Whats on my Mind

Just a few quick thoughts for tonight.

1. Why did I look at pictures from the beach on a weeknight at the end of September? I just stirred up all kinds of emotions that make me not want to go to work tomorrow and stay home and play with all of my little ones.

2. How was it that our TPRI and team planning day were both last week leaving my kids with a sub for 3 days? And how in those 3 days did my children conceive the idea that they were in charge?

3. Why is Canton only once a month?

4. Why do I have such a hard time making the effort to spend time and visit with friends I love? On that same note, why when I have a beautiful house with plenty of room do I miss living at Marcy's?

5. Why am I thinking so deep when I should be sleeping?

Enough venting for tonight. This sounds really depressing! My mom has always laughed at how Collin, my uncle who is only 6 years older than me, and I always think the worst things when we are tired at night. Every situation looks awful and hopeless to us right before bed but yet 99% of the time turn out perfectly fine come morning.

What I'm looking forward to the rest of the week-
1. My kids getting back into the swing of things and our classroom being a happier place than it was today.
2. Good behavior reward afternoon Thursday
3. Early release and a Mav football win on Friday
4. Canton with Chelsea on Saturday
5. A Tornado Potato while at Canton on Saturday
6. Loving on my Sunday School babies Sunday

Have a great week!

Thoughts From the Nail Salon

This afternoon I thought I would be very tech savvy and attempt a blog post from my blackberry while at the nail salon. If you stopped by before now you noticed that all that ever became of that post was the title, which I have conveniently left the same. I should have known it wouldn't go well considering earlier this morning I was unable to successfully troubleshoot an incompatible cartridge message on my new printer.

I was at the nail salon this afternoon for two reasons. 1- I got my first pay check yesterday and my toes had been waiting on this day for months, and 2- my sweet sweet friend Jamie's wedding was tonight. She was so beautiful and the whole night was so nice.

Ok on a totally different note from what I usually blog about, I got to thinking today as I was cleaning up around the house and getting ready for the wedding that I wanted to share some of my favorite life saving items that I am constantly buying at WalMart and Target that get me through the day. I've been wanting to do a post like this for a while and never have gotten around to it.

1. Noxzema Bikini Razors
I love love love these! I even use them under my arms sometimes because they are so much easier to control than the wide razors.

2. Tervis Tumbler
These cups are insulated and great to carry around in the car with you while you're running aroudn town. I kept a Diet Coke in mine at all times through the summer. I love that they don't sweat and make a mess. They also make lids for them too.

3. Flip Side Crackers
These things are the best! I keep a box in my classroom and love to snack on them during my conference period or when I'm working after school. They're a mix of pretzel, cheese crackers and club cracker all in one. They're delish!


4. Rehab Party at the Hard Rock
I've always loved tru TV and basically all reality tv. Rehab is a huge party at the Hard Rock in Vegas and this is the behind the scenes reality show. It's dramatic and funny. We're loving it. Other shows we're wathing this season- The Office of course, Black Gold and Glee.

What are your favorite things right now? I want to do more post like this soon!
Have a great rest of the weekend!

Making the Teacher Dream

You know it's been a long week when you go to bed on Friday night and as soon as you close your eyes begin to have visions of your classroom with every hand raised and every little voice yelling "Ms. Thomas, Ms. Thomas, Ms. Thomas!" This is actually what happened to me last Friday night. I immediately opened my eyes and willed myself to make it stop.

This morning when the hand raising and name calling got to be too much I told my kids about the dream and that I didn't want that to happen again. Fast forward to this afternoon during an extra loud stretch and I hear a little voice from the front yell, "Yall be quiet!! You'll make the teacher dream!!" Gotta love them!

Simple Woman's Daybook

For today, Sunday September 13, 2009

Outside me window... dark and wet. It poured this evening and we sat on our porch and told stories of the weekend.

I am thinking... that it's crazy that I check 5-10 blogs a day and don't update my own near enough

I am hoping... for a good nights sleep. I need it to start the week.

I am wearing... A Boys and Girls Club tee and sleep shorts

I am thankful for... my family, friends, cozy house, dish washer, washer and dryer

From the kitchen... a ton of leftovers! We've eaten out all weekend and I think there is some kind of doggy bag from every meal.

I am creating... a well managed classroom. There will be a few changes in store for my little ones when the bell rings in the morning.

I am reading... nothing but lesson plans and blogs. Things have been a little too crazy for me to start any reading for pleasure.

I am hearing... my fan and traffic in the distance. By 9:30 things start shutting down around here and it gets so quiet and relaxing.

Around the house... things need to be picked up and put away and laundry needs to be folded. Everyone is in bed so the chores will wait.

One of my favorite things... sleeping. Can you tell it's bed time?

A few plans for the rest of the week... thankfully not much. We're starting the fourth week of school and I still don't have my stamina built up to where I'm not completely drained by the end of the day.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you... my new phone. If you keep up with me on facebook or twitter you'll remember that I joined the world of the BlackBerry this past week, much to Kristen's dismay as apple should really put her on an iphone commercial. Anyway, I love love love it so far! The navigation app got me to a friends house Saturday night and having constant access to useful(less) information via the www is just about as good as it gets for me.
More daybooks here

1 Week Down

I survived the first week is about all I can say right now. My kids are sweet but keep me on my toes. Monday was total chaos. I came home thinking that a) I don't think I could ever be prepared enough for that and b) I'm working toward being an intervention/dyslexia teacher so I don't have to deal with supplies, parents and the first day of school. Compared to Monday though, Tuesday was a breeze. The kids behaved and I felt like I was organized and efficient. The rest of the week has been good too other than the fact that the kids are getting a lot more comfortable which means a lot more talking. There are some big attitudes in those little bodies.

I have one who is a roamer and gets up and aimlessly walks around the room every so often. When I call him out on it he'll say, "I was just coming to hug you!" I always laugh, hug him and send him back to his seat. I can't help it. Of course I have a few who are just going to enjoy themselves and have a good time no matter what. It's a party all the time. I love that they have such a zest for life and school but Miss Thomas needs a small break sometimes. Here's some pics of my classroom finished. These were taken last week. It looks a lot more "lived in" now.



Enough with school. There are other things going on. Maverick football started tonight. Chelsea and I took two girlfriends and we had a good time visiting and even though the Mavs didn't pull it off tonight, it was a great game.

So who knew Randy Travis was coming to Shreveport in September? Mom asked me if I wanted to go and I said yes so fast that I didn't realize it was his gospel stuff. Don't get me wrong. I do love Randy Travis in any genre and know all of this gospel songs because they are on constant repeat in the dollar store by Kroger but I was really hoping to hear Digging up Bones. Speaking of which, I've been strangely into music from my childhood here lately. I think Aaron and Chelsea might be wondering what's going on. I found out last week that Mark Chestnut was playing nearby but sadly it was on my Meet the Teacher night. It truly was a hard decision. Hearing All my Old Flames Have New Names live or the career that I'll have forever?

I'm officially rambling and done now. Will update again soon!

Changes

Summer is going by so quick but there are so many fun things happening around here. Most importantly, we found a house! A few weeks ago I got an email from Dad that said our friend Doug had gotten some info about a house for rent and gave me the phone number. I drove down the street, didn't think it was a very good neighborhood and didn't think about it anymore. Last week, Chelsea was in town and after a few frustrating days of looking I figured I would call and see what happened. We met the lady at the house and walked in and it was furnished. The house was perfect but we don't need or want somebody else's furniture. We hurried through the visit and pretty much marked it off the list and went to meet a real estate agent we've been working with at a house about nine miles out of town on a huge piece of property that was beautiful. We really liked having the space and the layout and room size was perfect for us but the location and price wasn't so great. On Thursday as we contemplated moving forward with that property, the lady called me about the furnished house offering to move the furniture out. The rest is history. We move in on Saturday. I'm so relieved for this part of our grownup life to be over. Well, over for a year at least.

My classroom is coming along really well. I'm working on lesson plans some (not near as much as I should be) and starting to get some organizational stuff put together. I'm really getting nervous that I'm going to not think of something important but I know everything will eventually pan out fine. My sweet Aunt Kim made the valances for my windows and I'm so sad I don't have a picture but they turned out really cute.
Caroline put my calendar up the other day and I hung the alphabet. We had to take a picture of our first official finished project. At just 9 years old, she's all about some classroom decorating. She asks me everyday if we're going to work at my school today. I'll post more pics hopefully by the end of the week when I get some more done up there.

Lastly, I'm so excited about the way cheap, easy and quick project I did that I just have to share. I spent part of Saturday morning in Hobby Lobby. While I was wandering around I saw this lamp. I've looked online trying to find a picture of it but couldn't. Anyway, the base was black and the shade was red. Around the top and bottom there was a thin leopard print piping and a leopard print ribbon tied from the top the bottom. It was darling! I immediately decided that I was adding red and leopard print to my current brown and white room decor. I was set on the lamp until I picked it up and saw the $60+ price tag. I tried to think of ways to make it work but couldn't bring myself to buy it. It wasn't long before I was in "make it myself mode." I went right over the ribbon section and snatched up a spool of leopard and headed across the parking lot to Pier 1. They had throw pillows and lamps on sale and with a little bow tying this is how it turned out. Sorry for the poor quality (and mess on my table.) It's from my phone.
I wish the lamp shade was red but I think with the red pillow and my brown and white duvet it will be perfect. I've had a lot of room designs through the years and I'm thinking this one just might be my favorite. I'll post lost of pics when it's done.

Dodge These Bullets

There is so much to update I think the easiest way to go about such an extensive post is to just go with the bullets. Sorry it's the best I can do for today.

• Chelsea, Aaron and I are still looking for a house. We found out today we were too late applying for the one we wanted. Starting the search over at square one.
• I realized last week that I could buy a house and make payments for what I'm paying in rent. The idea of renting knowing I will probably be in this same position in a year makes me ill. Nobody will give me a loan to buy though so I guess it's not the right time.
• I'm house sitting a few nights over the next two weeks. I told Christina it wasn't a great time for me to stay the whole two weeks but would come in and out. Until I got here a little while ago I forgot how much I love it. I might stay more than I planned.
• I moved my stuff to my classroom but still have a lot of work to do. I plan on working up there tomorrow. I'm fixing to start working on lesson plans and have in service next week. It's all really here and happening quick.
• In anticipation of moving sometime in the near future I did a huge over haul on my closet last week. I still feel very accomplished about that.
• In spite of the triple digit temps I have a Canton craving like never before. I "need" some things in a bad way. My mom refuses to go in the heat and I'm pretty sure my friends will agree but it's really all I want to do for my birthday.
• Cate, Henry, Maggie and Walt are taking swim lessons this week. Half of Walt's lesson today was spent clinging to me as I sat on the edge of the pool and the teacher tried to coax him into the water while he was yelling, "I want to see Ms. Eee Ann!" and reaching for me. I snuck away and I'm not sure how much was really accomplished.
• Potty training update from my last post: Several tee tees on the potty but no number twos. Lots of accidents....
• My sister is crazier about her summer job at Water Town than I thought any one person could ever be about anything involving work. Mom had to make her take a day off yesterday to rest or she would have gone in. She's so tan it looks like she needs a bath and her hair is completely sun bleached white.

Did you survive that? Sorry for the lack of pictures and the overall lameness of my blog lately. I'm looking into ways to spice things up and motivate myself to do better. Keep checking back!