STUFF AND STUFF

wow, too busy to write? don't think so, but too lazy!
The play was amazing! It got a great responce. I am so proud of the kids. I was proud of myself. Brian was pleasantly surprised!! Sooooo little break and #2 will begin in Feb. My drama kids are sad and bored, but they will survive. I will be telling them Friday that I will not be back in Jan. to teach, but I will be the drama director. It will be interesting because I do teach about 1/2 of the drama kids. c'est la vie!

House is going to be done by sat. we have our annual cheesey bingo culty party. it has been a long road, but after 4 years of home ownership, i can honestly say I know where 80% of my house has come from.... BRIAN AND I!!

Kids are goood. Looking forward to my leaving teaching. They are cute.

Ok, here are a couple of pics. try to catch up soon.

The dawning of a new day...

well, it's night, so that doesn't make sense.
Anyway, things are coming along in the house. We have lots to do, but I hope it will be done by Halloween. I will post pics soon.

J's piano teacher approached B with great news. Seems the boy has a sharp ear and is picking up the piano very well. I hope he continues to dig it. He is really shining this year. He is reading and all around doing well.

S has started to read a few words. AMAZING really. My baby is going to be 6 shortly and that is a sad reality. Oh well. We found out she is quite the perfectionist in school. She cries when she does her work wrong... OH NO!! This obviously is not from this end. The teacher said some kids are just harder on themselves. Great, she and Jake already have such a competitive nature. What will they be like in 3 years? 5?? high school???????????

Finally, I gave my principal my notice. I will be done at the end of December. I left it mostly at the fact that I have family/personal issues that need attention. Although sad to see me leave, he understood. I will be able to continue with Drama. I was happy about that since it is really going well. I have a weight lifted...B is a bit worried, but I will make it all ok ya know. Gotta do it.

Peace and enjoy these lovely fall days.

so much to do and such little time in which to do it!

so lot's have been going on...this last week marked a sad day i had to remember and then all this:

first, the play is moving along nicely. the last scene will be blocked tomorrow. i hope the last bits of flats will be up and painted by sat. whew!
secondly, school is just impossible. my students have some serious issues with authority. you'd think that a private school would be better than public, but nope. according to several teachers there, these kids are that way for everyone. many kids are transfers... kids kicked out of other schools, including public schools. how bad are you to get kicked out of public school??? geez, i really didn't know that when i took this job.
finally, we decided on getting unfinished floors throughout the lr,dr, kids room and hall. $$, super messy and inconvienent, but they will be awesome. we are all living in the playroom, kitchen and our bedroom. i feel overly confined.

other than that... peachy keen baby! one day i will be able to chill... ha. well after nov. 18th!!!

We're in showbiz baby...

well, on the high school level. I had a great turnout on Friday for auditions. Sat. we had a clean the stage day and about 15 kids showed up. We got a lot done. I hand out scripts and such tomorrow. Here we come. The kids are excited too.

Today, B turned 34. ouch, we are old. just did dinner at gino's (original, not east) and chilled. S passed out in the car at 7:20pm. J asked to go to bed at 8... wierd land today.

FINAL big house project is.... hardwood floors. I am finding just as stressful, if not more, than the outside. I have had several estimates and now we need to decide. I want to start early Oct. so that we can have everything finalized by Thanksgiving... new trim and 1/4 round too. We are going to tile the foyer and hall closet to save a couple of bucks. we also need to finish our bedroom door that is sitting collecting dust in the garage...so lots to do and only weekends to do it.

I think I have a little cold or something, so I am off to bed early. Here's hoping Friday comes soon.

cheers!!

A new approach???

I was told that I have the 4 "worst kids" in the sophomore class together in one class. Oh, and at the end of the day.... Who told me this? one of the "worst kids". I have to find a way to make these kids realize they can get off the worst list and just be the average annoying teenager, but I don't know how. I usually have ONE of "those kids", but 4, with the occassional 5th dropping in on some of their fun? It is a lot for me and the others in the class.

I have tried a bunch of things so far and nothing... detentions, calls and emails home... nada.
I had heart to hearts with each of them seperately. I had them sign contracts today showing I am done giving chances and they are going to try and change or face their fate without argument......

Will this work? I don't know. I hope so. They do have good qualities! However, together they are a massive volcanic explosion....


auditions tomorrow... super thrilled.

MY HOUSE....

Finally, it is finished!
I am happy to say that the outside is complete with new grass and plants. The final things will be new hardwood floors and trim then this 4 year project will be complete.
I LOVE THE CHOICES WE MADE for the house. I am excited to save some cash on the heat bill too this year!

school is .... well, let's just say I have already discovered my challenge this year. Feel more like a babysitter some days, yes even in high school. BUT...auditions are this Friday. I am so excited about that.

S started swimming again and J will start baseball camp soon. B has his first swim meet coming soon, so tis the busy season. Off I go to read to the kids then grade some tests! Who ever said a teacher only works 6 hours a day??? let me shoot them. I am swamped.

work update...good news for me

So, I decided to tell the principal he hired me full time based on all of these nice conditions which would make my load lighter since I have kids and was taking on drama. I told him had I had all the info I have now, I would have opted for PT, not FT. The load plus drama was way to much. I then told him I would like to be switched to PT in the second semester if possible and definately pt for next year. He approached me with red face and apologies and fixed as much as he could for this semester. It will help. Second semester he is taking away 1 class from my load as well as keeping the other conditions in tact. We will talk about next year after 1st semester. GREAT! See opening my big mouth did help this time. He took it well and completely understood my need for speaking up. YEAH FOR ME!

Work horse

I was a work horse yesterday. Geez, first off I went walking and yapping with my friend for an hour! AN HOUR! Then I came home, dishes, laundry, laid landscape barrier and carried and dumped 20 bags of rocks onto the side of my house. Did I mention the bags are well over 50 lbs?

Where's your dear darling hubby you may ask? bummer, he is sick. fever and down since thursday night. We had plans last night and had to cancel. I was pretty nice to him. LOL. I only asked for a smidge of help with the kids. Today is baby moo cow's 1st bday and hopefully b feels better. The kids are going to have a stupendous time. Should be interesting for me...no sweets and goodies. My sis makes such yummy junk food! boo hoo. oh well, i am down about 8-ish lbs.

Siding is rolling along. I have to put new shots up. He said he should have the front done by Tuesday, so I am scheduling the sod people for the 8/9th. Yipee. I have a totally new looking house. Next and last... the floors. When those projects, siding, sod and floors are done, we will have COMPLETELY renovated this house. We did all plumbing, electric, drywall, paint, cabinets, appliances, tile work, doors, you name it. 90% new (only the frame and concrete will remain original) Took 4 years, but worth it. I plan on living here til we die at the ripe old age of 100, so we had to make it new so it would last. HA!

Off I go to begin my mommy day with pancakes for the kiddies.

school pics and house update!

So check out my babes in their uniforms. WAHHHHHHHH!!!

Next to that, check out the progress on the house.

That's it for tonight.

1 week down.

Well, I survived my first week of school. I must admit, as usual, I would love to be home, but teaching is my cup of tea. Amazingly, 1/3 of my students still did not bother to buy their books. HMMMMM???!! pisses me off. I also found out I had some additional, non-mentioned stuff come up this week that was not part of my hire package. pisses me off. I will deal with all of the above.

Drama is starting to get a buzz. I have a bunch of kids ready to go. That is the best part of this job.

Siding... OH MY!! It is coming along and it is beautiful. I am so pleased I really waited and got sick over picking the right colors. So far, so good! I will post shots of the work so far tomorrow.

My kids are not babies anymore. Wait until you see the photos of them in uniforms. Skylar in her little jumper. OH MY GOSH! I seriously can't stand it. Where did these years go? I remember sitting at home with my newborn J. We would sing and play all day. Then my pumpkin S was born and I chased J and the 3 of us sang and painted and played. I was beat. This week, I found both doing school work after school, then we busted out the playdoh and played games. Hopefully I will always get that time with them.

later.

school started and i am beat

so meetings last week... boring!
yesterday was day 1 with the kids. went well. today my room read 1o0 degrees! no a/c. hard to keep the kids focused enough on you when you want to die of heat exhaustion.
going ok.

j started second grade today. so cute. brought home books to cover. WWAHHHHHH! my boy is not a little guy any more.

s starts kindergarten tomorrow. why must they get so old so fast?

other than that.... siding is slowly coming along. well, demo is 90% done and the insulation is 40% up. hopefully soon.

thats it

siding and WORK?!>!

so the siding has been decided. 2 browns. roofer said to wait 3-5 years before you replace the roof, so that is good. don't know how bad the current roof color will look, but i have made a decision. sticking to it. $ is said and done and tomorrow is the big first day. yipee.

WORK... kinda good, kinda boring this week. meetings and blah blah blah. today is orientation, so i get to meet some kiddos. getting excited. school starts tuesday and I am pretty close to ready.

OH and I gave up sugar, bread and 95% of caffiene!! I am a maniac. I feel good now. tough the first 3-4 days. this is day 7? 2 more very strict weeks i think. we'll see. lost a couple of pounds. want to loose 25. we shall see.

seriously...

I have loads to do today and with the dreary rain... I don't want to start. I am looking at the laundry piles and little toys and the floor... The good thing is the kids WILL CLEAN if they want to leave. ha. They are counting the minutes until to we leave.

on the siding front... got the new front door. yipee! am wavering on siding colors and the money should be in hand by the time we return. hopefully.

finished reading and making some rough notes/adjustments for my first play. I will hold auditions on or around Sept. 10th. that day is coming all too soon. ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! I am super excited.

off i go to clean. i am a boring blogger!

siding and...

so who would have thought trying to side your house could be so much of a pain???
ughhh. quotes and money and colors and too... many... choices....i don't want to think anymore.

tired. gotta get it done so i can enjoy the vaca next week!!!

ok, so what am i doing here?

I am jumping on the Blogmobile I guess. Like I don't have enough to do right? I am now going to start sitting down and sharing what I can I guess. Virtual therapy. Cheaper I guess.

So school begins in roughly 2 1/2 weeks for yours truly. The kids start 1 week after and the hubby, also a teacher goes back after labor day. I AM NOT READY and yet, I am. I begin my new adventure as a high school theatre director this year. I have always been in front of the curtain, rarely behind. I have a lot of experience, but to really be in charge... again, I ask what am I doing. Actually, this job is all I have wanted since I graduated. It will just be tough juggling a full time teaching career, my directorial debut and my babies! Well, 7 and 5 are not really babies, but they are mine. The nice thing is the principal has helped my class load by only giving me 5 classes instead of 6 and I have no 1st period so I still get to take the kids to school at the regular time. No early birds this year. Last year was horrible. We were up and OUT by 6:55am. Let me tell ya, that was not a pretty site!

Although we only have a couple of weeks off together, really that is more than most families get. I have been hanging with the kids and having and grand summer! B has been teaching summer school and now has a month off. Too much T and B off together means T starts to create jobs for B to do around the house, so he "likes" to teach his 1/2 days over summer. LOL! Now he will get a bit of solid daddy time and that is always good too. We will take a vaca next week and let me tell you that is all the kids have been talking about since last September!

ok, enough for the first blog. We will see where this goes.