It's OK

I've never done this link up before, but it felt appropriate for today. So let's do this!

IT'S OK:

• that I am beyond ready to be away from my firsties for 18 whole days! My class is pretty fantastic but they just got on my nerves today. Luckily, tomorrow is the last day! WEEEEE!
• that I'm kinda hoping my cold doesn't go away completely; that way I can cancel my wisdom teeth surgery next week. 
• that I was really happy that J got to meet some of my favorite kiddos yesterday at the holiday party. He did bounce as soon as they let the kids pick presents. COMPLETE MAYHEM!
• to be excited that I get to eat Cracker Barrel tonight. That stuff is addicting and it's totally my comfort food. 
• to hand out presents just to hear a thank you. I gave my team and some other teachers at my school these cute little boxes of cocoa and a card. 
• to get back into the blog world full force. I've been finding some new blogs to read, and catching up on old ones. One of my resolutions is definitely to be more on it with this blog stuff. 
• that I wish I was getting married sooner rather than later. I just want that part of my life to start already!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thursday!!!

Just another manic Thursday...

Yea, I changed the lyric. So sue me. :P

Today was crazy hectic. By hectic, I mean HECTIC!
 First I had a training with my principal. (Kinda boring since I already knew everything they taught us).

Then I grabbed lunch from the training center (seriously, their Waldorf chicken salad is the bomb! It's made by the same people in charge of our nasty school food!) and skedaddle my way back to school.

As I'm walking in, assistant principal yells at me to drop my stuff off and go open doors for her. Why? Because a preschooler is going bonkers and chucking chairs at his classmates. YES A PRESCHOOLER!

Then I had two meetings about kids in my class. After that, since I had a sub all day, I actually got to go to the work room and get grading done. Woot!

 Finally the day ended with me opening the door for my assistant principal again. This time she had to bring a student into the office who refused to get on his bus. But once he realized we were gonna call mama, he attempted to run after the bus in the middle of dismissal traffic. Like, I said HECTIC!

Plus the weather down here in Jacksonville is super gloomy. Cold and drizzly. I wouldn't mind this weather as much if I didn't have to deal with it every time I take a step out of my classroom. I also wouldn't mind it if I could just afford an endless amount of Starbucks peppermint white chocolate mochas.

Source: christmascup.tumblr.com via Maria on Pinterest

Mmm. Doesn't that picture totally make you want Starbucks now?

I hope everyone else had a better Thursday!

PS. I'd love you forever if you'd donate even one dollar to my DonorsChoose project. Click on HERE to find out how you can help!

Need something to make you smile?

Because boy do I. My Jaguars lost pathetically AND it started pouring on the walk back to the car. I was smart and brought a poncho, but it was one of those Florida storms where it's windy and rainy. Nilda = soaked.

So I decided to look at this spelling test that I graded earlier:

Ignore the backwards six. :) This student is one of my brightest and creative. Spelling tests in my class take a while because I have to work with my ESOL students to make sure they hear the sounds. So I think this little one got bored while waiting for his classmates, because he illustrated every word. I particulary like the hamburger bun and the "hot" pot don't you?

This picture reminds me why I do my job. Because first graders are some of the most creative souls on this planet. So if you need a smile, I hope this helps!

Off to finish watching Once Upon a Time.

A life update

Life's been non-stop the last few weeks. NON-STOP. Rather, work has been non-stop. I want to write a blog post, but I don't even know what to write about.

I want to spend my weekend doing nothing. Well nothing besides cleaning a bit first. My room is a mess. But lying on the couch, catching up on Once Upon a Time, sounds like way more fun. Doesn't it?

What else do I need/want to do? Sushi for lunch. I haven't had any sushi in weeks, and it's by far my favorite food. I won't be able to go tomorrow, because J and I got invited to watch the Jaguars (hopefully win) at his friend Moe's house. That's guaranteed to be a good time, because Moe is crazy. Crazy in a good way.

I want to go to the new H&M that just opened. Have I told you how pumped I am that Jacksonville has an H&M? It's pretty much the last store that I like that Jacksonville didn't have. Since I can't really afford to buy clothes, I'm hoping to find some cute accessories and/or shoes to jazz up my outfits. 

This week I have lots of things to do including going in on Tuesday for a wisdom tooth extraction consultation. Yuck. I'm not looking forward to it at all! I have had the worst luck with dental issues. Cross your fingers for me will ya?

I just read over this post and realize how random it sounds. But that's how I roll. Once I'm in a random mood, I can't really get out of it!

Happy Saturday everyone!

Short weeks are the best...

I'm exhausted. It's only Tuesday and I'm pooped. But bright side? Tomorrow's Wednesday! The week's half way over. Which reminds me...

A few months ago, I started a Love Your Life journal. It's where I listed three positive things that happened that day. Sometimes, life just gets overwhelming you know? It's hard, but it's important to look on the positive sides of things. So here goes!

1. I got my nail polish swap package today! Can't wait to share with you all what I got. Just have to say Evani over at Simply Evani has fantastic taste.

2. I actually made it through my schedule today with only a few hiccups! That means I actually got reading, skills, math, writing and science done!  My kiddos are finally learning the ropes. Let's hope this keeps up with my two new ones that I get tomorrow!

3. Made it to the gym today. YESSSSS! Was it painful? HECK YES! Was it worth it? TOTALLY!

Overall, I'd give this day an 8. Love when my week starts off great! Do you do anything to stay focused on the positives?

Thunderstorms... eek!

Thanks Isaac. Even though I am miles away from your center, you are still terrorizing my world. Not only do your rains mean NO RECESS (ugh, first graders with no recess are torture!!) but you mean thunderstorms too!

Have I mentioned I HATE LIGHTNING?!?! In 5th grade, on my safety patrol trip to D.C., my tour group got stuck on our tour bus in the middle of the craziest lightning storm ever. 10 minutes after seeing a documentary on the dangers of lightning. Perfect timing right? Since then I've been freaked out by it.

So I find it ironic that I live in Florida, which during the summer and hurricane season, seems to be the lightning capital of the world. I barely made it home from work without completely freaking. Lightning everywhere!

So to take my mind off things, I made some macaroni and cheese. I threw in some chicken sausage and broccoli. Childhood memories anyone? Yum. Yum.

So if you are facing the wrath of Isaac, stay dry and stay safe. Know that a girl in Jacksonville is fully commiserating with you.

PS. Bloggy friends, do me a favor and check out my friend Lauren's blog, Dandelion Days. She's starting this whole blog adventure so show her some love. Plus, she has awesome ideas AND she posted one of our favorite recipes from when we lived together, Salsa Verde Enchiladas. Or as she put it, Party in Your Mouth Enchiladas! :)

Just a spoonful of sugar...

No idea why that's the title I came up with. Maybe because it's the song currently stuck in my head. I have no idea why THAT particular song is in my head. I do love Mary Poppins though.

You can tell this is going to be a random post can't you? I just felt like writing today. Stick with me!

Today was a LONG day. What made it long? My beyond boring WAY BEYOND boring workshop. I learned so much at my workshop last week. It was on the new standards for reading. I just figured that this workshop would be the same since it was about the new math standards.

I WAS WRONG. It was the most painful, boring, useless workshop ever. They didn't give us our standards and they had us work with high school standards. The only positive part of the whole day is that my old teammate and good friend Megan was there, as well as my old colleague Laura. Laura was there with a teacher from her school. She was really nice and just as bored as we were.

Only reason I am going back? I get paid if I go every day. $120 dollars a day to be exact. So even though it was bad, I'll stick it out.

On the bright side, my grandma came in to town. She lives in Puerto Rico. My mom's 60th birthday is Thursday, so my grandma came to surprise her. I wish I had a picture of my mom's face when she saw my grandma sitting on the couch.  We ended up going out to eat to celebrate her being here.

Love her! My grandpa couldn't join her because he is in the beginning stages of dementia and his doctor didn't think it'd be a good idea for him to fly. But he's here in spirit.

Oh! Paige at The Eloping Stethoscope wrote the SWEETEST things about me. Go check it out!
And, I really, REALLY want to win the Erin Condren giveaway over at About Fais! I can't bring myself to spend $50 on a planner, but I know I would use the heck of it!

See? Totally random post. Hope you all had a terrific Tuesday! Off to watch the Olympics. Please don't tell me who wins!

Athena

I'm sitting at my computer, browsing all my usual sites, when all of a sudden my cute little cat comes and curls up on my lap. So why not write a post about her? She deserves some of the spotlight too!

This is Athena. She is a 4.5 year old gray Abyssinian Mix. This is my all time favorite picture of her. She likes to make any type of cloth bag her home.

I got her from the Jacksonville Humane Society two years ago. I had gone through a really horrible break-up and was not feeling good about by myself. I was living with a roommate at the time who had adopted her own dog from JHS. I knew that I didn't have time to take care of a dog because of work. But I wasn't sure I wanted a cat. See I thought most cats were just boring and mean.

Our Humane Society uses this really neat system from the ASPCA called Meet Your Match. They analyze each animal and give them their own personality label, Then, if you want, you can take your personality quiz and get matched up with the perfect cat or dog. Or you can just choose what personality you want. I knew I wanted one of these three personalities:

Source: ASPCA Meet Your Match

I was hoping to get a cat that had the Leader of the Band personality. JHS posts pictures of all their available pets and their personalities. I saw Athena, but she didn't have a personality. Her picture was adorable and I hoped that she would have an outgoing personality. Sure enough, when I checked a few days later, she was a Leader of the Band type cat.

I went and bought everything I needed. Immediately after work on April 29th, I went and got her. I didn't even look at any other cat.

Everything I had read about shelter kitties said that they are usually very timid. Many sources said provide them a small area to explore and don't force them to come to you. Knowing that, I took her carrier and placed it in my bathroom. I sat quietly next to it and opened it. Athena came right out, sniffed me, and curled onto my lap! We've been inseparable ever since!

She lives up to her personality. Athena loves exploring. No matter what, she's always has to be near someone.

The moral of the story is, I'm grateful for that break-up. Without it, I would have never found my furry best friend. :) I leave you with the funniest picture I have of her:

Yea I know. She was so mad at me! 

If you ever need/want a pet, check out your local shelter. There are so many cute fur babies just waiting for someone to take them home!