All Manner of Pressing Issues

Our public pool opened its door this evening to its 4-legged friends. Olivia and her friend, Chester had a blast!

Oh and while I’m here… We had a FANTASTIC first day of school. My students are so, so sweet and enthusiastic. So looking forward to this year!

So I did a little more work in my classroom on Friday. I’m not finished yet but am getting closer. 3 of my days this week are consumed with all day meetings, but hopefully the other two days I can get into my classroom and wrap up the loose ends on the decorating and organizing. I am ready to hit the ground running with planning and back to school paper work.

I realize the yellow bulletin board paper combined with the yellow shelf is a little overkill. I’ll change the paper in October, so surely we can live with it for a few weeks!

I’m excited about the computer table set up. I thought that turned out nicely. The table cloth has owls on it–our school mascot.

Please ignore the clutter around the sink (I’m working on it) and focus on the cute little rug. I found it at Target for $1! Its lifespan may be 2 weeks, but I thought it was too cute to pass up.

I posted all of my calendar math materials on the whiteboard but am thinking that I am going to do calendar on our SMART board this year. If I decide to do that, I’ll try to post the SMART board lesson here so others can use it.

I really love the arrangement of my classroom this year. I think it’s my favorite of all my years of teaching.

I’m hoping my class size is 20 because that’s how many students I have room for at the tables. I know I’ll have more than 20, so I need to quit hoping and just make room for another table. Not sure how that’s going to work but I’ll make it happen.

I’m putting myself and Olivia through back to work boot camp. I’m back into my house cleaning and menu planning/cooking routine. Luckily, I kept a workout schedule throughout the summer that I can maintain during the school year, so nothing new there. However, Olivia is adjusting to evening instead of morning walks. I’ve gotten a few dirty looks from her in the mornings, but otherwise she’s been adjusting beautifully.

I have a meeting tomorrow, but look forward to working in my classroom Wednesday!

My cooking endeavor was neither a total failure or a total success. The chicken was delicious, the artichokes weren’t quite right and the cake was downright disgusting. I read each recipe several times before I even made my shopping list and read the recipes through again before I started cooking. I have no idea where I went wrong on the artichokes unless I didn’t cook them long enough or maybe didn’t cut enough leaves off. The cake was more like the texture of a brownie and the icing was off. I must admit I left the salt out of the cake by accident, but followed the icing recipe exactly. Not sure what happened there. I had a fun time in the kitchen and I suppose that’s what matters most. I didn’t even go to the grocery store until 6pm, so the lesson learned here is to not attack 3 new recipes at 7pm.

I didn’t get a picture of the cake. It’s in the trash can. I deemed it inedible but my husband choked down one slice. Bless his heart.

Today I spent some time working at school. This is only the second time in starting six years of teaching that I have not had to move my classroom. I cannot believe how easy the beginning of the year set up is when I’m not having to sort through another teacher’s “treasures” and make room for my own. I am not finished yet, but I made progress today! Didn’t take me anytime!

Here is the “before”:

And here is evidence of the progress I made:

It felt so good to be back in my classroom today. I enjoyed arranging and decorating and thinking about all the little people who will be spending their first grade year in our classroom. First grade is such fun and I am enjoying making our classroom a special place for my students! Oh, and in a few days I will have a SMART board where that brown board is in front of our carpet area  (above the red stool)!!

This is the little area I am most excited about. I’m not quite finished with it yet, but hopefully will be by tomorrow or Monday. I will put plants on top of the L shaped bookshelf on the right which houses the books for our classroom library. The bookshelf on the left will have a curtain over the front. This is where I meticulously file the books I pull to use for lessons and read alouds. The books are filed in plastic bins. It’s a convenient system that works well for me. I should post about it someday. The children’s chair that is in front of the desk will be moved out of the way of the desk so that a student could use the desk as a workspace while another student reads.  I use the Daily 5 method for my literacy block, so students work independently all over the classroom throughout the morning.

There is a lot I can’t do at school until I get my class list. So, until then I’ll put paper and border on my bulletin boards, get my calendar set up and work on putting curtains on all of my open bookshelves. I keep things on the shelves labeled and very organized, but it still doesn’t look good, so I’m putting up curtains. That’s on tomorrow’s agenda.

My mind is in full-fledged “back to school” mode. The fall is one of my favorite times of year. Bring on those sweet little enthusiastic first graders!!

I am sitting at the airport waiting to board a flight to Boston. My students left today at 3:41 and I walked out of my classroom at 4:00. Whew! What a busy day. We had a great day together and all of my end-of-the-year paperwork and chores are complete!

I’m looking forward to a great time in Boston. I’ll keep you posted. I may find myself beached at the pool tomorrow if there is an outdoor pool at our hotel.

The title explains how I feel about how many days of school we have left. We have 7 more days with students. Too many days left in the sense that this time last year Id been on summer vacation for almost 2 weeks. Not enough days left in the sense that I’m not ready to say goodbye to the little ones (they remind me often that they’re not ‘little’) that have stolen my heart!… Not to mention the end of the year paperwork and chores that must be accomplished with no teacher work days.

So last weekend I spent the majority of Saturday in my chaise lounge in the backyard. I planned a menu, made a grocery list, knitted, read, slept, watched birds and played ball with Olivia. I wound up getting the idea that I wanted to get out of town and do something. Long story short, I talked Richard into taking me to the beach next weekend.

I was so excited I couldn’t sleep. I had in mind to return to the beach where my mother and I went last summer. I decided to do some research. There are many beaches within a couple of hours of DC. After doing research (read google), I changed the original plan and we are going to Assateague Island. I am so excited I can hardly stand it. Check it out on yelp: assateague island near Ocean City,MD. I cannot wait to collect seashells!! Would you believe that Monday morning I walked through our library at school and there was a book about Assateague Island (complete with a picture of one of the wild ponies birthing a colt) on display??

I have 7 days of school left. I’m really trying to stay serious with my kids (I’m still having guided reading groups and giving homework!!) but in my mind all I can think about is Assateague, Boston, getting up for 6 am (vs 5am) summer runs and yard work! Ready to get my summer started!

We are nearing the end of our school year which means things at work are very busy for me. The end of the year is filled with assessments, fun activities and mixed emotions!

I’m embarassed to admit this, but I really don’t remember the last real meal I cooked. I hope Richard does. We have 11 more school days left and then hopefully I can get back into my normal cooking routine. Actually, the day I get out of school, Richard and I are flying to Boston for the week. It really hasn’t registered with me yet that we’re going, so I haven’t looked up anything fun to do. I’ll do that soon. I do know we’re spending a few days at Cape Cod. I’m super excited about that! Olivia isn’t coming in case you’re wondering. She’ll be at the doggie daycare place. They have a boarding service there as well as the daycare. She loves it! If she’s happy, we’re happy!

Our yard is really looking good. We’re enjoying it a lot. A few nights ago it was cool (70s) in the evening so Olivia and I sat outside on the chaise lounge. It was really nice. Our friends gave us a birdfeeder and we have tons of feathered friends! Olivia falls all over herself getting out the back door to chase birds and squirrels. We keep saying we’re going to video tape her but we haven’t done it yet.

Gotta go. It’s 9:00. The Office is coming on.

It was a beautiful day today and my classroom was a bazillion degrees, so I decided to pack up my students’ materials and go outside to complete some of our afternoon lessons. Most of my students live in high rise apartment buildings, so exploring outside isn’t something they get to do on a regular basis.  While we were in our school’s outdoor classroom, one of my students discovered this caterpillar. I had to bring it inside the classroom for us so we can watch it change into a butterfly!

Ok. So I have to tell on myself. Last night I heard my phone buzz that I had a text message. I got my phone out of my purse and noticed it was a little wet (slight water bottle leak). I dried it off and read the text. No big deal. Well, later I was bathing Olivia and took a picture of her to send to Richard (he’s out of town) and right after I snapped the picture, my phone died. The low battery indicator wasn’t on and I had hardly used my phone at all yesterday. I immediately thought I had fried my phone (water bottle leak).  I tried to plug it in to charge it and the phone was nonresponsive. I unplugged it thinking if it was wet on the inside, attaching the phone to electricity was probably not the best idea.

So, this morning I finally got the guts to tell Richard I fried my phone. I thought better to tell him now so he can be irritated a thousand or so miles away rather than in our house and so by the time he gets home tonight he’ll be slightly over it. He wasn’t irritated actually, but he told me what to do. So, I took the phone to the Apple store this evening after I left school. Well, bad day to go apparently since some special version of the ipad came out today. I waited in line and then was escorted into the store. It was crazy how busy they were. So the girl takes my phone to the back to work her magic. She came back out and said, “It looks like your battery was just really low.”

This is where I felt like a major moron. Taking my phone to the Apple store for a dead battery is like taking my vehicle to the dealership because I’m out of gas!!!! We got a good laugh out of it and she assured me I wasn’t the only person who made this mistake.

The good news is that we don’t have to fork over major bucks for a new phone!

Olivia and I just enjoyed some edamame and now we’re off for a walk!

Spring is officially here! We had one weekend of lots of rain. I actually kind of enjoyed that because it forced me to slow down (sort of like the snow). Then we had two consecutive weekends of gorgeous weather. It has been heavenly! We’ve been working in the yard and enjoying being outside.  We’ve both had some allergy issues, but thankfully this week that’s clearing up. Zyrtec is a miracle drug. Oh, I better mention this…  Richard built the two flower beds on either side of the door and we planted grass seed in the dirt area. I dug up what felt like 10 million flower bulbs out of the front yard. I transplanted as many as I could stand and now I have a 5 gallon bucket full of bulbs. I think I’ll take the rest to school tomorrow. I want to read about how to root that Forsythia. I absolutely love it!

I apologize for the horrific photography (like that dashboard in the picture?). I took this with my phone while driving. Well, I wasn’t actually driving because I stopped in the middle of the street to snap the photo! These trees are on my way to school and I was convinced today that we’re one rain storm away from losing the blossoms, so I had to snap a picture. I *love* the bright pink against the bright green Weeping Willow.

Olivia helped us work in the yard (which is solid dirt right now). It was hot out and I hosed her down with the water hose just for fun and she, of course, immediately rolled around in the dirt! We planted grass seed in the area where she is sitting.

I thought my new rain boots would be great for working in the yard. I was right. It’s a little embarrassing going in the front yard with them on with shorts, but they get the job done. In the strip between the soon-to-be grassy area and then fence, I planted hostas, caladiums and elephant ears. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will be as pretty as I am envisioning. We’ve still got a ton of work to do, but we’ve gotten a lot accomplished, too.

The flowers and herbs I started indoors in the peat pots are starting to sprout! I’m so excited! The geraniums have really taken off. I am eager for consistently warm days so I can really get a move on with the planting. Our Home Depot for some crazy reason has tons of pansies for sell right now–and the worst part is that people are buying them! I don’t understand why anyone would plant pansies this time of year. I’m holding out for spring/summer flowers!

My most recent garden purchase was a humming bird feeder. It’s copper with red flowers for the birds to drink from. It’s really pretty, but I haven’t had any customers yet. Hopefully they’ll come soon!

Spring Break is this coming week for me. It really snuck up on me. I thought the time between Winter Break and Spring Break would feel like an eternity, but it’s here and the wait wasn’t as painful as expected. My only plans are to spend time with friends and enjoy being home!