Yes, I'm still alive...

I'm kinda in the same boat as Jaime's in. I have so much going on now that my classes at UNA have started. This is definitely going to be my toughest semester yet. My Intro to Grad Studies class is going to be interesting but also a very tough work load and I can say the same about the Studies in the Novel class. I have so much work to get done already that I don't know where to start.

School has been pretty good with the exception of one bad day with a certain class. Ugh! I could have kicked about five of them out that day and not looked at them again for a week! But, education continues no matter what and we worked past it. They have been good for the last two day. Let's hope it continues.

I hope everyone has a nice long weekend. I know a lot of us need an extra day to breathe!

BTW, kudos to Christy for getting her first ideas down on paper. I'm loving it all so far!!!

Long time No Blog

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while guys. Things just really haven't been that exciting. School is going great. I still only have one class that I don't care for, but if that's as bad as it gets then everything will be fine. I have two seventh grade boys that I think I'm going to have a difficult time with, but again that's nothing compared with other years I have had. I've noticed that some people at school do not seem very happy this year and this bothers me. I hate it when people are just flat out rude to me. For example, I always smile at people when I pass them in the hall and most of the time say hi. This year it seems there are several people who are just so unhappy that they refuse to even respond. This irritates me a bit.

Other than school nothing else is going on. Zac is coming over to my house this weekend and I can't wait. I'm really missing him this week. Not that I don't always miss him-it's just I"m really ready to have him here.

My UNA classes start Monday night. I'm excited about them, but I'm not looking forward to going to Florence on my own on Monday nights.

Oh yeah, our book club is having its first meeting tomorrow night. I'm super excited about this! I've always wanted to be in one. I can't wait to get started on our first read! I'm such a nerd!

Hot Damn!!!

Ya'll I'm so excited and proud of myself. I feel like I've had a pretty rough week so far. No, it's not the students or school. All of that stuff is great. I've been feeling a little sickly for the past few days because of this new glucophage stuff and I think because of my dietary changes. I haven't done any sort of exercise for the past two days, but today it changed! I doubled my time on the treadmill and I was still able to my back exercises! Not only did I walk longer, but I was also able to walk at a higher speed than normal. I'm so excited! I feel like I have more energy right now than I've had in a long time. I know that it can change at any moment, but hopefully this is the beginning of getting my health under control!

I had a great day today. I had more energy than I've had in a long time and it felt great. My appetite seems like it may be returning slowly. I was so hungry when I got home from school I immediately ate supper, but I ate so much I literally made myself sick. Not a good thing. I will definitely not do that again. Ugh!

I've been inspired by Christy to create my list of fail-safe things that make me happy. I was suprised by how many of Christy's happy's were also mine! LOL! These are not in any order. Here it goes:

1. New pens!!!! Love them!!!!
2. A new bag!
3. Cafeteria Hot Dogs!!! LOL
4. Rainy days
5. Watching AnnaBelle and Ollie play
6. The way a new book feels when holding it unopened
7. Buying scrapbook supplies - what a rush!
8. The way clean sheets feel
9. Coming home to a clean house
10. Going to the movies and having popcorn and a coke!

Weekly Wrap Up

Well....the first week of school is over and boy am I glad. Don't get me wrong - it wasn't bad. It was just exhausting. Since Jaime, Amanda, and I worked our butts off getting our classrooms ready Monday and Tuesday, we or I at least was already tired when Wednesday came around with our new darlings. I'm very pleased with my class sizes and with the 7th graders. I have heard great things about this class from several different people and I can tell they are going to be a good class to work with this year. I only have two classes of 8th graders this year, and at first I was a little upset about this. I'm used to having almost all of the 8th graders, but I tell ya what! I am so not missing those kids this year! I'm still adjusting to having 6th period planning. I think I'm going to like it. I can get most of the day over with and then finish up with my seventh graders during 7th period. Our hall is great! I love having Amanda right next door, plus Mrs. Arnold on the other side of me. I would only make one more change if it were up me, but unfortunately it's not! :)

I've struggled with fatigue this week due to the insulin mess. I think it's getting bjust a tad bit better though. I've taken a nap after school everyday this week. I hope this begins to get better soon. I hate feeling like I don't have enough energy to do anything. I'm still working on my exercise and eating habits. I've walked 3 days this week and plan to walk today and tomorrow with Zac. It's so hard to come home from work and have to MAKE yourself get on the treadmill and walk. UGH!!! I've only had one slip up with my eating this week. Thursday, after school I went to McDonald's. I know that I shouldn't have. To be honest with you, it didn't even taste that good! I guess that's a good thing because I am definitely not wanting to go back there anytime soon. I've been eating salads and fruits and all sorts of healthy things. And I've also been drinking lots of water. I'm planning on cooking for me and Zac this weekend so that we don't have to eat out at all. This will be something totally different for us because I never cook and we always eat out. We're really trying to make big changes in our lives in order to be healthier. I'm very proud of what we've done so far.

The First Day of School and Other Thoughts

The first day of school has to be one of the longest days of the year! It's definitely an adjustment getting up early and actually working all day after having such a lazy summer. The kids acted great, but keep in mind it's only the first day. I have great hopes for this year since so far I have low numbers in all my classes and I've heard great things about the 7th grade group.

I'm already feeling overwhelmed, as if there isn't enough time in the day to do everything I would like. I'm already thinking 'when am I going to do this?' and 'when am i going to do that?'
Hopefully, this weekend I can catch my breath and get everything under control.

Another reason I'm feeling a little overwhelmed is that I've recently found out I have pre-diabetes which has been causing a lot of fatigue, weight gain, high cholesterol, etc. Yesterday, the doctor put on a medication that is supposed to help regulate the glucose and insulin levels, and it should help me lose weight. I'm really working hard on changing the way I eat and exercising every day. I'm very proud of what I've done so far and I think it's going to pay off soon. It's just a little stressful knowing that I can't just run out to McDonald's or somewhere and grab something quick to eat. I'm going to really have to work on planning my meals so that I can be sure I'm eating healthy.

I hope everyone is having a lovely week! I'm going to bed soon! Night, Bloggers!

Working is exhausting... LOL

Wow, am I tired and hurting! I am definitely going to have get used to being back at work. After a very, and I mean very lazy summer I am definitely struggling getting back into the swing of things. My day started early at about 6:15 when my alarm clock woke me up. Before I went to bed last night I was actually excited about my first full week back at work. Apparently, my mood had changed over night because I was not happy to hear the alarm go off. I made myself get up, shower, and start my new tradition of eating breakfast at home. Last year it was my ritual to go to Chick-Fil-A every morning before school. I'm trying to cut out fast food as much as I can and this is definitely going to help! I got to school early, before everyone else and began what I thought was making my room look better, but it actually ended up looking worse. I have things all over desk and on the floor. Ugh! LOL! We had a pleasant faculty meeting early this morning and it ended with some inspirational words from Mr. O. He reminded us that we have it a little harder working at Tanner because we have to Mamas and Daddys and even Sunday School teachers to our students. Sometimes we are the only bright lights our students see during their day. It's our jobs not just to teach these children grammar and writing and reading and such, but also to show them love and compassion. My goal this year is to remember no matter how mad a child makes me, that he is still just a child and needs love and support because he is probably not receiving it at home.

Jaime, Amanda, and I took an extra long lunch break and headed to Wal-Mart and the Learning Tree in Decatur. We were being rebels and it made me so nervous! :) I'm not very good at rebelling and I was made fun of for this! It was worth the risk though since we found several goodies for our classrooms. Jaime and I decided we would make an extra bulletin board in each of our rooms made out of fabric hotglued to the wall and lined with cute border. We all worked very hard on mine this afternoon and after it was finally finished it looks fantastic. I absolutely love it! I just hope the kids respect it and don't mess it up. Tomorrow, we will be working on getting Jaime's put up. Hopefully, hers will go quicker since we know how to do it now.

We also spent part of our day laminating all of our goodies! We are always very nervouse about using the laminating machine in the elementary building because we receive unfriendly stares when use their materials. Oh well! We risked it anyway. Now, I just have to get all of those cutesy things cut out!

I still have a ton of things that I have to get done tomorrow! I'm feeling a bit rushed and overwhelmed. I can't really complain though because I should have went to the school last weekend instead of being a couch potatoe and watching Lifetime! Hopefully, I can pull everything together in time for my sweet darlings to come to class.

Sorry for such a long blog and I'm sorry if it doesn't make much sense. Also, if there are grammatical errors...get over it. I'm tired and I don't feel like proofreading! LOL! That's all for tonight! Night, Bloggers!

#45 Read all of the Tudor books by Philipa Gregory

Today I finished reading The Virgin's Lover by Philipa Gregory. This wraps up the Tudor series written by this author. I have to say that I can't wait to read more about Elizabeth I. I really enjoyed this book. Gregory painted a different picture of Elizabeth from what I was expecting. I expected her to be this hard core biatch! LOL! She was certainly was not hard core in this novel. I have another novel written about her, but I don't have time to read it right now. A Thousand Acres is the next novel I'm reading. It's one of the books required for UNA. I don't have anything else to say tonight. Night, Bloggers!

I Love My Saturdays!!!

Today I have enjoyed sleeping late and being very lazy! I had planned on getting up at a reasonable hour and heading to the school to get some things done up there, but instead I've been watching Lifetime movies all day! LOL! I love Lifetime. Tonight 'Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal' comes on and I'm very excited about it. I know...I'm a dork! I did manage to get my letters for my classroom painted. I can't wait to see how they look above my door. I also started on some other school things that I need to get done. Oh yeah! I also ordered our tickets for the 'Old Crow Medicine Show' concert in October. Zac and I love this band. We've heard they put on an excellent show. Well, that's about all I have to say tonight. Later, Bloggers!!!

First Day Back at Work

Hello Bloggers! Yes, I made it through our first day back at work. Actually, I had a pretty good day. It seems that things on our hallway are definitely changing and it is definitely for the best. Amanda has completed her move to our hall and it is great having her right next door. It is going to be so great to have my two best friends right beside me every day! We also have a new lady teaching on our hall and she seems very sweet. I think she is going to be a great addition to the staff. I hope the kids respond well to her. Between running back and forth between Jaime and Amanda's rooms I worked on cleaning out file folders from my desk drawers, organizing the posters I want to hang, and working on the schedules with Dr. Young. I probably didn't get as much accomplished as I should have, but we did have a long boring morning in the library and then we took a long lunch. Lunch went better than expected. The English department and the new Science teacher decided to eat at Casa Blanca and surprisingly certain people that have been VERY negative in the past seem to have changed their attitudes about the teaching profession. We expected a lot of griping and fussing, but it turned out to be pleasant conversation about summer. How refreshing! It seems that everyone is in good spirits and it's contagious. I went in this morning with a sort of numb feeling towards the start of the new school year. Now, I'm kind of excited.