Spring Cleaning....make that summer projects and cleaning!

The joys of summer projects. The end result is nice meanwhile the transition to the end result is messy, sweaty work, and frustrating. Our most recent summer project has been moving all our classroom items upstairs into the guest room and the office. Then, we cleaned out the garage for the epoxy coating we painted on the garage floor. In order to do this, we had to bring everything that was in the garage inside to the kitchen, dining room, and living room. We sure had a lot of junk that was just sitting in our garage.

After the epoxy coating was dry enough to start moving items back into the garage, we've been sifting through the items to minimize what's going back into our garage. Next, we've pulled aside our junk that can be someone else's treasures and listed them on craigslist. The biggest project yet of sorting through our garage items is all the china Dereck received from his Grandmother when she passed away and the china I've received from my grandmother. Refering to Dereck's china alone, there's at least 32 sets of dinner plates, medium and small plates, bowls, tea cups, saucers, etc. Maybe this is enough for the Queen of England but we sure won't be having that big of a feast. I think 12 is more of a reasonable amount of sets to have. Anybody need china? We've got tons to spare and don't quite know what to do with it. Then there's the china I've received from my grandmother. We're lucky to find a place for a set of 6 china. I don't know what I'm going to do with the set from my grandma. If we put it back in the garage, it's just going to sit there. We don't have any place to show them off. Our house already has enough furniture. Any suggestions?

These pictures don't even show our house at the worst of organizing stage...at least all the school stuff and big garage items were moved out.

Well, Dereck and I, amongst the garage clean up, are getting ready for our road trip up to the Oregon coast for my family's reunion. Oh yeah, beach here I come. I don't care if the ocean is cold up there....it's the beach! A luxury when you live in Phoenix. I'm really excited about taking a road trip and winding up the coast enjoying the beauty. I'm thrilled about this adventure. We'll see what this adventure brings in the way of highlights and challenges, I'll be sure to blog about it.

Last Day Blues

It's hard to think that my first year of teaching is over with. Wow. I'm no longer a first year teacher. The students faces keep flashing in my memory. Great memories allow me to smile and be excited for their futures. I didn't realize I would have so many students clinging to me, crying, not wanting to go. Some of the other teachers even made fun of me crying. I couldn't help it. Once I saw my students crying, I bursted into tears. I guess I became attached to my students. Or maybe it's because I know about their homelifes and how it's unstable for some of them while school brought stability and structure to their lives every week. I know I'll see most of my students next year, thanks to the fact of Dereck teaching 4th grade at the school next door. It still is sad to realize the year has rolled to the last day.

Today, our school put on the first staff variety show. This is similar to a talent show only it's not all about talents. Our third grade team decided to be a "cheer squad." Needless to say, it gave our principal and staff the idea for us to open up next school year's assembly. I didn't realize our performance would be such a hit. Plus, I did a cartwheel on stage. You wouldn't believe (and me) how many students were fascinated with a teacher doing a cartwheel. My students even said that I proved I'm flexible (I'm really not but they think so) with the jumps and kicks we were doing.

I'm very proud of surviving the year and to still enjoy my job. I'm ready for another year with another group of students! Bring it on!