To-Do this and To-Do that!

If one more person hands me another piece of paperwork to do, I may have to slap them!!!! I want to scream I am only one person!!! (and it isn't just me - I am organized - imagine how the unorganized teachers are stressing! No offense to the unorganized!!) It is just insane how much paperwork they are piling up on us AND AT THE LAST MINUTE!! URGH!!!! I feel like my head is spinning, and that I am constantly forgetting something...you know that feeling when you have so much to do that you feel like you forgot something? Maybe it's just me!

Tonight I had to work until 7 o'clock again for a workshop for my summer school I am teaching. I get a 3 day break and then back to the grind (But, I LOVE teaching summer school!). The workshop until 7 o'clock at this time of year is just too much to focus on!! Luckily, only one more next week on that!

Tomorrow is Friday ~ thank goodness!!! But I know my nerves will be shot by the end of the day. Our school doesn't get to have field day this year b/c someone embezzled all the PTA money!??!!! So....being the softie that I am, I didn't think it was fair for my kiddo's to suffer b/c of some selfish moron, SOOOO....I am having a "make-shift" field day all day tomorrow with my kiddo's. Call me crazy!! I will (hopefully) get some peace and quiet in the afternoon. I am projecting the movie "A Night at the Museum" from my laptop on the overhead like a big screen tv....that ought to wow them into silence...right?

After I make it through tomorrow afternoon, I am on the road to see my honey!! And I am putting off ALL work for a few days!!

Teacher Stuff

Thanks to Trina, I have discovered another teacher's blog to read! It is always good to read other teacher's stories so you don't feel so alone! ha! I had to copy one of her posts from earlier in the week b/c it is SO TRUE!! Enjoy ~ even if you aren't a teacher! :-)

YOU might be a school employee if....
...you believe the playground should be equipped with Ritalin salt lick
...you want to slap the next person who says, "Must be nice to work 8 to 3:30 and have summers off (OMG YES. If you added up all the hours during the summer...yes we do work during the summer and all the hours after school, nights, and weekends then we'd probably work more than most 9-5ers.)
..it is difficult to name your own child because there's no name you can come up with that doesn't bring high blood pressure as it is uttered
...you can tell it's a full moon or if it going to rain, snow, hail....anything!!! Without ever looking outside
...you believe, "shallow gene pool" should have its own box on a report card
...you believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says, "Boy, the kids sure are mellow today."
...when out in public, you feel the urge to snap your fingers at children you do not know and correct their behavior
...you have no social life between August and June
...you think people should have a government permit before being allowed to reproduce
...you wonder how some parents MANAGED to reproduce
...you laugh uncontrollably when people refer to the staff room as the "lounge."
...you encourage an obnoxious parent to check into charter schools or home schooling and are willing to donate the UHAUL boxes should they decided to move out of district
...you think caffeine should be available in intravenous form
...you can't imagine how the ACLU could think that covering your students chair with Velcro and then requiring uniforms made out of the corresponding Velcro could ever be misunderstood by the public
...meeting a child's parent instantly answers the question, "Why is this kid like this?"
...you would choose a mammogram over a parent conference
...you think someone should invent antibacterial pencils and crayons...and desks and chairs for that matter!!!
...the words "I have college debt for this?" has ever come out of your mouth

Yay for 3 day weekends!!

And boo that it's over! LOL! I had a great weekend!! And now you get to hear all about it! hee-hee! (that is, if you keep reading!)
First of all Friday night was my monthly girls scrappin' night. It was a small group this time, but still yummy food, good girl talk, and we even got some scrappin' done AND helped Sandy's hubby surprise her with an awesome birthday gift. Check it out!

I can't remember the exact name of this bad boy (Sandy tell us in the comments!!), but it is AWESOME!! You type in what you want to say, and it cuts it out of your paper for you....needless to say, Troy was the hero of scrapbook night! There are different cartridges you buy with different fonts, and he even took her to get two new ones the next day! Happy Birthday to Sandy!

Friday I also got to pick my first veggie from the garden Kevin planted (and then hauled butt back home and left me in charge of! ha!) Look how much it has grown in 2 months! I think we planted it at the end of March? I could be wrong...I would have to look back through my blog and I'm too lazy right now! :-) Zucchini anyone?

And aren't the baby squash and tomatoes cute?

YUM! We got to pick a squash and two more zucchini by Sunday. I have a feeling I will be calling on neighbors and friends saying come get some veggies!!

I have said many times that Kevin is an awesome cook...well, he took the zucchini and squash Sunday night and whipped up this DELICIOUS meal!! He made stuffed zucchini/squash with chicken, mushrooms, and cheese ~ YUUUMMMM!!!

In between yard work and cooking, we also popped up the new camper in the garage and loaded her up for summer camping. I made a list of some stuff we need before the June trip, and I am ready to camp!!! You can expect many pics from camping!!

TV anyone?

Sure...what channel you wanna watch?"SIMBA!!!!"

PS. I believe this is lizard #5!! And counting....

Skating Fun

I wanted to share a few pics from our field trip last Friday ~ the skating trip for all the good citizenship kiddo's. We had a blast!! Since tomorrow is Friday AND scrapbook night, it reminded me I hadn't loaded these pics yet. Here are just a few: This one is me, Dasia (who is really cute in person but WON'T smile for pictures b/c she hates her smile!), Qunesha (who hams it up everytime she sees the camera!!) and Jimmy (my teaching neighbor who has helped me out ALOT with my "anger" boys this year!!)

And Jazzymn and Destiny ~ aka Ms. Talk-a-Lot & "I broke into my Mom's email! (remember that story? LOL!)

And this is the sweetest picture of the day!! Charles helping Kayla learn to skate!! We all tried and bless her heart she hung onto that wall ALL day ~ this is towards the end when she was getting a little braver!!

Uh-Oh!

Well...CRAP!! First a snake, my kiddo's are HYPER at school, and now a flat tire! Tires - yuck! This is such boy stuff! ha! Luckily, I made it home, and I don't know how low it was while I was driving home. My friend, Laura, stopped by to pick up her scrappin' bag and noticed it! Thank you Laura!!!! Otherwise, I know I would've driven on it to TaMolly's for dinner tonight. I am so frazzled with all the stuff that I have to do for end of the year that I can't keep up with anything right now!

So...with a boyfriend living 3 hours away, I had to phone-a-husband to borrow! :-) Thank you Sandy for loaning out your honey to come rescue me!!

And the biggest THANK YOU to Troy for changing my flat tire!!! I couldn't have made to TaMolly's without you! LOL!

Now, I am ready for my 3 day weekend please!!! I have a snake to find, a tire to get patched, and a couch calling my name!!!!

Tag ~ You're It!

Got this tag from (the mad) Household of Indemini Capri. Go check out her blog! If you scroll down to her last Thursday's post, you will see some of the funniest cat pics!! She could win a contest with those!

OK - here goes - the tag is:
8 Random Things About Yourself:

1. I love to sing and dance, but I can't do either! So, I only do either one when I am by myself or with kids. My kids at school think I can sing! LOL!

2. I am very competitive. I hate to lose!

3. If I won the lottery, I would open some sort of animal rescue sanctuary. (no big surprise there I'm sure! ha!)

4. I am not athletic at all. I am actually very clumsy...I can fall down just walking along!

5. I like shopping for house stuff much more than clothes! But I am not a big shopper either way ~ it's gotta be a bargain too!

6. I LOVE projects around the house. (There it is Kevin - you have been warned!! hee-hee)

7. I am told that I have alot of patience. I don't think so sometimes, but other teachers at school seem to think I have more patience than most with troubled kids. I guess I could see that, but put me in the wrong line at Target or behind a slow car in the fast lane ~ NO patience here! :-0)

8. I have not given up on my happily ever after... :-) (No pressure Kevin! LOL!)

Now, I tag L-Girl and Tasha!!

I. Have. A. Snake!!!

Ok ... I am FREAKING out a little!! I can handle bugs and lizards and spiders, but NOT snakes!!

Yesterday I noticed a small part of a snake skin floating in my pond. (I convinced myself and let Kevin help convince me that it just blew in there!) Today I found a BUNCH of big snake skin in the pond where it had obviously swam in and out of one of the plants to shed the skin.

Now, WHERE IS HE???? I. AM. FREAKING. OUT!!!!

What if he is under the deck and comes out to take a swim and eat my fish when no one is looking? What if Simba tries to catch him - this ain't no baby snake skin!!! WHAT IF??? Dare I say it...the doggie door!!???

I am sick to my stomach now!!!!

Sidebar news...

CHECK OUT MY ADDITIONS TO MY SIDEBAR!!

I am sooo excited! You know it's the little things in life that get me going! ha!
My ex-hubby is a programmer, and we worked on this for at least 2 hours. Hats off to all programmers & Lindsay - I don't know how you whip out a whole new blog in just hours!!

HUGE THANKS to Alan for helping me!!! I sure didn't know what all that stuff meant (and still don't!) But, I think I can change my profile pic by myself now...so I did learn something AND the links to my 100 things about me and you might not know - I did those all by myself! After he told me it was the same as adding a favorite read. Who would've thought!?!

My favorite new addition is a slideshow in the sidebar!! That is what gave us fits for so long. But, we (or rather Alan) figured it out! Yay!

To sum it up, we deleted one line between the quotes and added a slideshow.
We changed my picture and added two new links under the profile.
Sounds easy right? HA!

So, please, feel free to oohh and aahhh over the new stuff in my sidebar! LOL!

I spend too much time on the computer! ha!

This was my result - now why can't I look like her too???!! LOL! Did anyone catch the session finale last night? Is George leaving? I'll be so sad!! I guess Dr. Burke is out? And, Lexi Grey? How are we supposed to wait for the answers!! :-)

Which Grey's Anatomy Character Are You?

You are Isobel Stevens. You are very sensitive and sympathetic, yet sometimes you let your feelings get in the way of the bigger picture
Take this quiz!








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Takin' a break...

I am trying to mow, and it is kicking my butt! Kevin just basically "baled the hay" in the back-40 on Saturday b/c it was so tall!!! I have had to go over the backyard twice!! My BFF, Michelle, called and gave me one break. Now, I need another and I haven't even started on the front yet!! What better way to take a break than to blog! LOL! I have decided that I HATE mowing - the neighbor yardboy more than earns his money. I am not mowing again after today! (I have said this before, and then I'll be broke at some point and stupidly decide to mow. After which, I will decide no matter how broke I am, I will find the money to pay yardboy! ha!)

In school news, we have a field trip to go skating tomorrow. It is a behavior incentive field trip, and I get to go and have fun with my good children who behave on a daily basis. The others have to stay at school and work! How relaxing/tiring (I mean I did say field trip) tomorrow will be! I will try to get some pics, but you know, I'll be skating with the kiddo's most of the time! Last year, I tried to get fancy with one of my fav sassy girls and fell and busted my butt real good! LOL! I even had bruises! I'll be more careful this time!

Only 13 more school days!!!! Doesn't seem possible!!!

OK, OK, I'm going to mow the front before the neighbors decide to kick me out of the neighborhood!!

Just being goofy...

Flip Flop Mamma told me to do it! :-) (I picked the song b/c it's the last weeks of school! hee-hee!) It was fun - you do it too! Press play and watch me go!


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Our Mom's day craft

I went with L-Girl's idea over at So Much To Do... I mean, if you visit her site, her template alone tells you how creative she is! :-) Thanks for the help and numerous emails of questions!! Here are some pics of my kiddo's making their gifts. They LOVED it! We also used the website she sent me to make cards. It was fun - I wish I had taken more pics! The last one is a little blurry - my battery was going dead - but it was one of my favorites.

My yard hero...

Kevin saved the day on Saturday!! What are good boyfriends for? hee-hee! He rescued me from an out-of- control backyard AND is leaving his mower at my house so it won't happen again! Hooray!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

A few oldies first...

What Is a Mother?
A mother can be almost any size or any age, but she won't admit to anything over thirty. A mother has soft hands and smells good. A mother likes new dresses, music, a clean house, her children's kisses, an automatic washer and Daddy.

A mother doesn't like having her children sick, muddy feet, temper tantrums, loud noise or bad report cards. A mother can read a thermometer (much to the amazement of Daddy) and like magic, can kiss a hurt away.

A mother can bake good cakes and pies but likes to see her children eat vegetables. A mother can stuff a fat baby into a snowsuit in seconds and can kiss sad little faces and make them smile.

A mother is underpaid, has long hours and gets very little rest. She worries too much about her children but she says she doesn't mind at all. And no matter how old her children are, she still likes to think of them as her little babies.

She is the guardian angel of the family, the queen, the tender hand of love. A mother is the best friend anyone ever had. A mother is love.
- Author Unknown

Uh-oh!!!

one week of rain

+

one weekend out of town

+

another week of showers EVERYDAY as soon as I get home from school

=

Oh no! How am I gonna mow this backyard!!??!!

I will take your pity b/c I am feeling sorry for myself already! ha!

If you don't hear from me by Monday, I probably passed out or injured myself trying to mow this horse pasture of a backyard!!

Random Thoughts...

I can't believe it is already Wednesday!! This week has been almost as crazy as last week...it is just the end of the school year - BUSY!! I have decided I need a personal assistant in the months of May and August for school close-out and beginning of the year! I can't keep up!! Anyone interested? It doesn't pay well! ha!

Also, Please tell me why it is raining EVERYDAY at 3:30 just when I get home so I can't mow?!?! And now...my backyard looks like one of my Mom's horse pastures, and I don't know how I am going to mow it anyway!

I am trying to come up with a neat idea for my kids to make their Mom's for Mother's day...all you crafty folks have any inexpensive, neat, EASY ideas for a 3rd grade class? I am brain dead!

I warned you this was random...ha! I have had one of my roughest years in the classroom this year and wanted it to be over I don't know how many times, but now that there are only 19 days left, I am a little sad! I can't believe it! (really, I can b/c I cry every year on the last day of school!) But, now that my troubled child is out of the room, I have really enjoyed and bonded with my kids...and now it's almost over! :-( oh boy, I must have PMS!!!! ha!

And lastly, thank goodness that Billy Ray finally got booted from Dancing with the Stars last night! It is down to my final 4 favs from the beginning! I actually voted this week for the first time - I am lovin' Apolo and his partner - they ROCK! Did you catch their dance this week? WOW!!!!

Benefit of a small town...

I went to see Kevin this weekend & the town he is living in right now is SMALL!! If you blink driving through, you will miss it! There isn't even a stoplight!! His Mom says they don't need one b/c everyone already knows where everyone else is going! LOL! Ok - you got the picture...

I have been struggling for almost 2 months now to get my hitch installed on my Jeep and the wiring done, so I can finally pull my pop-up camper I bought. Apparently, all I needed to do was visit the Napa store in Small Town USA!! Why didn't someone share this little tid-bit?

Kevin's friend runs the Napa store, so Kevin went ahead and got the part Dad said I needed to finish up my wiring last weekend. His friend told him any idiot could do it, so Kevin decided to try it himself. Realizing quickly that any idiot couldn't do it, we headed up to the Napa store for assistance from his buddy. They are both under the Jeep grunting like Tim the Tool Man Taylor & decide it isn't the right part. URGH! They can't do it after all...does that make them idiots? ha!

So....remember - we are in Small Town USA, the customer at the counter is also wiring his lights for his hitch, and the next thing you know, HE is under the Jeep trying to figure it out....then HIS dad gets in on the action. His Dad says he can wire it up for us...are we in a hurry?... why don't we just follow him back to his place and he'll take care of it. HELLO!?!! Is he for real? Yep...he was! He wired it up in no time and only charged us $20!!! This stuff NEVER happens in the city ... gotta give some points up for the small town! :-)

Toot! Toot!

Bare with me while I toot my own horn for a bit! LOL!

Got some good news this week & want to share:
*I got the call that I got the summer job I interviewed for! Yay! Teaching summer school was a blast last year & several of the same teachers are coming back!! It's only 5 weeks and only 4 days a week...keeps me from getting bored and spending too much money! ha! AND, I still manage to get a whole month off before school starts.

*I just checked my Masters class webCT, and I made a 90% on my final (which is actually a B in her class - 93% and above is an A). BUT, when I averaged up all my grades, it was just enough for an A in the class, which means I still have a 4.0 in my graduate classes!! hip-hip hooray! That first B is gonna kill me! ha!

*And, just an aside, because I am proud of myself for this - something I've never been able to do before - I have read my Bible everyday for over 3 weeks now. Kevin got me this GREAT Bible for my birthday & it puts it all where I can GET it! Thanks Kevin!!!

Ok- that's enough horn tootin' from me! LOL!
Oh & thanks for all the advice on Friday!! I decided to leave the skate trip decision up to her parents. Whatever they decide, I will honor. Her Daddy was NOT a happy camper, so she was in BIG trouble! :-)

Opinions Please!!

My final is over - I don't really having a feeling about it one way or the other, but I'll let you know when I find out how I did! :-)

Now...down to business...I need honest Mommy opinions please! One of my 3rd grade girls went to the library yesterday for free flow (meaning taking a hallpass and going by herself - not with the whole class). She met up with a boy from another class while in the library. The book section for most 2nd and 3rd grade books is the back corner, and they can easily make themselves not seen. So...they kissed in the back corner of the library. GREAT! What do I do with this??? We weren't kissing when I was in 3rd grade. I think I would be upset if it were my daughter, but I don't know b/c I don't have kiddo's. I emailed the parents to let them know what happened & told them she wouldn't be allowed to go to the library by herself anymore. I also took away her skating trip in a few weeks (that is a good behavior incentive field trip). Was that too harsh or am I just too soft?

So...what do you think? For this age, big deal or no big deal? Punishment too harsh or not enough?

What a week!!! LOL!

Just Breathe....

Ok...I am not as cranky as I was yesterday or even this morning! Thank goodness ~ I hope it's passed b/c I hate being cranky! It has just been one of those weeks where I felt I was buried under too much to do & couldn't see the way out!!! The end-of-year assessments and reports at work this year are crazy!! I had three pretty big things due at work this week, plus my final for my Masters class tomorrow night. My stress level was pretty high and then little things that go wrong seem bigger. You know how that goes? For instance, the lady who forgot how to drive in the rain this morning and ran me off the interstate would have only stopped me singing to the radio for a few minutes on any other day, but this morning...I was already cranky, so it just set my day into motion! What is it about drivers in the rain? And, for some odd reason, the CD player in my car decided to NOT work this morning??? I haven't even had time to look and see what the deal is with that, but it better not be a big deal b/c I don't have the money to spend on it! And...that is a whole other worry (I still need a new lawnmower and my hitch done AND house insurance is due! It's never ending!).
Luckily, my BFF was in town tonight to see her newborn niece! After getting to visit with her and her making me laugh, I am all better! (Thanks Michelle!!) The rest will all work out, it always does...except this final that I should be studying for RIGHT now! ha! I guess I had better get going...

Weekend Pics

I will post a true post tomorrow...I am cranky today & you wouldn't want to listen to me anyway! Is it the weekend yet? ha!