Weekend

My crazy weekend was soooooo much better than last weekend! No mice, no bugs, and no bad visitors! I this week was so busy, and left very little time for sleeping, so on Friday night, I was pretty much out of it! Saturday, the exterminator came and then I left to go to Abilene for a 50th anniversary party for family members on my dad's side. We had a fun trip out to Abilene and everyone stopped by my mom's house for a little bit before heading out to the Ball Ranch for the party and dinner.


When you arrive at the Ball Ranch, you get a great taste of Abilene without having to visit all of Abilene. Enjoy the pictures!

Nothing says "Welcome" like a rusty old bath tub in front of a barn.

Mimi, Aunt Melinda, Missy, Aunt Cindy, Mom and me

Mimi, Bobby (It was her 50th anniversary!) and my mom

Cindy, Sam and Sunny by a random tree INSIDE the barn

Can you find the best part of this picture? Nope, it is not the skeleton. Nope, it is not the noose in the background. Nope, not the Christmas lights in September. It is the PLUG and LIGHT SWITCH on a tree, inside a barn. We are talking HIGH class here people!

This was the cutest part of the dinner. Terrell and Bobby, holding hands during a song. They have been married for 50 years. I have heard many stories about them, but don't personally know them very well.

So, 3 hours to Abilene, 2 1/2 hours for dinner and party and then 3 hours back home makes for one tiring day!

TV

SPOILER ALERT! One of my favorite (very silly, and I didn't agree with it all the time) shows has come to an end tonight. Greatest American Dog crowned the 'greatest dog in America' tonight. Of the final 3 dogs, I was pulling for Travis and Presly, a cute single guy, and a pretty sweet Boxer. :) I must admit, I had wanted Laura and Preston ( a little pomeranian) to win. But they were sent home early on because Preston was not a good painter.
Although this show had the owners and dogs doing silly events like painting, dancing and talent, I was still somehow drawn in every week to see the cute dogs. I must admit, Copper would have been perfect for that show, and had we participated we would have come home a quarter of a million dollars richer! - I am just sayin'. :)

A Balancing Act and a bunch of rambling!

Did you know that I am a professional juggler? ( I didn't either!) Lately, it seems that is all I am doing. Bouncing from one deadline to the next, trying to find the perfect balance of work, school, gym, me, my little animals and friends. I have not found that perfect balance yet, but I am working hard to find it.
At work, I feel like a first year teacher all over again since I am new to the grade level. THe great thing is that my kids make me soooo happy! I am so thankful for this little group of kiddos.
I could easily spend 10 hours a day for a week in my room and still not have it perfect. Most of the problem stems from my need to have it perfect. Also, because it is a new to me classroom, I am still trying to find what I need, and the optimal location for each item. Sometime this week I need to build my classroom library, move my teacher table, and clean out and organize one more cabinet and a list a mile long of little misc. items to take care of.
At school, everything is manageable..... so far. It has been kind of nice to have something that MAKES me stop working on work stuff and focus on something else for a while. I am also so proud of myself for doing several projects correctly when 7 or more students in the class misunderstood the assignment. YEA for me listening!
Gym - This summer I was super dedicated about going to the gym. Many days I was able to go twice a day. I went on the first day of school. That was August 25th people! I have not had time to go since. There goes all my hard work.
Friends - I have really been neglecting my friends lately. I get so wrapped up in work and school, that I forget to take time to laugh with my friends. On Saturday, I had a unique opportunity to volunteer at the Tarrant County Food Bank. The best part about it was that I needed to go there for a school project/research paper, AND my singles group was already planning on going there on that day! So, I killed 3 birds with one stone. I got to get the research part done while talking with other volunteers, spend quality time with some amazing friends at my church and just laugh a bunch. Also, I got to volunteer!
My Pets- They have also been neglected lately. Usually I take Copper for a walk every night, and spend time throwing the ball. Since one night each week I am gone over 15 hours, my poor dog has been acting so sad. I did however, find a co-worker that lives close and has a teenager to come over and let him out during that day.
Me - It seems like work has just consumed me for over a month. (You can probably tell from the blog. Everything lately is work related!) I am giving myself 2 more weeks of staying late and being consumed by work. THEN...... I am going to leave work at work, and leave by 4:30 4 days a week. (We will see how that goes!)
Ok, I think I am done rambling for tonight. Next blog will be 100% un-work or school related!

One Step Forward and About A Million Steps Back

The last blog I posted I got to brag about how brave I was sweeping a stupid dead mouse away. Well, the braveness has worn off, or only applies to dead mice.

I was packing up my stuff to take home for the weekend, and when I grabbed my lunch box guess what was in it........... nope, not a mouse. It was 3 roaches the size of a mouse. EWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!! Although I wasn't brave enough to throw the lunch box away myself, I was brave enough to continue working for another hour or so.

I had an uneventful ride home pulled into the garage and that's when the worst part of my day occurred. A MOUSE RAN across the garage floor just as I was getting out of my car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My mom was on the phone with me, and had to pretty much coach me out of the car and into house. Needless to say, the pest control people will be here as soon as possible! At least when I am at work there are people around to hear if they suddenly attack. At home, I am all on my own. The bigger issue of the mice is that I live half way to no where and back up to undeveloped land. I am thinking over getting an outside cat to take care of the mouse problem, but then that might open up even more issues with leaving it food. My mom has an outdoor cat, and skunks have invaded her garage and have been eating all of the cat's food. I don't like skunks either. Hmmmmm.... What to do, what to do......

I am so brave!

Around 8:00 tonight I walked out to the garage to take out a bag of trash. That is when I saw it. A dead, tiny mouse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I came in and pouted for a good 15 minutes before putting on my big girl shoes and going back out to the garage to dispose of the nastiness! I bravely swept the stupid mouse out into the ditch where he belonged.

Week in Review

I wish I had some really funny stories to post, but I don't. I can however sum up my first week.
First Grade:
I am still absolutely LOVING teaching the first grade. I know it is still only the first week, and I am sure there will be ups and downs, but we are off to a great start. I have discovered how funny my kids are this year. It is like all 19 became little comedians over the summer. I spent a majority of my week just laughing with my kiddos. Here is a funny comment I heard this week:
We were walking down the hall and my new sandals were sticking to my feet and making a really funny sound. When we stopped at our destination my precious line leader whispered to me with a very serious face, "Miss Shipley, I think you have a flat tire, you are making a funny sound." of course I was trying sooooo hard not to laugh as I tried to explain.
There were some other REALLY funny things said, but I of course didn't write them down and have now forgotten them. I will have to do a better job of keeping up with the funny stories!

Grad. School
My first class was ok. I met some great new friends, and am sure we will become very close before all of this is said and done. The class will keep me busy, but there isn't anything that is too complicated, or unmanageable. I finished my first paper this weekend, and have already started on the second. The main thing will to just learn how to balance my time for work, school, and personal.
Long Weekend:
On Friday, my Grandmomma and I traveled to Abilene to visit my mom. We had a great trip down. my mom welcomed us with a yummy salmon dinner. After dinner we watched a movie and I fell sound asleep before 10:00. On Saturday, we ran some errands and I was able to make my monthly Sam's stop to stock up on everything I would need for the month. WE stopped by Dillard's and I purchased some clearance back to school clothes for 75% off!!!!! ( My favorite purchase was a pair of pants I have been eyeing for a very long time. I got them for under $10!)
On Sunday, it was a perfect day for swimming!!!!! This is my all-time favorite activity! It had been 3 long weeks since I had been outside for a considerable amount of time. 10 minute recess, and 15 minute dismissal doesn't count! We came back home on Sunday afternoon.
Today I have spent just catching up. Laundry, errands, and working on some examples for next week, and papers for grad. school.

Next post I will try to have some pictures and other good stuff.

My First Day in the First Grade!

My first day in the first day was fantastic! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my kiddos, and LOOOOOOVE the first grade in general. Yes, I am still sad about leaving my team in Kinder. (they are/were the VERY best team you could ever imagine) However, I am adjusting to my new team, and am very happy with both of my new teammates. They have both welcomed me to the first grade with open arms, and always have an encouraging hug for me and great advice! I think this is going to be a fantastic year getting to know a new grade and 2 new friends.

I started my day actually waking up on time (first day jitters) and making it out the door by 6:50 am. I get half way to school and realize I have left my school keys in the office at my house. Since I live half way to nowhere, it is not an option to turn around. My next realization is that flashy flash drive with the way cool PowerPoint I was going to show that morning was attached to the keys that are at home. :(. What a way to start the first day!!!!
But no worries, I found someone to let me into my classroom and made do without my cool PowerPoint. My kiddos arrived at 7:50 and although it was a little crazy the first 15 minutes, it was no where near as crazy as the first day of Kindergarten. The kids sat down in their desk and were being GREAT!
I can't tell you what a difference one year makes! I am sure it helps that 12 of the little guys were mine from last year, and they know me, my expectations, and our routines. My kids were almost perfect today. We read books, laughed, practiced routines and even implemented our discipline program as if we were 6 weeks into the school year. I started out going over the program (called Make Your Day) as if none of them knew anything about it. When 12 of the kids were looking at me like I was the one who had forgotten everything over the summer I decided to just pull the new ones in a small group to fully explain, and then do whole group review. The kids from last year liked that much better!
I know this is going to be a FANTASTIC year! I have a group of kiddos who are really excited about learning. At the end of the day I let the kids explore some math manipulitives and 5 of the kids asked if they could read books instead. When I agreed, I watched as ALL 5 actually sat down and "read" independently without disturbing their neighbor, or getting up and down to play in the library center. They are going to do really, really well when we introduce the Daily 5 tomorrow.
I will keep you posted on how First grade is going, I know we will have our challenging days, but I can just tell that we are going to have a great year!

After school I was able to take a kiddo from my first Kindergarten class 3 years ago out to Sonic to celebrate his first day as a big 3rd grader. I am so proud of him! It is very encouraging to see the little guys grow up into big kids, and to know that I played a very small part of shaping him into this really incredible kid.