Waiting...

It is no secret that I love Matchbox Twenty. I had to miss their Atlanta date for their current tour because of a little bundle of cuteness I call Roo wasn't old enough for me to leave with a sitter yet. (Not according to me-plus the next day was my first day back at work!) So now I am waiting for Sept. 16th and the release of this: http://www.myspace.com/thebreakandrepairmethod

I am excited about this album-I know it will most likely be one that I drive Nicholas insane with just like every Matchbox Twenty cd. :) He loves it! Check it out if you have time, you are going to love it. There are 3 songs posted for your listening pleasure.

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya tomorrow

I am glad that tomorrow is Friday, I am glad that after tomorrow I will have a 3 day weekend to hopefully breathe. I am glad that tomorrow this HELLISH week will be over, I am glad that tomorrow I will wake up to hot coffee (after I get up and push the button), I am glad that tomorrow hopefully I will know how to handle a 2 year old in the middle of a rage, I hope that tomorrow I will have more answers than I do today, and I am so happy that tomorrow is one day away.

Here's to a Happy Friday and a GREAT weekend!

Monday, Monday

Much happier today...

Sometimes people tug on your heart in just the right way and it makes all the blues you were feeling go right out the door. This morning a co-worker called on me and shared some things with me and she said, in your card you said I could talk to you if I ever needed to, and I need to-I instantly forgot about the ten thousand things left to do and took time to hear her and hopefully give some sound advice give a hug and a smile and thought to myself, she has no idea how much she just helped me. It was a nice reminder for me that even though things are going blah for me, it is worse for someone else-all work related.

I wish I had the energy to write an ode because it would go something like this: Ode to the girl that cried wolf for the last three weeks and vomited in my room today. See, not that crafty and not in the correct form or anything but it gets the point across.

I am very excited about tomorrow because I get to attend my first parent's night as a parent and I won't have that inner battle most parents have that teach...because my kid is going to a different school than I teach I don't have to try to be in two places at once.

First time taking a bath without a seat!

Loving the freedom!

First bath with big brother without a seat (next day).

Finally I can touch this thing!! Playing together too!

Sometimes It Is Hard...

Have you ever noticed that sometimes it is hard to be positive? The last two days, I have given a heavy sigh about every four seconds. I feel so overwhelmed and blah, that isn't a good combination. So no happy peppy life is good post today, but at the same time I am not going to go on and on about what is wrong and why I feel that way. ;) Much to everyone's relief, right!

Here is to a good week, after all I am alive and kickin' I can't be too down for too long, right? I hope that you all have a GREAT week!

Reasons why I will get up with a smile on my face:

It's Crazy Happiness

Today someone told me that I brightened their day (and they weren't even trying to get me in bed!-HA!). That made my day, but it didn't go to my head, I was reminded of what the Queen used to say, "On your worst day, you could be some one's best". I try to keep that in mind, I really love my job, I do, I am happy at work, I like the idea of what I do and I buy into it, I love what I do. This year my parapro is a good one, she is keeping me caught up with papers and stuff. I still do all the grading of writing papers, but she does the morning work and math, it is nice to be able to focus. (I had a great one last year too!) I am excited about this year, most of my kids can read over 80 wpm and we have about 6 that can read over 100 wpm. I was in complete shock and awe today when I finally took the time to count it all up. It has nothing to do with me, I didn't teach them to read, but I am glad they have a passion for reading. I have to remember to grab a box of novels a day to take in, they are hanging out in the garage.

The only down side to today was I had a conversation with someone today and my bubble got a little hole in it. Actually, over the last three weeks I have gotten several holes in my bubble. I am not one to buy into things easily, but in a way I feel slighted and a little cheated with my impressions of people. It is a little deflating when you think you know someone, not like their favorite color, but more like you know their work personality and you find maybe you were all wrong. But on the up side it just reminded me that you can't really trust anyone. I have a few people that I truly trust, fully trust, I know there are very few people I could tell something to and they would keep it to themselves. Maybe it was a friendly reminder not to get too comfortable. I think possibly it was.

Coffee, Music, & Papers

Tonight, I accomplished writing a B.S. paper for a continuing education online class I took to keep up my certification. It took me well over a month to write the paper, it wasn't hard, I was just completely uninspired by the whole thing. Good concept, learned a lot, but seriously I took 5 tests so writing the paper was less than thrilling for me. BUT after coffee #2 I perked right up and was all about getting the paper done, I pulled up Monkey's blog and listened to her music while I wrote which inspired a wonderful bedroom dancing session-felt great-and then hammering out a-not-so-great-I-could-care-less paper (I know I over used the hyphen, but it was fun!) felt good because now that is off my brain.

In college my roommate and I would stay up late, I would make her "coffee" drinks, I say "coffee" because I had to add so much stuff to her drink that in the end I don't think coffee was really in there. :) Anyway, we would stay up late and study, we had our desks in the most awesome set up at one point and to stay awake we would have special singing & dancing sessions along with midnight walks that sometimes would last hours. Good times...good times! Tonight made me remember some really good times, writing papers, studying, writing a paper while getting hammered (got an A), having study groups that turn into parties, singing, singing, dancing, dancing, and more dancing. Good times...great times! That is enough! I am off to bed because it feels WAAAAYYY later than 10:30...a nice reminder that I am approaching 30 with two kids and a full time job. Oh to go to bed at 4 a.m. after a fun filled night of studying and writing papers, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. (Only if I could have this life again that I currently have, because seriously who would want to give up what I have? Two great and not to mention cute kids, and a great looking husband...seriously, who'd give that up?)

Only Because A Parent Said It...

Today, I had to laugh because as I was talking to parent this was said:

Me: He had a hard time during centers today, but it is the first week, he will learn what I expect.

Parent: Centers?

Me: We will do centers every Wednesday because our day is too choppy and it is a good way to learn, have fun, and still get things accomplished.

Parent: He has never done centers before. At his old school they were very structured, worksheet after worksheet, here is your work do it. He is used to structure.

Me: He will adjust, I am not that kind of teacher, I don't use a ton of worksheets if I can help it.

Parent: Oh no, I didn't mean you weren't structured I am just saying, he is used to a lot of structure.

Me: It isn't a big deal he will adjust to my teaching style quickly.

Parent: Oh, that has all come out wrong, I don't mean to imply you aren't structured, he just has never done a center before.

Me: I have no doubt what you meant, I just want you to know that you may be disappointed when you aren't handed a folder full of worksheets, but I promise he is in a structured learning environment.

Parent: He loves it here! I feel good about our move!

So, I think it is funny when parents think they have offended you, but really you are on the same page but they are all caught up in what they said thinking they hurt your feelings but really you are saying the same things...just in different words. I was trying to let her know she didn't hurt my feelings and that her son would still get a quality education. I don't know why but it was really funny to me. The same parent told me that her son isn't used to teacher aides and he was very confused about why I told them to do so much and my aide never told them to do anything. He really likes the teacher aide. (Who wouldn't?)

It has been a good start I look forward to the rest of the year.

The First Day

I can tell that it has been awhile since I had to stand on my feet for long periods of time, my feet hurt! :) First day of school I think rather well, hopefully it will stay that way! It is 6:15 and both boys are in bed because they are tired too! I am going to unload & load the dishwasher, type plans for tomorrow and call it a night!

Roo Bug is cutting a K9..that should look nice with his bottom left tooth and his left K9. Eight month pictures should be entertaining!

Not My Favorite

I love my job, I do, I love just about everything about it. (I don't even mind doing paperwork...shhh...don't tell anyone). I don't like doing lesson plans, I don't mind having a guide such as a curriculum map but I don't like committing to one thing per day, I might change my mind, I might get on a roll and then feel bad at the end of the day because I didn't go exactly by my plans then that makes me feel like I wasted my time. So you see really it is a vicious cycle one evil vicious cycle. I am even wasting time right now to avoid doing them. I think my compromise will be just do them for tomorrow and work on the rest later. Yes, that is my new plan for my lesson plans. HA! Here's to a great first day of school!