Back in the Swing of Things

We all survived the first week of school. And honestly, somewhat surprisingly, it went pretty darn smoothly.

For me - I only had about three criers in my kinder classes. Two the first day, one yesterday. Not bad. In their actual classrooms, they had a lot more so I count myself lucky. But overall, everyone was fairly well-behaved and we had a good time. We'll see what happens this week when they have to actually start learning something. ;-)

Chris - good first week. Didn't have to change any classes. He's planning to audition for the fall musical - "Guys and Dolls." :::sniff, sniff::: I'm so proud. A little surprised as that's not usually his personality - at least around his parents.

Chris did have a good laugh at me this week. He started seminary on Wednesday. Friday morning, I got up and started getting ready for the day. At 6:15 I realized I hadn't heard him, hadn't checked on him - nothing. Seminary starts at 6:00. I texted him, knowing he would have his phone on vibrate, and asked, "Please tell me ur up and gone." I got a text a few minutes later that said, "ur up and gone." BRAT!

James - also a good first week. He's figuring out where everything is in that big ole middle school. They spent the first three days doing activities ("Ready, Set, Go!") which I think could've been two days. James hated it. He began loving it on Thursday when they got to go to the normal class schedule. He's also dealing with the 4-inch binder. Again, I think 3 inches would've been sufficient. Guess we'll see.

John is loving being at Camey all by himself. Although he did mention on Thursday afternoon that he wished he had someone to play with in the room after school. So maybe he misses his brother just a little bit. :-) He's in a really good class with a really good teacher. It should be a good year.

Richard had a good first week too. He said that he's got some good kids this year so far. He's teaching all Algebra 2, which he swears gets a bit boring, but if the first week is any indication, it should be a better year for all of us.

Let's hope so!

And Here We Go...

Back to school! One of my "likes" on my Facebook page says the following, "School Day 1: School! Woo hoo!!! Day 2: Dude, when's Labor Day?" Hee hee!

I think I'm ready. My room looks awesome even if I do say so myself - and I do. (I even took pictures! And I'd post them if I could find the stupid cord for the camera.) I have my first week's lesson plans ready (except for Friday rotation day - no clue what to do there!) I'm excited about it. I'm ready to smile and be friendly and not frown so much.

Back to school is like New Year's for us. Our year runs from August-July not January-December. Such is the life of two school teachers and three students in the house. Only the dog doesn't know. But maybe he does because this is the time of year when he starts getting the house all to himself for a better part of the day.

So I think that's my New-School-Year's Resolution. Don't frown so much. Smile at everyone. Speak to everyone. Be consistent. And be quick to be consistent. There. I've said it out loud. Now I have to follow through, right? It shouldn't be too hard this week. Ask me again after Labor Day.

Last Day of No Plans

I had plans for this morning. I was going to start moving our "Weekly Home Blessing Hour" to Saturday. I was going to have the boys help with that. Well, okay...that was really the only plan I had for today.

But guess what? It's after 11:00 and I haven't done a single thing. I haven't made the bed. I haven't showered. I haven't folded the laundry. I haven't even seen my oldest child - and yes...he's up. I also haven't worked on my sharing time for tomorrow.

But...I got rid of the guilt by deciding something. 1) The day's not over. I could still accomplish something. Fold that laundry. Make some dinner. Sweep and mop the floors. (Probably not the last one.) and 2) It's the very last day this summer where I don't have a single, solitary thing that I absolutely have to do. Tomorrow is church and sharing time in primary. Monday begins the week of inservice and next Monday begins the school year.

So...I'm taking the morning and early afternoon off. And I'm not going to feel guilty about it. I'm going to enjoy it. I'll play games, watch some DVR'd shows and read a book. If you're lucky, I might even shower.

Back to School

For me at least. Yesterday I was in Denton at their new teacher orientation. My job was to try to get them to sign up for my favorite teacher association. There was a bunch of us from Camey. It made for a fun morning. Then we got a free lunch at Palio's. Totally worth it. Plus--it was a paid gig.

Today is not a paid gig. I'm doing a trade day. It's not really a trade day because I don't get these hours off later. I get to use them to work in my room next week. But the main reason I'm doing it is because today's meeting will be with live people. If I don't go today, I have to make it up next week at the normal time by watching the video of today. If "Legal Issues in the Fine Arts" isn't boring enough, can you imagine watching it on a video? Blech, blech and more blech.

This afternoon is James's 6th grade orientation. What? Huh? How did that happen? Schedules, school tour, find classes - should be fun! And scary!

But we're following it up by visiting Hawaiian Falls for the last time this year. Great way to end the summer!

A Day of Dentistry and Other Musings

Today was dentist day for four of the five of us. Richard went last week. Is this when it really hits home that school is starting? I posted on Facebook that we'd been to the dentist and gotten free Chik-Fil-A Ice Dream Cups afterward - coupons from the dentist. At least three other people commented that they were going today or tomorrow.

The positive side - no cavities or extra work for anyone. Yay!

The negative side - no extra work for anyone FOR NOW. Chris needs his wisdom teeth out. The bottom ones are turned in just like mine were at his age. I didn't get mine out soon enough and it messed up my bottom teeth after all that time in braces. Hopefully we can get Chris's done over Christmas break.

James needs braces. We'll evaluate that next month - after the new insurance cards and flex card kick in. John needs braces, but his teeth are still falling out so we'll wait another year or so for him.

I have a tooth that had a root canal years ago, but never a crown. There is now "decay" (I really don't like that word) all the way down to the root. So basically, we're just waiting until it finally becomes painful or annoying or whatever and that tooth will have to go. Oh joy. Hope it waits a few years so we can get through all the braces and wisdom teeth and stuff.

It seems that Richard was the only one who came out of this with his future unscathed.

So that was most of my morning. This afternoon has been devoted to napping/resting. Late afternoon will be devoted to meeting with the mortgage refinance guy. What. A. Hassle. Just the fact that they can't just keep your escrow intact is enough to tell me that the system is flawed. I mean really - we have to pay new escrow and then have our "old" escrow refunded in 6-8 weeks? Hmmm...who's getting the interest on that money? Certainly not me.

Aside from the hassle, it's a good move. I hope it will be worth it. If all goes as planned, it should. But we know how often that happens when it comes to home buying/refinancing.

Girl Talk

Sometimes a girl just needs to talk to another girl. About everything. About nothing. Complain. Brag. Empathize. Sympathize. Laugh. Cry. Sweat. (Ok, the sweating's not so much fun, but that's what happens when you sit in your car with the windows open at Sonic at 8:00 at night when it's still 100 degrees outside.)

But the rest was much needed and much appreciated.

Especially since today I sent my hubby back to his home-away-from-home. It's back to school time around here and he will be in Venus for another year. That's another year of single-momhood during the week. We will miss him. He will miss us. And we will be fine.

This made it the perfect night for girl talk over a Sonic Blast. Thanks, Suz!

The Last Monday

It's the last Monday of summer. Okay, not summer the season, but summer no school. I start inservice this Friday. So what am I doing with the last Monday of summer? This was my list:

Weekly Home Blessing Hour
15 minutes decluttering/cleaning the kitchen
call Dad this afternoon
call Wells Fargo
two loads of laundry

What have I done on that list? Nothing. It's 11:00 in the morning. I've been up since 4:30 (not counting the hour nap I took from 6:30-7:30) and I have done absolutely nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. I'm still in my pjs. I'm still in the same chair I came to at 4:30 this morning. I'm still on the computer.

I don't want to move. I don't want to get hot and sweaty while cleaning the house. I don't want to get ready for school to start. I think I'll go read a book.