November 24th

FOR TODAY (November 24th)

Outside my window...I can see my neighbor's porch light

I am thinking...about Advent and wanting to do it the right way this year

I am thankful for...one more day of school and then Thanksgiving break

From the learning rooms...we are working on our newspaper unit

From the kitchen...the lingering smell of Chicken Parm

I am wearing...my comfy pj's

I am creating...a better blog (hopefully)

I am going...to Boston this week (fingers crossed)

I am reading...Twilight (yes, I am jumping on the band wagon)

I am hoping...everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving

I am hearing...a funny movie in the other room

Around the house...I can see Rosie's dog toys

One of my favorite things...is my scriptural tea

A few plans for the rest of the week... are to make my Grammy's pumpkin bread, pick up my pie from the youth group, Mass Wed and Thursday, and correct 75 biography projects

Here is picture thought I am sharing...Rosie sleeping like an angel

Please visit Peggy's blog for more of the Simple Woman's Daybook http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

Signs...

It's funny how things happen for a reason. This past weekend I had a bit of a relapse in terms of my worrying... I had issues with worrying too much back in hs and college (another story for another day). Well this weekend I felt overwhelmed so I wrote them all down on a piece of paper just to get them out of my head. Of few of them would be:

• Paying for grad school
• Choosing a grad program
• Passing GRE and GRE Lit tests
• Choosing a career path (middle school vs. high school teaching)
• And a few other embarrassing ones

Dougie is always wonderful about my worries. He lets me sound them out to him and then he helps me cross them off by either giving me advice or telling how its something I can't help so why worry about it.

Today after my long day at school, I decided to make myself a nice hot cup of tea. I usually pull out the good loose leaf stuff but today I felt like a plain cup of tea. So I pulled the only kind I have in the house.... my scriptural tea with a bible verse on every tag. This was mine...

"Be anxious for nothing...let your requests be known to God" Philippians 4:6

Its so nice having those types of signs from up above :-)

What a splendid idea.... Books for the Holidays!!!

I was stalking one of my favorite blogs when I stumbled upon this jewel:

http://www.buybooksfortheholidays.com/2008/11/about-buy-books-for-holidays-by-amy.html

As a teacher and a book lover, I strongly support this endeavor and proudly declare that I will be participating in this cause.

Friends and family members: You've been warn ;-)

FOR TODAY November 10, 2008

Outside my window... I can see the stars twinkling in the night sky

I am thinking... about going to bed early tonight.

I am thankful for... my health and for Veteran's Day tomorrow

From the kitchen...I have a clean and sparkling sink thanks to my hubby

I am wearing...sweatpants and a long sleeve tee-shirt

I am creating...a stronger relationship with my best friend

I am going...to do some recreational reading

I am reading...The Queen's Fool by Phillippa Gregory

I am hoping...to go to bed early tonight

I am hearing...my friends in the background

Around the house...I have a load of laundry in the wash

One of my favorite things...is a warm daytime nap

A few plans for the rest of the week... are to catch up on correcting, spend quality time with my husband, and treat my best friend to breakfast tomorrow.

Here is a picture to share...

Please visit Peggy's blog: http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

Election Day and Founder's Day... all in one!

Happy Election Day! Hope everyone had a chance to go out and cast their vote. What an exciting day for us!!!! I'm going to be glued to the tube for the updates as they come in. I have a feeling that Obama is going to win, but I'm holding out for McCain!!!!

Also, today is Founder's Day for my sorority, Alpha Sigma Tau!!!!!

Although I'm not as involved as I should be, it is exciting to be part of a sisterhood and the traditions that follow. So for those fellow AST's (if you are out there).... Happy Founder's Day!!!!

Anyways, nothing really new to report... first quarter grades are due this Friday so I've been focusing on those. I didn't realize how much grading I've done in the last two months!!!! Not looking forward to all that calculating.

Oh, and before I forget.... Here is the new car :-)

NEATE..... And a quick update

It's that time of year again.... The Fall New England Association of Teachers of English conference. I've spent the last two days immersed in everything teaching, which I totally needed. I was starting to get too comfortable in the classroom and hope to incorporate more innovative things (like reader response journals for the novels we read and improving our close reading skills).

In more school news, I spent one of my preps this week with the other 7th grade ELA teacher to map out our school year. I didn't realize how much had to be squeezed in!!! Right now I'm working on non-fiction with my students until mid-November. Then comes the sprint. I have so much to do between November and January.... It should be interesting. I'll post the whole schedule next week.

This week the hubby and I added a new member to the family... a new car! My hubby has always owned crappy used cars so it was time. We bought a 2008 Jetta VW!!!! My dreams have come true. I've always wanted a Jetta and now we have a bright red one :-) We pick it up tomorrow after work so I'll be sure to post pics!

Other than that, it was a very relaxing weekend. Got the new "Real Simple" and "Yankee" magazines so I had to read those cover to cover. Also corrected my butt off since end of first quarter is this week!!!! Now hubby and I are watching the Food Network (Pumpkin carving contest and then a special Iron Chef).

Hope everyone has a lovely week!

Bad girl!!!

Sorry ladies and gentlemen... I've been a bag blogger (again!!!). I'm still alive and surviving life as a teacher (a little too well?). I had open house last week and it went very well. I made sure to wear my power suit, my heels, and pearls to look the part and I think it really paid off. The parents were not thrown off by my "youthfulness" and actually were quite responsive to what I had to say or suggest. I got to meet about a third of my student's parents/guardians, which is really good for our urban district.

We are starting our new unit... non-fiction. I passed out our first major project of the year, the biography book report. The students have to choose a biography and then a visual piece (choosing one of the four I gave them ranging from creating a front page of a newspaper, an all about me poster, or even a life-size model of person they are reading about) that they will present to the class. I'm giving them over a month to do it, with the presentations starting the week of Thanksgiving (I figured why start something new that week... I'd rather hear presentations the three days before the break).

Other than that, things are good. Tonight is a ladies night... Rosie the English bulldog and I are watching girly movies and relaxing while the hubby watches the Red Sox game with the boys. This weekend is a nice long weekend so I'm planning on picking a few pumpkins for the entry way/porch, restocking my teaching supplies, and maybe making a special trip to Nordstrom for some more wardrobe updates (shhhh, don't tell Dougie!!!) With the winter quickly approaching, I need more appropriate attire :-)

Also, bonus time at Clinique... I'm so behind so I must make a trip. Is it worth it? I don't need anything right this moment. Perhaps a new lipstick?