Six Word Saturday

I wish boxes would unpack themselves.

Moving is in full force. I hope to sit down and blog soon, as it is I'm borrowing internet from the local coffee place :)

Six Word Saturday

Meeting my nephew for first time!

*These may be my most favorite six words ever! Isn't he just the most adorable little thing?

House Update-- Week 13

Super excited to see this week's progress... we almost drove right past the house since it didn't look like a construction zone. Here's the comparison to last week:It's amazing the change a little sod can make in the appearance of the yard. Especially when you have a view of the 10th hole...

Noticeable additions: all appliances are installed, all tile work is finished, all carpet is installed and my lovely mantle has been installed. It looks like it's finishing touches, paint touch ups from here on out. So excited and overwhelmed by the idea of furnishing and decorating this place for the holidays! We've managed not to kill each other and we've even picked out one paint color together. There may be hope for this project :)

The one with the baby shower

How in the world has it been 2 weeks since I blogged? I think I spend too much time fixing websites at work that when I'm faced with mine I just pretend it's going to post on its own. Oh well, I should probably blog about the other thing that's keeping me busy-- baby showers! Not for me, mind you, but hosted by me. Seems something is in the water in multiple locations and I have 3 friends/family members expecting.

The one baby I'm most excited about should be arriving any day, my nephew, Jackson Reid. I couldn't pass up the chance to throw a shin dig for my baby brother and his soon to be bundle of joy. As he and his wife are huge baseball fans (and the idea was to have a co-ed shower), we embraced the day at the ballpark theme.

Invites were inspired by Red Sox tickets

In lieu of a guest book, guests were invited to sign baseballs that will be used in the nursery decor.

We stuck with a red white and blue color palate and all the food you would find at a stadium. Pigs in a blanket, mini cupcakes, fruit and white chocolate dipped ritz crackers.
We also set up a nacho bar with all the toppings and an ice cream sundae station

Playing off the baseball theme, I made a name sign for Jackson's nursery. It worked perfectly above the nacho bar!


Popcorn and sunflower seeds served as decorations and appetizers :) Toss down a few baseball cards and a plastic base and it's a cheap cute centerpiece.

The bank loaned us a a popcorn machine that was a huge hit with the younger shower attendees, and the big boys as well.
Instead of playing shower games (my SIL isn't a fan) we turned on the games to keep the boys entertained.
The hostess crew and the mom-to-be.
The swag table... they have some seriously creative friends!

Diaper cake for the Red Sox fans. Super cute!It was such a fun shower and so easy to throw together! Most everything used in decorating was either edible or re-purposed into nursery decorations. I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of this little slugger!

Wordless Wednesday- do you copy?

It's all I can do not to quote Smokey and the Bandit all day at work. And that new appendage? It's like a GPS chip--- they can find me anywhere!

The Day it Rained Forever...

or at least felt like it.

Nearly 30 hours of rain can not only make you want to curl up in bed and sleep the day away, it can cause some massive flash floods. As Hermine slowly winds her way northward, we are still trying to dry out in my neck of the woods.

Any time your morning commute looks like this, it's going to be a wild day.


This is the namesake Round Rock on a nice July day, with a wetter than normal summer.

This is the same creek on Wednesday morning.There's the rock peeking out from under the branch.


And bootcamp, I love you, but I just don't think we're gonna meet today. Those are handicap parking signs peeking above the water line.
Everyone here is fine, just a little water-logged and restless. But that's nothing a little Thursday night football won't fix, right?!

six word saturday fail

I did not abandon my blog.

School has started, which means I am no longer in charge of my time. Since the new job has me dealing with computers all day long, I'm not exactly chomping at the bit to get on when I get home. Plus, I feel much wittier in the 140 characters I find time to type out during my day. But hang in there, I'm finding my balance and have so much to blog about.

wordless wednesday- testing my patience

Linking up to Angry Julie's Wordless Wednesday!

Six Word Saturday

Work has taken over my life.

I'm fairly sure I wasn't prepared for back to school, and finishing my first five day work week I've noticed that nothing else was accomplished this week. And the to-do lists at work? They multiply overnight.

I think I can, I think I can

Yesterday was my first day at my new job. (Let me preface this with a quick recap- I've taught middle school for the last 5 years. I was on the edge of my sanity and applied for an Instructional Technology Specialist position within my district. I got the job.) I'm willing to be it will not be going down as one of my top 5. I showed up on my campus at 8:00 A.M. ready to dive in. I was the only person on campus except for the wonderful custodian who let me in. She showed me to my office/book storage room and then disappeared. Here's the fun part. They were waxing all the hallways yesterday, so I was trapped in my book room closet until they gave the ok to walk. I had no keys, no log in info, no lysol wipes to clean my office. My big accomplishment for the day was to take down the blue cotton curtains covered in smiley flower stickers and replace them with some grey twin sheets. (They make some fabulous no-sew curtains!)
And that's when my momentum came to a grinding halt. I ran out of energy. And tape for my label maker. And ideas. I'm used to throwing together bulletin boards and making cute binders, but not organizing an office inside of a closet. All of the text books are stored in here, so I'm limited to my desk and a table.

I'm open to any suggestions form the blog-o-sphere. How do you suggest I tackle this monstrosity of a mess?

I decompressed by working on a project for a very sweet little boy who will be joining my brother and sister in law in October, my nephew Jackson. I can't wait to post the whole project, but since I want his mom and dad to be surprised, all I can show is this little teaser.

House Update- Week 4

I guess that chia house thing does work. Cause with a little cement, and a little rain, this week our frame appeared. It was like those little mushroom rings that spring up after the rain.

Not only do we have an outside, but this week we also have an inside. Yay! I can actually start to "see" where rooms will be.

House update week 3 :Foundation

I've decided that there must be tiny elves that work on this house during the night, because I have yet to see a crew of workers actually on site when I drive by. But at least we have concrete, despite the fact that our builder swore we would see frames by the weekend. I'll give him a pass this time.
It definitely looks larger with the concrete poured, but I'm a horrible visualizer and can't picture they lay-out quite yet. We've also met the neighbors, who have no blinds on their windows and watched us "walk-thru" the house. My fingers are crossed for good weather and some serious construction this week!

6WS

So many projects, so little time.

I start back to school in 9 days. I'm not quite ready. And I have a summer project list a mile long.

House update -week #2

Last week's pile of dirt has turned into this week's body farm. Thanks to Hurricane Alex, last week saw a greater amount of rain than usual and put a halt on progress. Seems you can't pour concrete when it's raining :( This week's forecast promises to be a bit more cooperative, and may result in framing and *fingers crossed* maybe even a roof!

Does anyone else think "Poltergeist" when they see this picture?

6 word saturday

My cat doesn't understand personal boundaries.

This is what I wake up to daily. and usually about 3:30 when she's ready to play. There have been times I wake up in the night feeling like Drew Barrymore in "Cat's Eye", but it's the cat sucking the breath from me. If I turn my head, she moves to that side. I sleep with half my body off the bed, just so she can't slither in beside me.

visit Cate to play along.

Dirty

Last week I became the proud owner of a pile of dirt. A really big pile of dirt that we have big plans for. I then made a trek to Louisiana to celebrate the 4th of July with my parents and family. I really hoped to come back to a pile of concrete, but after checking my pile today, I still have dirt.

Do you think they make chia houses?

get off your "ath" let's do some Math!

Math is a wonderful thing,
Math is a really cool thing.

Bonus points if you know what movie that's from :)




Today I ventured into the wide world of 3D shapes and all that it entails: volume, base, area, radius and pi. It's been a long time since I graced a math classroom, and we are not BFFs. I saved up all my "C" hours for my college math courses. I hated parabalas and graphing with a passion usually reserved for the Yankees. I am still waiting for the opportunity to use a proof in real life. Bottom line, it's just not my thing.




Which is why I held on to the teacher's manual for dear life and referred to my cheat sheet for every single question that arose. I can guarantee these kids will be able to find volume, but heaven help us if you ask them to justify their answers!

six word saturday

Why can't I just do nothing?

Since coming home from vacation last Saturday, I have baked a gazillion cupcakes, packaged and mailed half those cupcakes, banished the sand from all vacation materials, started two 4th of July crafts, cleaned the pantry, cleaned the garage, and today I have promised young un a tie dye extravaganza. Why can't I just sit still and do nothing?

I wanna bake with somebody...

While I was on vacation I took a break from the bloggy world to just relax on the beach. Which meant I had a plethora of posts to catch up on. Which means I quickly fall into some bloggy black hole, clicking through links at every stop.

On one of my late nights journey's I came across this recipe at Joy's Hope. It had everything I love: salted caramel, homemade butter cream and chocolate. *swoon* We were meant to be. I decided these cupcakes would be an excellent treat for my summer school co-workers. Apparently I thought summer school was staffed by an army. I really don't know why I thought I needed 672 cupcakes, but that's close to the number I ended with.

Big cupcakes, tiny cupcakes, cupcakes in a jar. I'm an equal opportunity cupcaker.

I tried to limit my samples to just the minis, and have spent much of the day delivering these little bites of deliciousness to everyone I've ever met. They do not need to spend anymore time in my house. I can not be responsible for the amount consumed if I'm left alone with them. They are that good.

So go ahead. Make some cupcakes. You know you want to.

On the beach you'll find them there...

I'll be honest, my favorite thing about being a teacher is June & July. (Not August, cause that means back to work). But it takes a lot of rest/relaxation/adult beverages to clear my mind of the previous year's shenanigans.

This week, I traded my desk for a nice sandy beach.

kids running down the hall, for a kid running in the surf.

collecting homework papers for collecting sea shells.

juvenile behavior for, well, juvenile behavior.

And cheesy lectures for cheesy pictures.

These are the memories that get me through September and October and convince me I can survive another year. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a frozen drink calling my name and a mini golf championship to win.

Bring the beat back...

I was a little worried when I caught myself singing this while folding laundry.

moving on up....

For the past 2 weeks I have been anxiously awaiting word on a potential job change. Yesterday I got that word and it was YES! So after 5 years in my classroom, I am packing it all up to begin my new path as an ITS-- instructional technology specialist. I'm excited about the change in titles, and the new responsibilities that await me. Combining a love for educational strategies and lesson planning with a passion for technology has me truly ecstatic about the next school year. I'm always up for a challenge, and will admit that there will be a huge learning curve for me where the hardware aspect is concerned. But the campus I'll be placed at has a true desire to incorporate technology and that's what I'm sure will get me through all the times I want to pull out my hair.

For the first time in 8 years, I won't be walking into a classroom of my own. I won't have 123 names to learn and parents to contact. I won't have grades to post *shouts of joy* or attendance to track. And while there are parts of teaching I'll miss, I know that the parts I love will still be available to me-- creating engaging lessons, problem solving, creativity--and that will allow me to grow in my new position.

First order of business is packing away 5 years of memorabilia/materials/ supplies. It's a total mess and more than my organizational skills can handle. The next step will be turning my storage closet/book room of an office into a place that I can actually function in.

I'll post pictures next week and see what suggestions the blog-o-sphere has. My first training to teach? That would be beginner blogging :)