. No sleeves, more bites.

2. At what point do I become middle aged

On any line AC the midpoint is B.

3. Blow up floaties

Is this a Lars and The Real Girl google search, cause that movie is amazing! Well that is what Erica says at least.  Frankly,  blow up floaties sound like things I can chew on when no one is looking.

4. Somuchsunshine Erica Blog

So Erica had a blog called So Much Sunshine.  I think that explains most of this, but let me tell you Erica can not make a lasting decision to save her life.  I mean can we remember the time she named me Penny and then was going to change it because of Miley Cyrus?

5. What does the Jason Aldean mean when he sings When She Says Baby?

It is a song Jason wrote for me, Penny. I have touched the hearts of a whole nation.

6. Throwback birthday cake

Why would anyone throwback birthday cake? Was cake thrown to begin with?  Was it bad cake?  Did the baker forget to put in enough dog treats?

7. Super Bowl monkey memes

I now want to find a Super Bowl monkey meme because I sure have not seen one on the blog here. Give me a minute I will be right back.

After some very important investigative work this is the first image that you get when you perform said google search.  Clearly, Erica is in the photo to the right.

8. Drunk people jokes

Drunk people are jokes.

9. Will this matter a year from now?

It depends on what "this" is.  If this is having a baby, then yes it could matter a year from now.  If this is not feeding me dinner they you bet your sweet butt it will mater a year from now.  I keep a list of people who have done me wrong on the inside of my doggie den.  A cavapoo never forgets.

That is all I feel like I have the authority to clear up today.  I am sure in another month or so I will have to come back here and do this again.

Until Next Month,

Penny the Puppy

________________________________

PS- Before I go I want you to say hi to my new friend Danielle from Allusional.  She is really fun and blogs about funny topics like Bros and very important serious topics like those who have fought cancer in her life.

Do you have a fur baby? If so tell us about him. 

I do have a fur baby! His name is griffin! He's a Jack Russell, Daschund, Beagle mix we adopted 3.5 years ago. He's such a good snuggle buddy! (He's in one of the photos of me I sent).



What do you like to blog about?

I like to blog about whatever pops into my head. Sometimes it's silly and sarcastic, and sometimes its more serious and meaningful. I usually just sit down and read quotes or things on the internet until something strikes me and I start writing and see what comes of it.

Where are you from and what do you like most about your hometown?

I am from a suburb outside Chicago- for people who aren't from Illinois I just say I live 45 minutes outside the city. My favorite thing to do would be to go downtown and try out a new restaurant and go to a bar or comedy club or some type of show after. I am such a foodie and love to check out new places!

What is your favorite book, TV show, Movie?

My favorite book is "The Five People You Meet in Heaven", favorite TV show right now is probably Chicago Fire (it's cool to see all these places I know in a TV show) or Murder shows like "Cold Case Files", "Snapped", or "Dateline". Haha- I promise I'm not plotting anything! And my favorite movie right now would probably be the new Great Gatsby that just came out. That book is in my top 5 favorites and I thought they did a really good job at modernizing it but still keeping true to the storyline and making it feel classic. Plus, who doesn't love staring at Leo the whole time?!?

What is your favorite line from a movie?

My favorite line(s) from a movie (sorry, it's hard to pick just one!) would probably be the iconic line in Gone with the Wind- "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn." And "60% of the time it works everytime" or "Well that escalated quickly" both from Anchorman. They're just so useful in daily life! Haha.

Tell us about your most embarrassing moment. 

My most embarrassing moment would probably be when I was 13 or 14 years old my dad was nominated for this award and we all had to dress up really fancy and go to this awards ceremony. It was held in ABC Tower downtown in the studio that was used for the taping of The Jenny Jones show. Were walking down the stairs towards the stage to get to our seats and I tripped over the front of my too-long-for-me dress and tumbled down about 6 or 8 stairs in front of about 200+ people. The people close enough to me got all panicky and asked if I was ok, while my whole family was trying to help me up. I just wanted to crawl into a hole!!! I think back on it and laugh pretty hard, wishing it was on tape for my review!

You can find more amazing stories on Danielle's Blog, Bloglovin, Twitter, and Facebook.

Sunday Funday with Jaime!

You survived Valentine's Day!  I hope you had a good day and your sugar high has subsided so you can make it through another day.

Welcome to another Sunday Funday!

This weeks co-host is Jaime is from You Gotta Have Hart. Make sure you go by and say hi and follow her blog.



Just in case you are not into the Olympics I feel like I need to give you a few reasons you should be.  These reasons are Ashley Warner and Bob Costas's Eye.

Ashley Wagner is a skater on the US Figure Skating team.  During the team competition she did not like her scores and she made the following face:

I personally wish that I could be that lucky to make a face that the world now uses on its memes.  And let's be honest she is still pretty while she is pissed off #jealous.

Here are some of my favorite renditions of the now famous Olympian's face.





This is the little Russian girl, Julia.  She is 15 and her leg detaches from her body.



One of the rings did not open in the Opening Ceremony, Ashley reacted.



The other issue of major importance is Bob Costas and his eye.  Just in case you have been watching and thought Bob had face issues that is Matt Lauer!  Bob is trying to get his eye back in seeing shape again and when he can see again I hope he will laugh at the memes that have been made on his eye's behalf.





And now Ashley and Bob come together in one final photo.



Cheers from Sochi!

Let me know if you want to cohost in the future!  Next weeks Cohost is Ellie!

An InLinkz Link-up

Sunday Funday

Welcome to the first ever Sunday Funday link up!

]

fI you are enjoying your Superbowl parties and both teams win.  Just kidding I hope the Seahawks win just because I am going to a friend's birthday party and he is a Seahawks fan so his party could be a real bummer otherwise.

I will have seen a grand total of three hours and five minutes of football this season after the Super Bowl. That is of course if the game is three hours long.  I only watched the end of last week's Seahawks 49ers game and Richard Sherman became my favorite human ever.

This meme was probably made for me.

I figure that regardless of who wins or loses  we could all use something to break the football coma that we will all be in we could use a little pick me up and what better to do that than a baby monkey riding on a pig?

 

Now link-up your Sunday Funday posts

*Follow your hosts

*Write a post that makes you smile, laugh, cry from laughing etc.

*Add your link to the bottom of this post.

*Read other posts and make new blog friends.

 

Next week We will have the lovely Nina from The Grand Advenutures of Me Co-Hosting the link up.  You can add your link on my blog or hers.

Be sure to pop over and say hi to Nina. She is a delightful blogger and makes me laugh on the regular!

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.ericajacquline.com" title="The Grand Adventure of Me"><img src="http://i1356.photobucket.com/albums/q738/ericajt/2932304f-476a-46ad-8fb0-a8d50fd5caaa_zps6b282e46.png?t=1391305783" alt="The Grand Adventure of Me" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

A Winter Juan-derland

I have a million ideas for blog post but now of them wanted to be written today.  Instead I took the time to write some letters to the cast of The Bachelor.

Dear First Grade Teacher,

Way to not pose nude on national TV.  You have class and realized you  would probably never get a job in education again if you did what the sleezy producers told you to. Now I think you will only lose half the jobs you apply for. I mean you are still on The Bachelor after all.

Respectful clothed,

Never Nudes

Dear Free Spirit,

While I commend you on your lack of inhibitions, there is a time and a place for you to be naked. - your own home, a beach with a group of baby boomers who are not shakeled by the restraints that society places on them in the form of clothing, a shower.

Please wear some shoes,

The Ground and The World

Dear Juan Pablo,

You earned some respect points last night.  You got rid of the drunk child because you could tell she wouldn't fit into your life.  High five.  At this point you are almost even, but, you need to do more to make up for your lack of judgment with Dog Lover and Free Spirit.

Love,

Someone with a job

Dear Winter Wonderland Girl,

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="275"] Ps Winter Juan-derland girl is the same as pregnant girl.[/caption]

It's cool to wear clothes.  I know you were in a hot tub and some guy started to sing and all you could do was grab a parka, but really it was snowing, get some sweats.

Cover Up!

Sweat pants lover

Dear Blog Readers,

Below you will read about the lovely Hima over at Hima Hearts.

I love Hima and her blog.   She started her blog after reading one of my favorite books The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.  If you have not read that book go read it after you give Hima some love.  She also lives in the beautiful state of California where it has been a blustery 80 degrees this week (at least in my little corner of the state).

 

Hima Hearts is a fun blog that offers a little bit of everything from picture of her cute dog, to her sweet but sassy little brother.

If you are looking for tips on how to write a song that will climb the charts her how to will help you out: How to Write a Hit Song

If you are a part of one of the power couples be warned, you have to stay together forever! Couples Who Should Never Ever Break Up

Follow this treasure of a blogger by clicking on the links below

Bloglovin' // Instagram // Twitter

xoxo,

Erica

A Letter After A Date

I went on a date last night.  We have mutual friends who read this blog so I am going to keep this short and nonchalant.

Dear guy I saw last night,

I used my phone to show you a photo of someone.  You may have noticed that my phone case looks like it belongs to a 17-year-old Asian girl.  I like it in its ridiculous cuteness.  I also only spent $5 on it, thus making me even more awesome

My cell phone case is a penguin.  In case you are wondering if other really cute girls use silly phone cases please see Jess from New Girl.  At least my phone didn't have a tail.



Thanks for dinner and for watching the Ducks beat Nashville with me.  Have a lovely day!

Insert Nondescript Closing Here,

Erica

 

PS - Sorry I didn't offer to pay for dinner and have a cute "Oh no I got this" moment with you.  You were a gentleman so I knew you would pay anyway.

Things This Blogger Has Yet To Say

So I read the blogs… all of the blogs. OK maybe not all the blogs but I do read a lot of blogs on the reg.  I have come to realize there are some things that the most successful bloggers say.  One day I will have the opportunity to use many of these phrases that have not left my lips and I will try not to say. 

My inbox is so full of emails from comments my readers made.

Honesty time, I love it when I check my blog email and I have two new comments.  I love it when my post gets more than five comments a day.  It is just so hard to keep up with all these adoring fans!  Just kidding.  I hope that if I am fortunate enough to get more readers and more people commenting.  I also hope that if that happens I remember how much I value them and I spend a lot of time communicating with them.  If you have not read Erin's post about Helene and her ability to do this exact thing, go over and read it on Living In Yellow. 

My boyfriend, husband, life partner, takes all my photos

Believe it or not but all my stunning photos come to you because I am an awkward human being who asks everyone around if they will take a picture of me.  I act all confident and proud.  When people ask me why they are taking my photo I tell them the truth.  I am an Internet model.  Which makes blogging sound a lot fancier.  I actually tell them it is for my blog.  I am pretty sure they either think I am a big deal or that I have an inflated sense of self.  Either way it is great. 

This was a really awkward photo a student took for me.  I am pretty sure you can see the fear in my eyes.

I get so much free stuff from small business and corporate America 

I mean how cool is it when one of the ladies here is sporting a new necklace or cute dress that they got for free because they are promoting that business.  I am not going to lie, I would totally be down of this.  I would even get a boyfriend to take photos of me in the stuff for my blog and go back on my number one saying. 

Blogging has lost it's meaning 

On Monday I wrote about why I love blogging.  If I get too caught up in my boyfriend taking photos of me for sponsored posts I hope he will tell me that I have lost my focus. 

Blogland 

This phrase makes my skin crawl.  It bothers me and I am not sure why. 

There is so much negative things written about me and/ or my blog 

I know that there rare a lot of negative things in the world.  I know that there are people who would rather spend their time tearing apart a post and being mean.  I do not invest my time in looking for those websites or those people. I am not trying to say that I actually think my blog is big enough to have negative things written.  I am just trying to say I have no idea about any of it.  Also I am very sorry if people have said mean things to you or about your blog.   And please remember hurting people hurt people, for real. 

All this sponsorship stuff is overwhelming

I actually can see how sponsorships can be overwhelming and if a blog takes on too much I can see how things can fall through the cracks.  I hope if I grow this blog a little more and have paying sponsors I can find what is right for my blog and my time.  I also hope that I can value those who would choose to invest in my blog and me.  If you want to sponsor So Much Sunshine you can click here.  

No one in my real life knows about my blog 

First, I have to know how you pulled this one off.  I am such a blabber mouth that I tell anyone about my blog if we have known each other for at least a few days.  It just comes up.  If I learned something from a blog I will say, "Hey I read this cool blog and this girl from ______________ wrote about ___________________.  You should totally try it."

Second, I like to have my life be on the same page no matter what setting I am in.  I am such a bad liar, sometimes, that I would be on constant paranoia if I had a secret blog.  

Third, I somewhat commend those secret bloggers because they can really let a lot out.  I am glad that my friends and family know about So Much Sunshine.  It helps keeps me aware of my writing and helps me do a better job of expressing myself in a clear and agreeable way. 

That is all I got today.  Thank you to anyone out there who reads this little blog and thank you for your kind words and support!  I really am so appreciative of you.