Light at the end of the tunnel

This weekend we made a lot of progress on the bookshelves and are almost done. 

The finished shelves before painting.

Scott finished sanding everything so yesterday I started painting.  I had to paint back over the back wall where he had calked and then edge the shelves.  That took about 3 hours!  Toward the end, I had to get Scott to finish, my hand was aching so much.  The actual "painting" took no time at all with the roller. But then, I had to go back and repaint some of the back wall where we got shelf paint on it.  It's a never ending cycle of touching up!

Scott finishing the edge work.  Isn't he so good to me?  Notice the window seat.  I will be able to store all of my gift wrapping supplies in there.  I can't wait!

Yes, I know, I missed a spot on the back wall.  When I was painting originally, the speakers were in the way, but you can't really tell anyway with them in place.

Scott cut my craft desk down to the new size.  It is so nice to have my craft desk back!

Now for the hard part.  Being patient and waiting 2 weeks to make sure the paint is good and cured before putting books and stuff on them.  And then, I will be in organization heaven!  I can't wait!  But I have to.  Oh the torture!

Me and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week

I woke up with a tummy ache on Saturday so I couldn't get my massage and I didn't get any work done except for 5 loads of laundry and balancing the checkbook and when I tried to get caught up on Monday, which was Labor Day, I ended up spending most of the day doing school work and not enjoying the labor free day after all and I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week.
My husband got sick and couldn't do any work around the house, and I was a grump because of it because the house is a mess and the office has wood chips and sawdust all over the carpet and I feel like these book shelves will never get done and my books are all over the floor and my craft stuff is who knows where.  I think I'll move to Australia.
I was a big dope and planned French club on a day that I had to work late for a school event and it was cheese tasting day to boot so I had to cut all these little pieces of cheese and get everything ready at 7:00 in the morning before the kids got there, then my students were naughty all day and drove me crazy and I had to stay until 8:30 at night watching even more rowdy kids (and one cute little toddler) and somehow get them to watch a movie and not spill popcorn and water all over the place (once I opened half of the bottles) and all I could do was go home and sit down on the couch feeling pooped.  I was having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week.
I spilled my cereal on the floor this morning.  I hate spilling my cereal. I started to cry, and Scott looked at me like I was crazy and I said something about working too much this week as I cleaned up the mess.  When I went to go to the physical therapist, I made the wrong choice and got on US1 where traffic was backed up for miles and going nowhere and even though I left the house with plenty of time I was 15 minutes late and only got 45 minutes in and they made me ride on a stationary bike.  I hate riding on the stationary bike.
Then I rushed home to take a shower and rush off to work where my kids had been good all morning for the sub but the minute I got there they started acting up and I got all frustrated and cards were getting turned everywhere and it was time for lunch and I almost forgot.  It has been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week. 
Sigh...some weeks are like that.  Even in Australia.

Adventures on Track in Day

Some of you may wonder (or maybe not) what its like for me to track in four times a year.  This time I took some pictures.  I'm always moving into another teacher's classroom.  There is a period of time where both of us have stuff in the room and it's a mess everywhere.

When I came in yesterday morning at 7:00, this is what the room looked like.  The other teacher had already pulled a bunch of my stuff off of the track out room shelves so she could put her stuff on them.  Basically, you have everything set up to be easily put up and down.  Pocket charts, stick on magnets, tri-fold presentation boards, rolling carts.  There still is a lot of work putting things up, and a lot of teachers don't bother to do as much "decorating" because of it. 
I finally finished setting up around 6:45 in the evening.  Not bad, considering I had meetings half of the day.

This is the view of the room from behind my desk. 

Got this idea off of Pinterest (got addicted to that thing over track out).  I dare my little cuties to try and move their desks now!

Notice my desk accessories.  I got tired of the old random plastic stuff and decided to pretty it up.  Love the Container Store!  The kids baskets are ready to be filled with books!  One thing to make track in and out easier is all of the teachers have the sticky side of Velcro stickers on the backs of the cubbies.  Then we all put the fuzzy side on our own cubby tags.  When its time to track in and out, just pull 'em off or stick em on in seconds!

This is the view of my desk from the other side.  I found the owl wall sticker at Target.  School desks are so ugly, but this makes it cute!  Notice my big black cart.  I invested in that years ago, tired of packing up all of my math manipulatives and what not every single time.  The funny thing is, the idea spread and a lot of teachers now have their own!

This is one side of my double sided book shelf.  I lucked into acquiring it a few years ago when it used to be a grade level cart and the items were moved elsewhere.  These are my personal books, organized by genre.  On the top shelf is a framed "I Pick" sign.  I also made a little photo album of pictures of my kids through the years. 

My word catcher, waiting to catch some vocabulary words.  Each week I read a book and choose good vocabulary words to focus on.  Last year, my kids loved "catching" words in their own reading to add to the word wall.  It got so overwhelming, I had to give them their own "word catcher" books to keep in their reading baskets!

My CAFE board is easy to put up and take down for track out.  We will be setting goals next week.

My "carpet area."  I got the ideas for the seats off of Pinterest (again).  I had leftover striped fabric from my window cornices and Scott cut the boards from leftover wood from our book case project.  My Daily 5 I-charts have inspiring words "create" and "imagine."  My rocking chair folds up easily and I put it on top of my cart for track out.

Check out the desks.  I've never arranged them this way before, like a pinwheel.  We'll see how it goes.  I think its pretty cool! I use electrical tape for their name tags.  It stays on pretty well, and comes up super easy for track out time.  I used to spend time laminating and making cute name tags, but the kids pretty much destroyed them within the first 9 weeks, so I gave  that up last year.

The other side of my double sided book case.  Yes, that is a lot of books.  Years and years (13 to be exact) of collecting books with book club points.

Anyway, I had fun decorating.  I'm asking the kids next week to bring in 4"x6" framed family pictures which I'll place around the room.  I always tell them we're a family, especially being on a single track and pretty much staying together from kindergarten through 5th. I want my kids to feel cozy and like this is their home away from home, which in a way, it is!

Diary of a tracked out maniac

So a couple of Tuesday was my last day before track out.  This time, I didn't plan to go anywhere.  I planned to do major house updates!  I started with the dining room.  Before, it was nice, but it just didn't have much personality.

 

 I went to Lowes and picked out a dozen shades of blue and Ashley helped me pick out my final choices.  I painted the top a lighter shade of the bottom's color of blue.  I think it turned out nicely.

Later in the week, I created window cornices using fabric that I got on super sale at JoAnn Fabrics.  Yay for saving money!  (I won't mention the fact that I had gone earlier in the week and bought the same fabric, but not enough, so I had to go back and get more.  But at least I got a coupon!) 

 
Next, I moved on to the half bath downstairs.  Again, it was ok, but the green makes it so much more cheery!

Finally, I moved to the kitchen.  That, I must say, was the hardest paint job I have ever done.  So many nooks and crannies, corners and places to edge.  Took me two days to get it all painted.  But the final job was so worth it.  Again, I made window cornices to hang above the windows.  I should say that Scott actually built the cornices and helped me staple them on.  Mom also helped me sew the striped fabric to make longer pieces, since the bolt wasn't wide enough for the windows.  Thanks you guys!

Drink station/Butler pantry Before

Kitchen before

Eat in area before

Drink station after

Kitchen after

Eat in area after

I also convinced Scott to take a week off of work so he could install the new video screen and bookcase.  Yeah, he's probably sorry he agreed to that!  The old screen has been covering up a window since we moved in, and I was tired of that dark room!  Also, I didn't want it to look permanently like a move theater room.

Movie Theater...can we say BIG and Where's the window?

 
So, on Monday he tore a big hole in the wall and ceiling.  It was hard to watch and quite dusty.  There is still dust everywhere and we've had to change the AC filters.  But he had to do it to make a soffit big enough to hold the new screen, which is retractable.  I was only freaking out a little bit.  Ok, a lot on the inside, lol!

Eeek! 

So once he had the destruction done, he began to build the soffit.  Let me tell you, there were a lot of little things he discovered along the way that might have made life easier on this project.  But basically, it was a nightmare to install the screen.  It weighs 100 pounds and with just me to lift it in place while he bolted it up in the attic was almost impossible, and bit scary!  But we got it up in there and he put up the drywall.  It actually looks very good and discreet, which is what I like! 

 After taking a day to wire up the speakers and projector through the attic and walls, Scott was ready to start on the built in bookcase.  This is something I've been wanting since we moved in.  I have so many books for school and we both have so many of our own personal books, that we needed somewhere to put them.  The free standing bookcases didn't even have enough room for all of our books.  Most of Scott's books are still in boxes in the attic.

My handy man

Starting to look like something

A window! With shade!  Scott is also building a window seat.

 

Scott had to test out the speakers and the electronics on the projector and screen, so he stuck in a movie.  We ended up watching the whole thing!  Can anyone guess what it is?

So, that's all for now.  Today, Scott has cut the shelves and put on banding.  He will put on the face plate and the counter top.  I'll post more as we move along!

Car update

Well, today I received the sad news that my car is totalled.  The adjuster initially looked at it and thought it was repairable.  But when he popped the trunk, he saw the floorboard was crumpled up and upon further inspection saw that the frame was crushed. 
I am so, so sad.  I have loved this car, my first "new" car.  It has been fun to drive and reliable for almost 6 years.  It only had 60, 618 miles on it and was in excellent condition.  The insurance company is going to give me $11, 483 for it.  Tonight, Scott and I are going to start looking for a new car. 
I don't want another used Civic, that's why I got my car new to begin with.  I'd rather know the maintenance that has been kept and how long it should last before an issue (I've had too many used cars to even want to deal with that again).  So, to be practical like a hopeful mom-to-be, I am going to get a 4 door small SUV type.  (I hate sedans and loathe mini-vans, but still want as much fuel efficiency as I can)
The other very sad part for me is that whatever I get most likely won't have 5-speed manual available.  I think I'll miss that most of all.  I may actually have to drive Scott's car just to get my manual fix (argh!). 
So, my cute little Honda Civic LX 5 speed manual fun to drive car, I'll miss you.  RIP.

The only picture I could find of my car! So sad.

car accident and stuff

So, last night I was on my way to work my last basketball game for Hope for Haiti.  I was kindof sad, because this was to be my last basketball game ever, this being the last season our charity will be doing games.  I had just run by Elizabeth's house to get the bag of passes and stuff needed for the game and was going to meet two new folks who were also volunteering in Durham.  I also had a yummy frappaccino I got from Starbucks.  I had been debating between that or a chai latte, but finally decided on the frappaccino because I hadn't had one in a while and was craving something sweet.  Thank goodness my sweet tooth won out! 
Sitting at a red light on Harrison in the far left lane, waiting to cross over 40 and get on the ramp, I was listening to an interesting podcast from "Stuff you missed in history class" about a female civil war spy.  I just happened to glance up while taking a sip of my frap, when I saw a large vehicle coming up from behind in my rearview mirror.  It was coming very fast and seemed right up on my bumper.  Then I felt it, BAM!  I was knocked forward into the car in front of me and my frappaccino exploded everywhere.  BAM!  I hit the car in front of me and bounced back.  BAM! again as I was knocked back into the car that hit me.  I was knocked forward once more into the car in front of me which finally was pushed out into the intersection.  I felt like a pinball and the thought crossed my mind that this was "the end."  But it wasn't, thank you God.  I just sat there, shaking, freezing cold from the frappaccino spilled all over me and in my eyes and all I could think of was, I gotta call Elizabeth and tell her what happened so she can get the bag and get to those people.  Luckily, my phone was plugged into the car for the podcast, so it was easy to find.  But it was covered in frap, so I had to find some napkins to wipe it off since it couldn't sense my fingers.  About this time, the other drivers had gotten out of their cars and were looking to see if I was ok.  I think the people in front of me thought I had thrown up all over myself because of the white foamy stuff sprayed all over my windshield and body.  I called Elizabeth, then Scott and the rest was a blur.  Basically, the front and back of my car is smushed, my radiator is toast.  The girl who hit me was cited for failure to reduce speed, we think she was a new driver.  I am ok, but my arm is sore and my back shoulder blade was sore, too.  EMS checked me out and aside from high blood pressure, everything seemed ok.  So, last night, the girl's insurance called and got my info and they will be appraising it today.  I should know if my baby is totalled, which I am praying it is not.  They are also providing me with a rental car. 
Here are some pics of the damage:

Notice the frappaccino all over the carpet and steering wheel

I imagine it's going to smell yummy tomorrow!

My smushed front bumper

I hit the car in front of me so hard it left an imprint of her "Saturn" logo! 

part of my smushed rear bumper

The big truck that hit me.

Good thing I got all the junk out of my trunk before this happened!

Another part of my smushed front bumper.  Notice all the grainy stuff they threw down cause my car was leaking something.

Why I do my job

Today, after doing a running record on a little boy, I told him how proud I was of him and how well he did.  I pointed out the things he did right and how he was showing that he was thinking about what he read.  He was so cute and proud of himself and happily went off to do his work.  After about 10 minutes, he came back to me and held in his hand this letter:

It was so sweet and thoughtful, rarely do kids ever acknowledge things like this.  Now I know his spelling and conventions need work, but I wouldn't change this letter for the world.  

Funny that just a couple of hours earlier in a staff meeting, I was thinking that I was so frustrated with my job that I wished I could quit.  (I won't get into why...) Maybe this was what I needed to remind me of why I do what I do.  That's all I have to say.