Merry Christmas and heading toward the New Year

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I know I did!!

My favorite gift was my body pillow. So soft!!

I loved seeing the faces on everyone as they opened their gifts. And I love not having school for a whole week more!!!

Now it's almost the new year!! So exciting!!

Such a comfort at this time

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”



This song is one of my favorite Christmas hymns.

My thoughts and prayers go out to those in CT.

Ups and Downs

I have never felt so many ups and downs before in a short time period.

I'm stressed and then everything is fine. My students are great and then I want to slap some of them for acting up. I think I can survive my job until May, and then I want to quit and do something else before January.

I don't know what to do anymore. Tips on surviving life? Because I am fresh out of ideas.

Pyromaniac

Yes, I am a slight pyromaniac. I love fire. It's warm, it looks cool, it smells nice. And it's fun to play with. ;)

Nothing better than watching a fire burn with my Jason!!

Attitude of Gratitude: 29 & 30

I can't believe it's December already!! Here's my last gratitudes.

29: I am thankful for a couple of calmer days teaching Thursday and Friday.

30: I am grateful that I did this, even though towards the end it was hard to remember. It really helped me this month.

Now on to Christmas posts!!!! :D

Attitude of Gratitude: 28

Had one yesterday but forgot to post it on here. Oops!!

Attitude of Gratitude: 26 & 27

Attitude of Gratitude: 25

I am grateful to mostly just deal with colds. Even though I work with disgusting kids that mine for nuggets and constantly have their dirty fingers in their mouths.

Attitude of Gratitude: 23 & 24

Should have posted this yesterday, since I did on Instagram.

Attitude of Gratitude: 22

Attitude of Gratitude: 21

Attitude of Gratitude: 20

Attitude of Gratitude: 17 & 18 & 19

Missed another couple of days. Oops!!

Attitude of Gratitude: 15 & 16

So I knew it would happen, but at least it was half way through instead of at the beginning of the month. Haha

Attitude of Gratitude: 14

Our water pipe is fixed!!!! Yay for water!!!!

Attitude of Gratitude: 13

I am grateful for good movies I watch with my hubby.

Tonight's was The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.

Attitude of Gratitude: 12

118 handwritten pages of my story and counting.

Attitude of Gratitude: 11

I am grateful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Today we had Arizona-wide Stake conference. We missed the first speaker, but I lived listening to Jeffrey R. Holland and President Eyring. They were both amazing speakers!!

Coolest thing was at the end, we lost feed from the stake center so that we could watch the broadcast from Salt Lake and did the closing hymn a capella. All the parts were there, and it gave me goosebumps to hear!!

All in all, the spirit was just wonderful.

I am also grateful today for those that have served and are serving in the armed forces. Thank you for working to keep our country safe and secure!!

Attitude of Gratitude: 10

I am grateful for plumbers and running water. After our experience today, running water is truly a wonderful thing!! I will be extra grateful when our water is running well again!

For those questions that that gratitude raised, we found out that last month, we could have filled three pools with how much water was used. That's how big of a leak we have. How come we didn't notice it? Well, we are pretty sure it's underground. It explains a lot of things around our house, though. Like the really loud creaks of our stairs and some of the walls.

I'll be glad when this experience is over, though!!

Attitude of Gratitude: 9

I am grateful to be done with the report cards before the weekend!!

Best feeling!!!

Attitude of Gratitude: 8

I am grateful for chocolate today.

Attitude of Gratitude: 7

Today's post was hard to come up with. I mean seriously hard.

America, in my opinion has made some foolish choices, but God knows the end from the beginning and I will trust Him to know what is in store for us.

I was hoping to be grateful for work, but while I'm glad to be working, I hate it right now, to be honest.

So today, I am grateful for the snuggles I get to share with J when days are rough and I need some cuddle time to get feeling better. Snuggles are the best thing ever!!!

Attitude of Gratitude: 6

Today I am grateful for the right and ability to vote in this wonderful country for the people of my choice!!

We live in a wonderful land, and I am grateful for the freedoms that we have!!


I am also grateful that the campaign ads will be done for a while!!

Attitude of Gratitude: 5

I am grateful for food and the ability I have to make meals.

As I sit and smell the chicken fried rice, I am so grateful for the food we have and are able to enjoy. I am so blessed to be where I am right now in life.

Even when things don't always go right and the kids at school bug the crap out of me, I really am blessed with what I have!!

Attitude of Gratitude: 4

Today I am grateful for family.

I love my family!! They are so great, and I love celebrating with them!!

Happy birthday, Kristen!!

Attitude of Gratitude: 3

Today I am thankful for the house I live in.

It's really a nice place, and I'm grateful for it, though I don't clean it like I really should. :S

Attitude of Gratitude: 2

Today I am very grateful for the weekend.

Yes, I know it seems silly, but after a tough week with the kiddos at school, I am very glad I can come home and relax for those few days before I have to go back on Monday.


(Especially after I had one of my kids say, "Look! I can push it with my tongue!" as he leans over and pushes his milk carton across the counter. I really wanted to facepalm.)

Attitude of Gratitude #1

I feel like I should do a post a day of things I am grateful for throughout November.

Pretty cool, huh? I thought so, too. :)

So here goes day number 1!!

I am grateful for this guy. He keeps me sane and treats me like a queen. I really couldn't ask for a better guy!! <3

Strange dreams

So, I have had strange dreams lately.

Sunday night/Monday morning caught me dreaming of Alana and what she's having. I dreamt it was a girl. (And I was TOTALLY RIGHT!!!)

Last night I dreamed I was filming in Downton Abbey. I don't really remember what I did besides filming with them, but at one point the scenery was just beautiful. More like New Zealand more than England. Haha

But anyway, it made me think of how I miss acting and how much I want to be in a show in front of people again.

Too bad I'm getting fat. Time for exercise?

Quick story update: I am on page 100 of handwriting my story. Yay!!! Not close to done, but it still feels great!!! :D

Some things just make teaching worth while

Got this today from one of my students.
Haven't figured out which one, but I think I've narrowed it down to the girls. Haha

Such sweet things when they're not being difficult.

"To: Mrs. Lee
From: unonumuse
"your a good teacher for me and your so nice and funny""

My first giveaway!!

So, I'm posting over here today!!

Check it out if you want to win a painting by yours truly!!

Almost over

Break is almost over. I will miss it, but that means I get to look forward to veterans day, thanksgiving and Christmas.

Today is the last Friday of break. I have spent on average about 5 hours a day just writing. Yesterday it was probably 12 or more hours. I am on 65 of handwritten pages front and back.

I seriously have made the tip of my thumb numb from writing so much. I love the way this is turning out!! I hope I can get a lot more written before I'm back to being too tired after school to do anything.

So exciting!!

Also, if I were not a teacher, what could you see me doing to earn money?

October break

This break has been fabulous and stressful all at the same time.

Stressful because of dentist stuff.

Everything else is just wonderful!! I have been able to write more than 20 pages of my story in the past week. I have also had a constant itch I work on it.

I never knew how motivating an itch could be. I have never felt anything like this before. It feels like my arms have this itch deep on the inside and scratching wouldn't help.

The longer I'm off, the less I want to go back, but I will do what I have to.

I also had a blast helping Kara on Wednesday. Making faces and entertaining Henry was a blast. He is such a cutie!!

So here's some pictures.

Confessions

On my next story, I have a almost 30 handwritten pages. That means because of how small I'm writing, I have no less than 25 typed pages.

With October break here, I am loving the time I have to write!! I can't wait to maybe some day get it published. It would fulfill a dream of mine.

Here's to days of writing for fun!!

That itch

Have you ever gotten that feeling where you need to create something? Or the itch to exercise or do another activity?

I have that itch.

Mine is the itch to write. It was an almost tangible itch in my hands to continue to write. And yes, I still feel it. If I didn't have school, I could see myself just writing for hours on end and alternating with painting and reading. Hopefully I'll keep this itch for a while. I want to really get some work done on my story!!

Have you ever gotten an itch?

Funniest thing to hear: neighbor edition

Kid are screaming in their backyard.

"Quit yelling!" and "QUIET!!" Is their mom's response.

Yes, it's a regular soundtrack here.

My new friend

I must have hit the part of my job where I get things done quickly and don't bring them home. I'm bored when I get home a lot of the time. Haha oh well more time for fun things, right?

Anyways, this week has been really weird because the kids have been crazy, an we have a new resident cat. No one knows when it first showed up under one of our portables, but some of the other teachers have learned that it is female, approx 6months, with a somewhat hoarse meow, and litter free… so far.

She has always been friendly to me and has rubbed her he's against my leg and let me pet her. She also likes a few other people. Some people I have talked to, though, swear she is a vicious thing hissing and swiping her paw. We don't know where she and the mysterious others have come from, and we don't know how long she'll be there, but for now, she's my new friend!!

I feel like I should post something…

I want to say something, but I really don't have anything to really talk about.

School is still going. Today was rather exciting because there is a resident cat and it decided it likes me. Haha it would wait for whenever I walk by.

That's about it, though. Haha

I've been dealing with a cold thing, so breathing hasn't been terribly pleasant. I'm hoping I'm at the tail end of it now.

Also, I'm working on my Confessions story. Hoping to get it farther along in the bear future.

Other than that, life is pretty muh the same old boring things.

How is your life going?

I never knew…

… working with three year olds at church on a Sunday could be so dangerous. Within half an hour of each other, we had a girl trip and fall (landing on the wheel part of a portable chalkboard) and cut her gums a little and a boy cut his head on the tray part of the chalkboard in the classroom.

It was an adventuresome day. Too much adventure. Haha

They were very resilient, though.

Painting

I am a painting fiend. Okay, maybe not compared to some, but once I start a project, I can't help but think of it all the time until I am done. Here are some recent paintings I've done, and why I'm thinking of selling some.

You know it's a long day when...

• Rainy day schedule starts at the beginning of the day with no end to the rain in sight

• lunch is way too short because of the rainy day and your kids come back and catch the end of a half hour movie

• You move 30 kids into another classroom and it ends up you have to go back and put the other class in your room because of tv problems

• The movie you are supposed to watch for music masterpiece has no sound in your room

• You finally get the movie sound working and it finishes abruptly and you call the library to see what's up

• You send a kid to the bathroom a minute before a lockdown drill and find out after he was stuck in the bathroom during the drill

• You are on the phone with aforementioned librarian about the movie when Family Guy shows up on the screen (with sound) and you ask the other teacher to turn off the tv, but not before a character shows its underpants

•the librarian doesn't understand the question and rewinds it almost to the beginning before hitting play

• You and the other teacher look at each other and say "It's a lockdown. They won't care." and then laugh because it's been that kind of a day.

• The lockdown ends and the classes return to their own places and you have just enough time to collect tests before it's time to take the kids out to use the restroom for afternoon recess

• you come back and say,"Pull out your art from last week and finish it. Just be quiet and listen to the classical music."

• One of your students tells the principal about the underpants on the way to the bus and you get asked for the details



That was pretty much how my day went. Haha it was great… I think?

Dear Cricket,

Thanks for your help in reinjuring my ankle. I appreciate the setback you have me. Next time, remind me not to try squishing you with my hurt foot. Suggest I use the flyswatter I keep next to my desk.

Much appreciated!
An injured teacher.

What do you do?

…when a student is 15 minutes late coming in from recess?

…when students are blowing bubbles with their own spit in 2nd grade?

…when your 2nd graders will not sit still at all?

…when they will not follow directions?

…when you just want to throw in the towel and be done dealing with crazy student behaviors, demanding parents, and too many hoops to jump through?


I feel like I've about reached the end of my rope already this year, and we're not even a month in. Maybe this storm will help cool down our hot Arizona weather and calm the kids down.

I can hope and pray, right?

Ideas

I have been toying with an idea for many months now.

I want to sell things. I want to sell art I have created for others to enjoy. I want to sell books that people will love.

Currently, book things are on hold. The only way to get published is to cough up the money yourself. I don't have that money.

Art, on the other hand, I am much more able to create and sell in my own time frames.

I have looked at etsy and a couple of other sites, and I'm not sure what is good. I know Etsy is pretty big, but they require a fee.

The bottom line is, I want to hear opinions on sites. What do you think of different sites?


(Also, does anyone know if trees make a gunshot like popping noise if they've been traumatized? We've had a couple of loud pops the past couple of nights and some of the roots were recently cut. The other option would be that the loud pops are from the house, and that's a worse idea than the tree.)

Realizations

I had a realization today, and an idea that came from that.

I was told that one thing I said to a student that I really didn't think much of, really brightened his day. And that made me think. How many things do I do or say, affect people for good or bad? I'm so busy thinking about what I have to teach or what I need the kids to do, that I really don't think about what or how I say things. I want to uplift others. Not bring them down.

So my idea was this: write at least one note a week to one of my students and let them know positive things I noticed about the day or week. And maybe, just maybe, it will help create a better classroom with students that want to learn and behave properly.

Back to school

It's hard to believe it's back to school time! I made it through week one.

I'll be honest. I don't feel a connection to my kids yet. Several of them drive me absolutely bonkers. I'm sure I'll have tons more stories this year.

So here's to a new year! Hoping it ends up alright.

For your viewing pleasure, here's some pics of my classroom.

Ankle

Well, it's been a little over a week since my ankle happened. I'll put pics up for my instagram post.

It doesn't hurt much anymore. It's still sore and I have to be careful, but I survived walking on it yesterday.

Here's what it looks like right now.

Almost back to normal!!

Update: ankle

You will be receiving update posts about my lovely ankle. Haha

So, I went to sleep last night after a long time of being awake. Throughout the night I kept waking up to pain in the back of my heel. No bueno. I did get some sleep and had weird dreams. One point I was walking on my foot. I remember that. Haha

Anyways, I woke up and felt pretty good. I got the crutches off the floor. I did try putting some weight on my foot and it held it! It didn't hurt to walk around a little bit on it, which was fabulous!! It still feels uncomfortable to put all my weight on it, so I use 1 crutch to hobble around.

Feeling pretty good!!

Picture updates now. The light one was When I woke up around 8 and the other two were taken around noon. :)

Day of Firsts

Well, guys. I have some exciting news!!

I have now been to urgent care and gotten my first X-rays ever!!!

I was at home and hurried down our stairs so I could get lunch. I misjudged the last two steps. I fell and twisted my ankle. But it was pretty bad. It swelled up almost immediately. I knew I should probably see a doctor, but I didn't know how to go about it, so I just went to the school we were having a meeting at. They said I needed to go to a doctor and even offered to bring me. So, my teammates are the best!! And here I am right now at urgent care with a badly sprained ankle.


Good times.

And the doctor said its not broken.
Yay!!!