I'm a STAR...

I love me some free classroom supplies, so when I learned Office Depot was hosting their STAR Teacher breakfast and sale today, I actually set my alarm on a Saturday. At 9:30 I signed in, received my door prize ticket and a goody bag, and hit the breakfast table. Yummy breakfast tacos and doughnuts! They pulled tickets every 7 minutes for a fun mystery goody box containing anything from gift certificates to dry erase boards to custom notepads. Lots of fun stuff that I just can't bring myself to buy for my room (we don't have a reimbursement program, so I have to be very careful how much I spend at the start of each year). I waited for nearly 2 hours for my number to be called. They changed the breakfast buffet to pizza and sandwiches and still I waited. Finally, the last prize remained on the table. I meandered back up to the front, one of the last teachers still there.

I think the manager felt sorry for me when she saw I was still hanging around and asked my ticket number. She looked at the sequence and then she just gave me the box :) I didn't even care what was in it, I was so happy to have free stuff for my room!

Speaking of my room, it still needs lots of work. I had to change rooms this year after 3 years in my old one, so it's a little daunting to set it all up again. I do my timeline first to add color and make me feel I've accomplished something... pay no attention to those stacks of books I still need to sort through.

I also put my bulletin boards together and set up my desk. My Mark Saccomanno bobblehead gets a special place, along with a favorite wedding picture and my Yoda quote (Do or Do not, there is no try).I still have a week before the kiddoes come to me for book learnin. Maybe I'll find my inspiration this week to finish the decorating/organizing. If not, I'll just have to dazzle them with my free stuff!

As I watch the Olympics, here's a really cool photo from the minor league baseball game we went to Saturday night. As the players left the field after the game, the jumbotron switched to the Men's 4x100 medley. As everyone in the stands yelled and cheered on the swimmers, 3 of the visiting players wandered out to center field to watch. Go USA!