Life As I See It
Has it really been three months since I blogged? I've always wanted to keep a daily journal, but never have been successful. I have great intentions, but other things always seem to get in the way.
I'm so excited about getting away this weekend! I've signed up for a scrapbook retreat at Lake Burton with several friends. The crop area at this house will hold 14, but only 11 have signed up. That means we'll have more room to s-p-r-e-a-d o-u-t!
It's only Wednesday, but my suitcase is packed and ready to go. All I need to add is a few cosmetics. Packing for these retreats is really easy--a couple pair of pajamas, some comfortable knit pants, t-shirt, long-sleeve shirt, and I'm ready! Many times, people wear their pajamas all day, but I'm more comfortable in some stretchy pants or loose jeans!
Now my scrapbook stuff is a completely different story. I had intended to go ahead and match photos with paper and cardstock, then take those 'page kits' with me. If I did this, I'd get a lot more done while at the retreat. Instead, I came home from work, lay down and took a nap for an hour. Then it was time for supper, bath, and bed for the children. Tomorrow night I have a class, so I guess I'll just take everything I own on the retreat!
Great, now I'm thinking about the retreat! I hope I can fall asleep!
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Life As I See It
Yesterday I received an email that disturbed me. I hate it when people address private issues in a public forum, but this person decided to air some laundry on a Yahoo group. I hate it when you talk to someone in confidence and they feel it is ok to share that information with a group, not naming names, but leaving the group wondering who is involved! My solution was to address the issue privately and then post a apology to the Yahoo group. Sometimes I feel like I'm back in high school, where girls try to make others look bad so that they will look good. Hmmm!
Today is my last day off for summer. Pre-planning starts in the morning and it will be work, work, work from there on! I've got the things purchased for my classroom, even found a fake palm tree on clearance at Michael's, but I won't start putting things in my room until tomorrow. If we didn't share our classrooms with the church I'd have already done it, but I didn't want to risk the church kids messing up anything before the school kids get to see it. I don't understand how the Sunday School teachers can let the kids get away with some of the stuff they do. Every year, student's pencils, markers, crayons, and other items are broken or taken. On Monday mornings, the classrooms are a mess. Why don't people clean up and put things back when they finish using a room? I leave the room neat and clean for them, but on Mondays I always pick up their markers, playdoh, construction paper, etc. and put them into their cabinet for them. Maybe since I'm in a different room this year things will be different?
Catherine and I went to Scrapbook Expo. We worked for a vendor for 5 hours, so we really didn't do a lot of shopping. I did, however, purchase a Cricut! ProvoCraft had a booth set up there, but had run out of the machines. I ordered and paid for one, plus bought 4 cartridges (buy 3, get 1 free), and the rolling tote bag. The machine was supposed to be mailed out 10 days ago, but still hasn't arrived. Of course, last week I was able to get a machine at Michael's for $180 using a 40% coupon. I went ahead and purchased it and will return the other one when it arrives. I guess I need to try and find a phone number for ProvoCraft and call them!
Two of my layouts were in the top ten, but neither were chosen for the top three. They were Blue Eyed Boy and Eat Your Veggies? I'm sad! But it was great that they liked TWO of mine. Last year I only submitted ONE layout and won. This year, I submitted eight and didn't win. There's always next year, though!
Even though I had four full weeks off this summer, I didn't get much accomplished in my house. My intentions were to do some major cleaning and rearranging, but it was more fun to spend time with the children! During the school year, I work 55-60 hours a week. Of that, 40 hours are actual classroom hours and the rest is preparation time, meetings, and grading papers. If the boys don't finish their homework on their own, then the rest of my evening is spent overseeing them. That's really not a lot of fun for any of us, so our summers and breaks are the only times we can relax and just be together. One day they'll be grown and I'll have a perfect, organized, clean house. I'll miss the chaos and clutter then.
Oh well, I'm going to pick up dirty clothes, sleeping bags, stuffed animals, and trash that they left on the den floor and then run a couple of errands.
Yesterday I received an email that disturbed me. I hate it when people address private issues in a public forum, but this person decided to air some laundry on a Yahoo group. I hate it when you talk to someone in confidence and they feel it is ok to share that information with a group, not naming names, but leaving the group wondering who is involved! My solution was to address the issue privately and then post a apology to the Yahoo group. Sometimes I feel like I'm back in high school, where girls try to make others look bad so that they will look good. Hmmm!
Today is my last day off for summer. Pre-planning starts in the morning and it will be work, work, work from there on! I've got the things purchased for my classroom, even found a fake palm tree on clearance at Michael's, but I won't start putting things in my room until tomorrow. If we didn't share our classrooms with the church I'd have already done it, but I didn't want to risk the church kids messing up anything before the school kids get to see it. I don't understand how the Sunday School teachers can let the kids get away with some of the stuff they do. Every year, student's pencils, markers, crayons, and other items are broken or taken. On Monday mornings, the classrooms are a mess. Why don't people clean up and put things back when they finish using a room? I leave the room neat and clean for them, but on Mondays I always pick up their markers, playdoh, construction paper, etc. and put them into their cabinet for them. Maybe since I'm in a different room this year things will be different?
Catherine and I went to Scrapbook Expo. We worked for a vendor for 5 hours, so we really didn't do a lot of shopping. I did, however, purchase a Cricut! ProvoCraft had a booth set up there, but had run out of the machines. I ordered and paid for one, plus bought 4 cartridges (buy 3, get 1 free), and the rolling tote bag. The machine was supposed to be mailed out 10 days ago, but still hasn't arrived. Of course, last week I was able to get a machine at Michael's for $180 using a 40% coupon. I went ahead and purchased it and will return the other one when it arrives. I guess I need to try and find a phone number for ProvoCraft and call them!
Two of my layouts were in the top ten, but neither were chosen for the top three. They were Blue Eyed Boy and Eat Your Veggies? I'm sad! But it was great that they liked TWO of mine. Last year I only submitted ONE layout and won. This year, I submitted eight and didn't win. There's always next year, though!
Even though I had four full weeks off this summer, I didn't get much accomplished in my house. My intentions were to do some major cleaning and rearranging, but it was more fun to spend time with the children! During the school year, I work 55-60 hours a week. Of that, 40 hours are actual classroom hours and the rest is preparation time, meetings, and grading papers. If the boys don't finish their homework on their own, then the rest of my evening is spent overseeing them. That's really not a lot of fun for any of us, so our summers and breaks are the only times we can relax and just be together. One day they'll be grown and I'll have a perfect, organized, clean house. I'll miss the chaos and clutter then.
Oh well, I'm going to pick up dirty clothes, sleeping bags, stuffed animals, and trash that they left on the den floor and then run a couple of errands.
Friday, July 14, 2006
Friday...the end of the week for those with traditional jobs. Jay is working at the fire station today, filling in as Battalion Chief. I hope his day is better than his last shift three days ago. On that day (again, as acting Battalion Chief) an 8-year-old girl died. He described it as a "scoop and run" call. The parents met the ambulance in the driveway, and the EMTs scooped her up and rushed to Henry Medical Center. It was too late. They suspect it might have been a ruptured appendix, but are waiting for autopsy results.
The firemen, EMTs and paramedics who worked this call are all being counseled to make sure they are o.k. That's standard procedure for any call that involves a child or is especially gruesome. Thankfully, Jay wasn't actually working the call. He was in a supervisory position and in charge of taking care of 'his men'. That doesn't mean he was unaffected, though. Just knowing it happened shakes him up. He thinks about our children and how easily it could have been one of them.
I've done a couple of loads of laundry, carried one box to the basement, and changed my hair appointment from tomorrow to today at 4:00. Not much accomplished, and it's already 1:15! I've had several weeks off and had all these grand plans for organization and deep cleaning. It seems like I'd learn that I work MUCH better under pressure. I'll probably spend one entire day practically killing myself to get it all done. If I'd only do a little each day it would be much easier, but I really enjoy having laid-back, spend time with the children, no plans for the day, do what you want when you want kinds of days.
I only have a few days left before going back to work....ugh! Pre-planning begins on Wednesday, the 26th. School starts the next Wednesday, the 2nd. The first day is only a half day for students, but I'll be there ALL day. I still need to plan and prepare three bulletin boards. I HATE bulletin boards! Two of them will go up before school starts and remain pretty much the same throughout the year. The other one will change with the month or seasons.
One other thing I want in my classroom is a tree. Yes, a tree! My theme is monkeys...we're wild about learning! I'm trying to find a large limb that would become my tree and then I can hot glue silk greenery on the branches. It would go in the corner of my room where we have reading groups. Hanging from the branches overhead would be stuffed monkeys. I guess I'd better go scout around the yard for a fallen limb!
Tonight is the final night of VBS. The parents are supposed to come and stay for the entire night, as in 5:30-8:30. This is something new. In the past, the final night was a family supper and then a short worship service. I'm not looking forward to spending 3 hours there tonight. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy church, but not following my child/children around from room to room for three hours. Zane and Kent are in different age groups, so I guess I'll have to split my time between the two of them.
Betty is one of the leaders of Kent's class, and she asked Catherine to help her. Catherine thought she'd be actually helping, but she's just sitting and listening to Betty teach. Then when the children go to their outside activity time, Catherine accompanies them while Betty stays inside. This isn't going over very well with Catherine. She said she doesn't understand why she has to stay outside while Betty is in the cool, air-conditioned building. There are outside activity leaders who are working with the group, so Catherine should be able to drop them and go back inside. She said Betty told her to wait for them. Poor dear!
I suppose I need to go check on the laundry. The dryer should be finished, and there's a load in the washer, plus about 6 more loads piled up and ready to go. How do we manage to go through so many clothes?
The firemen, EMTs and paramedics who worked this call are all being counseled to make sure they are o.k. That's standard procedure for any call that involves a child or is especially gruesome. Thankfully, Jay wasn't actually working the call. He was in a supervisory position and in charge of taking care of 'his men'. That doesn't mean he was unaffected, though. Just knowing it happened shakes him up. He thinks about our children and how easily it could have been one of them.
I've done a couple of loads of laundry, carried one box to the basement, and changed my hair appointment from tomorrow to today at 4:00. Not much accomplished, and it's already 1:15! I've had several weeks off and had all these grand plans for organization and deep cleaning. It seems like I'd learn that I work MUCH better under pressure. I'll probably spend one entire day practically killing myself to get it all done. If I'd only do a little each day it would be much easier, but I really enjoy having laid-back, spend time with the children, no plans for the day, do what you want when you want kinds of days.
I only have a few days left before going back to work....ugh! Pre-planning begins on Wednesday, the 26th. School starts the next Wednesday, the 2nd. The first day is only a half day for students, but I'll be there ALL day. I still need to plan and prepare three bulletin boards. I HATE bulletin boards! Two of them will go up before school starts and remain pretty much the same throughout the year. The other one will change with the month or seasons.
One other thing I want in my classroom is a tree. Yes, a tree! My theme is monkeys...we're wild about learning! I'm trying to find a large limb that would become my tree and then I can hot glue silk greenery on the branches. It would go in the corner of my room where we have reading groups. Hanging from the branches overhead would be stuffed monkeys. I guess I'd better go scout around the yard for a fallen limb!
Tonight is the final night of VBS. The parents are supposed to come and stay for the entire night, as in 5:30-8:30. This is something new. In the past, the final night was a family supper and then a short worship service. I'm not looking forward to spending 3 hours there tonight. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy church, but not following my child/children around from room to room for three hours. Zane and Kent are in different age groups, so I guess I'll have to split my time between the two of them.
Betty is one of the leaders of Kent's class, and she asked Catherine to help her. Catherine thought she'd be actually helping, but she's just sitting and listening to Betty teach. Then when the children go to their outside activity time, Catherine accompanies them while Betty stays inside. This isn't going over very well with Catherine. She said she doesn't understand why she has to stay outside while Betty is in the cool, air-conditioned building. There are outside activity leaders who are working with the group, so Catherine should be able to drop them and go back inside. She said Betty told her to wait for them. Poor dear!
I suppose I need to go check on the laundry. The dryer should be finished, and there's a load in the washer, plus about 6 more loads piled up and ready to go. How do we manage to go through so many clothes?
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Isn't it amazing how something that is supposed to cost $18.00 can suddenly spiral to $35.00?
Last year I won second place in the layout contest at Scrapbook Expo Atlanta. I'm on the Design Team for a local scrapbook store, and the owner wanted all the team members to enter the contest. All we had to do was tell her which layout to enter. You cannot submit your originals, so the owner had copies made for us. OK, that doesn't sound like such a big deal, does it?
Today I found out the hard way that getting a 12 x 12 color copy is next to impossible. After calling around to Office Depot, Staples, Kinkos, and everywhere imaginable, I found that a printer in Stockbridge would make the copies for $1.50 each. GREAT! So, I stop by the scrapbook store, pull down several layouts that I want to enter, and head north to Stockbridge.
When I arrive, I find two other ladies I know in the shop. Upon walking in the door, one of them asks if I have my camera with me. It seems that the printer's scanner won't scan anything 12" wide, so we have to take a photo of the layout. Then he loads the photos into their computer, crops them and finally prints them onto 13 x 18 inch glossy paper. The prints turn out pretty good, too.
Now I find out that since it wasn't a simple color copy, I have to pay a setup fee and the total is $35.00! Rather than have to take my chances finding another place to get these copies, I suck it up and pay. I really would love to win something again this year, because the prizes are pretty good! I was actually happy with second place last year because I won a HUGE rolling bag made by Fiskars and it had gobs of paper and embellishments from the show sponsors. First prize was a QuicKutz tool and an alphabet die set. Retail of both prizes was about the same, but I've gotten a whole lot more use out of the bag than I would have had I won the QuicKutz.
Now, as I sit here mulling over the day, I'm wondering if I could have had Sam's print a photo of my layouts? Hmmm....I think I'll check it out!
Last year I won second place in the layout contest at Scrapbook Expo Atlanta. I'm on the Design Team for a local scrapbook store, and the owner wanted all the team members to enter the contest. All we had to do was tell her which layout to enter. You cannot submit your originals, so the owner had copies made for us. OK, that doesn't sound like such a big deal, does it?
Today I found out the hard way that getting a 12 x 12 color copy is next to impossible. After calling around to Office Depot, Staples, Kinkos, and everywhere imaginable, I found that a printer in Stockbridge would make the copies for $1.50 each. GREAT! So, I stop by the scrapbook store, pull down several layouts that I want to enter, and head north to Stockbridge.
When I arrive, I find two other ladies I know in the shop. Upon walking in the door, one of them asks if I have my camera with me. It seems that the printer's scanner won't scan anything 12" wide, so we have to take a photo of the layout. Then he loads the photos into their computer, crops them and finally prints them onto 13 x 18 inch glossy paper. The prints turn out pretty good, too.
Now I find out that since it wasn't a simple color copy, I have to pay a setup fee and the total is $35.00! Rather than have to take my chances finding another place to get these copies, I suck it up and pay. I really would love to win something again this year, because the prizes are pretty good! I was actually happy with second place last year because I won a HUGE rolling bag made by Fiskars and it had gobs of paper and embellishments from the show sponsors. First prize was a QuicKutz tool and an alphabet die set. Retail of both prizes was about the same, but I've gotten a whole lot more use out of the bag than I would have had I won the QuicKutz.
Now, as I sit here mulling over the day, I'm wondering if I could have had Sam's print a photo of my layouts? Hmmm....I think I'll check it out!
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