One Last Night

My parents and sister came yesterday to help my husband and me with our big move today. My uncle also came to town for the weekend to visit my cousins and take advantage of the opportunity to drink with my dad. So, last night we all met up for one final evening of good food and beer at our favorite restaurant/bar. These family nights were always a lot of fun and will definitely be missed.

Our New Couch

Blast From the Past

While cleaning out my bedroom back home a few weeks ago, I found this t-shirt in the dresser. I received this shirt from my orthodontist in the first grade. I remember getting to choose a shirt for being a good patient and falling madly in love with this beauty once it came. Looking at it now, I still think it's pretty great.

Week in Review

This past week just slipped away from me! Life has definitely been moving in fast-forward these past few days!


WENDESDAY

After school, my husband and I went to visit the science teacher and her husband to congratulate them on their new baby girl (she is absolutely adorable!). The science teacher and I started at the same time as first-year teachers and have grown close over the past two years. My husband and her husband developed a friendship during the football season as coaches. Wednesday was the last day we will see them before we move and while I am excited to get back home, I'm heartbroken at leaving this couple. We've had a lot of fun together, but not enough and I wish I could take them with me. I know that's how life goes but that doesn't mean it doesn't suck.


THURSDAY

The last day of school! Excitement was my dominating emotion of the day, but I must admit that there were a few tears shed. I couldn't help but get emotional when a group of 7th-grade girls came in to give me good-bye hugs and tell me that they'll miss me. I also got a card, thanking me for my time and effort at the school and for making difficult concepts easy to understand. It made me happy to hear that I didn't lead everyone completely astray (a small miracle!), but it also made me sad to know that I won't get to see how well they do as 8th-graders. Overall, it was a good two years. I learned more than I ever thought possible and look forward to learning even more at my new school.


FRIDAY

My first day of summer break! It definitely didn't feel that way; it felt more like a Saturday. I don't think it will feel like summer break until I've been out of school a week or two. I spent my Friday reading, packing a few more things up (we move May 31st!), and watching a Lifetime movie. Yes, I know I'm horrible. In my defense, the movie was based on the novel "The Dive from Clausen's Pier" which I had read a few years back and had enjoyed.

I know this post is late, but I still wanted to share my Friday Finds with you. While reading my trashy celeb-gossip magazine (again, I know I'm horrible), I came upon two interesting articles in the "real people" section. I used to skip over this section, but have come to realize that it often has interesting stories and this particular issue did not disappoint. The first article was about Devil's Pool at Victoria Falls in Zimabwe, Africa. During the dry season, people are able (and willing!) to swim inches from the edge of a waterfall. Check out some photos here. It's quite amazing and beautiful, but you'd never catch me in that pool! Just looking at the photos gets my heart rate up. The second article was about the International German Beard Championships, where men from different countries compete to win the honor of most unique beard. I think some of these men have too much time on their hands! For more Friday Finds, visit Amber at Viva Voce.


SATURDAY

My in-laws, husband and I attended my husband's cousin's graduation open house. It was fun to see a town I had never been to (or at least don't remember ever having been to) and enjoy the delicious food that was being served.


SUNDAY

I spent most of the day laying on the couch reading and sleeping trying to get over a nasty cold I got Friday night while my husband did a little packing and wall puttying. It was a pretty lazy day, but a necessary one before this coming weekend.


MONDAY

Today was very similar to yesterday in that my time was spent laying on the couch working on getting rid of this cold. I'm very much looking forward to being healthy again! Lucky for me there was a "John and Kate Plus 8" marathon on and I got to see quite a few episodes I had never seen. My husband spent the morning and afternoon working and is now currently cleaning those parts of the apartment that he can get to. It's starting to look like we're moving around here!


I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Love of Learning

There are eight teachers, including myself, that are leaving my school at the end of the year. Today the school threw a "Farewell Party" for those of us leaving. As a beautiful going-away gift, I received a Willow Tree figurine entitled "Love of Learning." I thought this was absolutely perfect. It's hard not to be inspired when I see this sculpture and the words "Open books, open minds." I will have to remember to look at this on those tough days when I wonder why I joined the education profession. I joined the education profession because of my love of learning. I joined the education profession to inspire others to love learning.

Mother's Day Weekend

Well, it's better late than never!

My husband and I headed back home last weekend to spend Mother's Day with our wonderful mothers. Like a broken record I must report that it was a great time.

FRIDAY
For those of you who know us or those of you who have been reading this blog, I’m sure you can guess where my husband and I ate dinner on Friday evening when we rolled into town. Yes, that’s right - Big Boy. My husband and I decided that when we move back, it might have to be our “regular” Friday night meal. We make healthy choices. If you ever need any advice, don't hesitate to ask!

Later that night, my sister entertained my family with some of her music. She recently spent a few days by herself out at a cabin, focusing on writing and recording her music. The songs she played for us were absolutely wonderful. I am amazed at all the talent this girl has. I wish she'd share! (Let's get real - how fun and exciting is a gift for math? Exactly.)




SATURDAY
Woke up to snow showers. Apparently April showers bring May showers, not flowers. Perhaps May showers will bring June flowers. We’re all getting a little anxious to see some color!

Early afternoon was spent discussing housing plans with a local builder. After looking at a handful of houses during our past visits, my husband and I decided that building is the direction we wanted to go. Not only do we get to decide the way we want things, it will be a nice feeling to know that we were the only people to live in the house (especially for a germ-freak like me). One of the things I’m most excited about, though, is the geothermal heat pump that we’re looking into. It would be a great investment for us (this girl will not be staying warm with the price of natural gas) and it's better for the environment. Needless to say I cannot wait for things to get started!

My parent’s excitement for the weekend was their little trip into the 21st-century. They decided to hop on the big-screen bandwagon and modernize with a little plasma. While this new piece of technology is exciting, my parents still have a bit more work to do. There are bunny-ears to get rid of and a decade-old computer that needs to be retired. This is a start, though! While my father and husband spent the afternoon setting everything up (and “testing” it out with Terminator 3), I cleaned out my old bedroom. One disadvantage about building a house is that we will be homeless for a few months. This means we will be moving in with my parents. This means I will need to make room for our things. This means I will need to get rid of some things. I’ve already ridded the room of two big bags of garbage and three donation bags, but there is still more to do. I will have to share a couple of finds from the day with you.

The evening was spent playing cards and drinking wine. While I don’t drink, it was fun having my water in a wine glass. Look how mature and sophisticated I look!






SUNDAY
Happy Mother's Day! (Unfortunately I didn't have my camera when I was at my in-law's so I will have to get a picture of my dear mother-in-law next time!)

Friday Find

If you are interested in adding some fun fonts to your computer's selection, check out ScrapVillage. There are hundreds of different fonts that you can download for free! It's a great site - I love using the fonts on my scrapbook pages and cards.

Visit Amber at Viva Voce for more Friday Finds!

The "Not Sure Girl"

Do you by chance remember the 'Sure' deodorant ads? The "Sure girl" could raise her arms up in any direction at any time because she didn't have sweat marks on her her shirt. I'm guessing she didn't smell too bad either. She was the carefree, fun girl - the girl invited to all the parties. The "Not Sure girl" could barely move for fear that someone would see the giant sweat marks on her shirt. I'm guessing she didn't smell too good either. She was the quiet, shy girl - the girl who sat by herself at lunch.

In an effort to embarrass myself today, I thought I'd share this lovely photo. In addition to this portfolio shot, here are some fun tidbits about my problem:
*My left armpit rarely sweats and when it does it never leaves a mark.
*My right armpit, no matter the temperature, thinks it is fun to leak all day long.
*I often wear my husband's prescription deodorant (yes, I know I'm not supposed to do this) and I still soak through shirts. (Our poor kids don't stand a chance!)
*Despite all the sweat, I never smell. (Honestly!)

My next course of action is to stick pantiliners inside my shirt to absorb the ridiculous amount of moisture. If that plan fails (which I doubt because it's brilliant!) I will only be buying black tops to wear. I'll keep you all posted.

Thanks!

I just wanted to thank everyone for their encouraging words on my last post. After reading your comments and reminding myself that I began blogging to document my life, not to write a best-selling novel, the frustration slowly disappeared. My plan is to make sure that this next week is not wordless. Thanks again!

Wordless Week

When I sat down tonight to post, I couldn't believe it had been a week since I last wrote. Then I put my fingers to the keyboard and I remembered why I haven't been keeping up.

I originally sat down this evening to write about my weekend back home with family, but for some reason I could not put together a decent sentence. Surprise, surprise. I haven't been able to put together a decent sentence this past week. Words have left me and I'm extremely crabby about it. I hate it when I can't write. Needless to say, blogging hasn't been much fun and I'm beginning to wonder why I started this in the first place.

Bogeyman

When I lived at home with my parents, there was a man who lived under our stairs in the basement. You wouldn't know he was there; he didn't make a peep or disturb anyone. In fact, I think the only person he picked on was me and even I was safe while the lights were on. I could, however, feel him watching - he eyed every move and waited. He waited for the lights to go out so his fun could begin. See, when the lights went out, he got to chase me. Up two flights of steps we would go, the race ending once I made it into the living room. The man could not venture into the living room so I knew that if I made it there, I was safe. I was never caught, but there were too many close calls.

The man has found out where I currently live and has now snuck into my apartment. There are no stairs for him to hide under, so he's made a home in our storage closet. I know I'm safe during the daylight hours and when my husband is home. At night, however, the rules are different. At night, I can feel him watching me through the crack in the door. He's watching and waiting. He's waiting for me to slide open the door for a game of cat and mouse like we used to play. I do not know what room in the apartment has the power of "safe zone," so I'm making sure to keep the door closed as tightly as possible.

I guess some of us will always be scared of the dark and the bogeyman that lurks within.

13 Days

To keep myself going at the end of the school year, I make a paper chain and hang it up someplace where I can see it each and every day. Each link represents a day of school left and at the end of each day, I get to tear one off. I've been doing this since I was a student and it doesn't get any less exciting as the years pass. Only 13 more days left! The countdown has begun!

Movie Night

My husband and I redeemed more "Coke points" this weekend to rent a couple movies. Honestly, I can't remember the last time we actually paid to rent!

My husband's pick for the weekend was "Juno," which I highly recommend. This was my second time seeing the movie, but it was just as good (if not better) as the first time I saw it. My pick for the weekend was "Atonement" which I actually couldn't get into. For some reason, I could not develop a connection with the characters and therefore didn't really care about what happened to them. I have a feeling it was just me, though, since it was nominated for seven Academy Awards. Perhaps the book would be better match for me.

Have you seen any good movies lately?

100% for All

I have Algebra tests to grade. Obviously I'm not working on those. When it comes to grading tests, I will always find some other way to occupy my time - there is always something more important that needs to be done (i.e. playing with my camera, blogging, reading). I hate grading tests and don't want to look at another problem today. Give me assignments, worksheets, even quizzes and I'm fine, but give me tests and I'll avoid correcting them for as long as possible. Time has run out for me on these, though, and they really need to get done. I was hoping that while I sat here at the computer the tests would finish grading themselves but as I glance over there I can see that's not happening. Dang! Perhaps I will just give everyone 100% and call it a day.

Friday Find

Today I am taking part in "Friday Finds," an activity that Amber at Viva Voce started. Every Friday she posts something funny, interesting, crafty, etc. that she has found (and she has found some great things!) and last week she asked her readers to find something to share for this week's edition. Here goes my first attempt at "Friday Finds!"

Photography is not only a hobby for me, it's the only way I decorate my home. The photo above is of my living room wall which contains nothing but simple, cheap black frames with my photos in them. I love this wall - it makes me happy to come in the room and see my photos displayed for everyone to see. I love being able to share my work with those who come to visit. This brings me to my 'Find.'

While on the plane during our honeymoon, my husband and I browsed through one of the magazines the airline provided and we found an ad for Canvas on Demand. This company will turn your photos into canvas art. There are many different sizes, framing options, and finishing techniques available and while they are a little spendy, it would definitely be something fun to save up for. I hope to have a canvas of my own in the future - it would be another wonderful way to display my photography!

May Day

When we were younger, my sister and I always gave out May Day baskets to our neighbors and friends. While I could always handle the assembly, delivery, and doorbell ringing, for some reason I could never get away. It's not that I ever got caught. No, that was never my problem. My trouble arose with my feet and its relationship to the ground. Every year after the doorbell ringing, on my mad dash back to our house, I would fall and hurt myself. There were quite a few skinned knees and lots of crying. My mom still laughs at me for it. Let's just say I don't participate in the days festivities anymore.

I received a sweet little May Day basket from one of my students today. It was quite a nice surprise. Secondary teachers don't receive many gifts or treats from our students (I don't think we're as lovable as those wonderful elementary teachers) so when we do get something we feel really special. In any case, my student definitely knew what to put in the basket to please me - bubblegum and chocolate!

On an unrelated note: while standing in front of the room at the board this afternoon, one of my male students (out of nowhere) says "Mrs. W., I like you sleeves. They're puffy." We all had a good laugh.

Happy May Day everyone!