See Ya Later, Alligator!

I titled it that because, who knows, I may see an alligator while I'm gone! I'm leaving in approximately 32 hours for

 SPRING BREAK!!!!!

I am finally excited about it, but I have SO much to do. I haven't started packing, or done laundry for that matter. I was planning on buying some food to take along, but of course I haven't made it to the store yet. I'm hoping that after babysitting tonight I can pack most of what I need, then tomorrow morning I can run by the bank/post office/ Target/ Aldi all before work sooo that I can relax tomorrow night? Hahahahaahhahahaha... yea, I know that's a lofty goal but it would be great!

I hope you all have a fantastic week! I don't plan on bringing my computer along, so I probably won't be updating at all...I'll miss ya, but will come back with lots of photos and stories to share (oh, btw did I ever tell you that I got my new camera? I ended up getting a Canon Powershot SX20 IS- so far I love it! This is what it looks like.)

I'm especially enjoying the zoom. Today when I took Bug to the park I snapped a shot of a squirrel that was quite a few feet away- I think it turned out pretty well! 

Okay, I'm off! There are lists to be made! ;-)

Weekend Snapshots

All hair dyeing adventures aside (which I love, btw!), it was a wonderful weekend. The weather was gorgeous and springlike almost all weekend resulting in a lot of fun—I’ll let the pictures tell the story!

I got a new camera so my sisters and I had fun with it…first at Walmart and later on the way to our bike path

This poor guy was the ONLY male in the whole row of hair dye!

(My frozen pet dragonfly my brother found in his boat)

The rest of the pictures are from our bike ride, or the car ride to/from…

  And as a fantastic end to the weekend, I got to meet my friend D’s week old baby Matthew. SO TINY and CUTE!!!

What did you do this weekend? Hope you had a good one!

Let's Try Again

It's a bright, sunny Saturday so we are heading out for bike rides, car cleaning, and playing with my new camera...and new hair!

New Hair

Two weekends ago the lovely Sharon highlighted my hair for me...

I really liked the color so I decided to let my 15 and 9 year old sisters go all out and do my whole head. I actually like it! I've never dyed my whole head before so it's definitely different :-)

What do you think? (Sorry, bad picture!)

Weekend R&R

I took Monday off, halfway out of the need to get ready for spring break and halfway to give my boss yet another chance to see why I have a hard time working with Jessa. That will probably not happen so let’s just say I have an extra long weekend and I am spending it in the country for some R&R! Last time I was there, the scenery looked like this…

 

I’m really hoping all that snow is gone as I’ve been sporting capris and sunglasses and went on a 5 mile bike ride last night after work!

Hope you all have a great weekend!!

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No More Free Living

I had my nightly (lately!) talk with my friend/coworker last night. She is the one I'm going on spring break and I told her that I was driving to babysitting and thinking of the Tubthumping song, which repeats this line over and over, 

"I get knocked down

but I get up again

You're never going to keep me down"

It's a perfect example of what I've been feeling lately with Jessa and by extension, my boss. I try my best, stay in the classroom literally all day, have the group of kids to myself for a few hours, finally need to take a bathroom break and BAM, there is yelling for me again, which sends my boss running to Jessa to see what happened. Never is the issue blood or broken bones like one would think, but rather spilled milk, some mud on a child's clothes, or a simple disagreement between two young kiddos. It's like every tiny chance she gets, Jessa wants to stomp me down into the ground like a worm. 

But I get up again, you're never going to keep me down. 

I can do this. I can be strong. I need to accept the hugs and well-meaning advice of my coworkers, something I was not able to do yesterday. In fact, yesterday was SO bad that even my best friend at work was told to "stay away, she's in a really bad mood" which I had to laugh at later, because it was true AND we've had days where we say that about my friend. 

So, Jessa will no longer run rampant in my mind as I desperately try to understand why she acts this way. There will be no more rent free living, so to say. I bought a journal over the weekend JUST to pen out my frustrations and try to sort this mess out. When the pen & journal come out, Jessa will undoubtedly be the topic of my mind, but once the pen goes away, there will be no Jessa talk. Hopefully. 

You're never going to keep me down.

Top O' The Morn!

I forgot to take pictures of all the Irish happenings in our classroom, but here are few... we've been reading lots of Irish books, too! I had the thought a few weeks ago to order some from the library and I'm glad I did because they were all reserved!

Let's Celebrate St. Patrick's Day by Peter & Connie Rook

This one has lots of information about St. Patrick, why he was named a Saint, and also talks about the Blarney Stone...that's when I was asked if I am the old lady in the legend

~

Shannon and the World's Tallest Leprechaun by Sean Callahan

This is a cute story about a little girl who thinks she is not good enough to be a real Irish dancer. Fun read :)

~

The Luck of the Irish by Margaret McNamara

This one is a really quick read about shamrocks. It's okay but nothing spectacular. 

~

That's What Leprechauns Do by Eve Bunting

This one was probably one of my favorites that we read. It's a story of three leprechauns who are in charge of the gold at the end of a rainbow but cause some trouble along the way.

~

Here are some of our crafts. I'll try to remember to take pictures of the others tomorrow. We didn't do anything big since Jessa is still finishing up Christmas crafts, but that's another whole story...

Something's Wrong

I got a bike rack so I can bike around this spring but I'm pretty sure that even with my mad skills (aka NONE) I put my bike on wrong. It's not supposed to tilt like that, is it? It doesn't look right and I need help! What am I doing wrong!? The guy at the bike shop said to put the first bars of the bike on, that's what I did...

Anyone?????

Dungeon Mondays

Ever since my meeting last week with my boss, which I don’t think I’ve talked about here, work has been a stressful weird. My boss isn’t acting in the happiest manner towards me, even though I tried to be up front and professional, and let me just say that she turned it around and made it seem juvenile. I felt like I was in a grade school to be honest, not sitting with another adult.

Which is why I have dungeon Mondays & Tuesdays. I don’t know who said it first, me or one of my coworkers, but when anyone sees me out of the room on M/T (NOT often, Jessa cannot manage the class apparently) they say, “Escaped from your dungeon?” LOL!

Everyone in my life is trying to be helpful when it comes to job uncertainty. I know they are. I know that a few years from now, I’ll look back on this time and realize that it all made sense. For now though, I’m teetering on the edge of uncertainty and insanity, I believe. Not sure which side I’ll fall off of first.

However, I only have seven more school days until spring break. I’m going on a trip…and can’t wait! I’ll be in the car for about 40 hours with Hope, and we’ll be visiting some of her family as well as a few members of my extended family. We will see water and more importantly, experience WARM, perhaps even HOT, weather. I cannot wait!

Getting To Know You Sunday

I was going to write about how my week was so busy and this is the first time I've sat down pretty much all week but then I realized how boring that would be...so I decided to answer these meme questions :)

The questions..

1. What's your favorite Easter candy?

As I sit here eating jelly beans...yea, I'll go with jelly beans!

2. Who do you think is cleaner..men or women?

Women.

3. Which do you prefer..wordy blog posts or ones with pictures?

I enjoy both, truthfully. I love to read, but I also enjoy looking at photos!

4. Were you popular in highschool?

Um, no. I was homeschooled and even then I wasn't popular. I think that actually the first time I've been "popular" is at my current job. LOL!

5. What's your bra size?

No clue and if I knew I wouldn't post it here! ;-)

6. How many states have you lived in?

Maine, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, Massachusetts = 5 (plus Austria, but that isn't in the US...) Quite likely that could change to 6 in the coming months!

7. What's one blog you read every day?

Some days, I don't get to any blogs, but the first one I always check is Sharon's The Bird's Nest

8. Peanut butter or Nutella?

Emmm...can I cheat and say both? PB goes with jelly, nutella goes with crackers, pretzels...I don't eat either very often.

TGIF!

What are you up to this weekend? Will you be able to enjoy the coming of spring? It seems to have sprung here- all I know is last week at this time there was still snow EVERYWHERE and now there is none! One of my little three year old students told me that she was going to wear her "soft coat" (light jacket, that is!). 

Another kiddo funny from today- We were studying St. Patrick's Day and I was telling the kiddos about my trip to Ireland and the Blarney Stone visit I had in 2004. One of the stories we were reading said the legend of the Blarney Stone is that an old woman put a curse on the castle stone. Adam then asked me, "Are you the old lady who did the curse??!!!"  LOL!!

Anyway, have a great weekend! I'll be back later :)

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Stuck

This post probably won't even make sense...it's just my mindless rambling!

I am stuck in a rut lately. After my awesome weekend I feel like I've been stuck in a rut. I'm BUSY, BUSY, BUSY...and happily so. In my life outside of work, I'm happy as a clam visiting with friends, having my family visit for a night, having phone and in-person interviews for summer jobs, and enjoying my coworkers' antics.

At work though?

That's another story. I'm caught between feeling soooo sad if this is my last year at the school and wishing the year was just over due to all the Jessa crap. I absolutely love my coworkers, but hearing questions about Jessa day after day is wearing on me. In fact, a few of my coworkers and I have made a pact NOT to talk about her or the drama that surrounds her "job" there, which has been almost a fun challenge!

I talked to Aniya tonight and she asked me, as many people have been lately, what I would do if I *do* leave my school after this year. The truth is that I have NO idea. I'm stuck. I want to be a stay at home mom. It's been my dream forever and while I've been happy at my school and truthfully thought I would be there until I got married and started a family...I could go back to nannying, I guess, or work in another school? I have no desire to go back to school for any type of degrees, sorry...

Sigh. I'm feeling a bit down tonight. Anyone else stuck in a rut?

First Signs

I wasn’t sure tonight if I was going to write an optimistic post or a pessimistic one, given the past week or so of my work week. However…after taking my school kids OUTSIDE (for the FIRST time since the fall!!!!!!!!!!) I decided to just share with you what I saw-

Spring is coming, guys! We can make it!

(We do have some small signs of winter left, but I can deal with them when they are this adorable- made by my student, Adam)