Back to school with a little rain

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cat, rain, school

A summer of working results in not as much time to put the classroom back together. I was a tad worried, but nothing I could not accomplish. If push came to shove, my plan was to keep working until it got done no matter how late I had to stay at school. And then a small miracle occurred. Two former students asked if they could come back and help me. YES!!!! Of course you can! Within two days and with four students, everything was done. I couldn’t believe. Actually I could, because they are the fastest workers ever. Except when they talk…..and being on the forensics team results in a lot of talking. But I didn’t mind. I love just listening to them and watching them get excited about the same things I was excited about in high school. Living vicariously? Perhaps.

My start of class procedure is the best management tool I’ve ever implemented. Thank you Harry K. Wong!

New desk configuration. Seats face each other this year. We’ll see how this experiment unfolds!

Today we also got a very sudden-ish storm. We looked at the radar around 2 p.m. and there were just these tiny little splotchy clouds that seemed to fizzle out before even reaching the lower end of the state where we are located. Soon after I decide to go to Walmart to get some supplies for the weekend’s event. As I’m arriving in the parking lot, I can see the big clouds north of me. I was all “ooooooh a summer storm….too bad it won’t hit here.” I tried not to dally in the store because I hate loading/unloading the car in torrential rain/thunder. As I was starting the car, I hear the severe weather alert that it will be hitting the area in about 10 min. I almost made it made it home in time. There was definitely hail hitting the car as I turned on to our street. I couldn’t really see. I didn’t want to speed just to get to the garage faster because I was afraid of hitting someone/something or hydroplaning. Then I grabbed the bags with the ice cream and meat, ditched my sandals in the garage, and ran for it. I did not get as wet as anticipated. Bonus!

The intense rain drove away the heat nicely and gave us a froggy visitor on our grass!! This is the second SUPER humongous frog we’ve seen. The one I saw last year was a dark olive green with spots and this one is a bright spring green with a few brown specks in parallel rows. So weird. Naturally I had to take Twiggy out to see the froggy and she seemed intrigued!!! She kind of sniffed it and the frog bulged out its sides and lifted up its butt end. My husband shouts, “watch out! it will pee on her!!” I respond, “like shooting pee out of its butt?!!!” haha. So here is the pic of the froggy and the kitty saying hi!

Here, Twiggy gestures to indicate how big the frog is compared to her little kitty paw.

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Thanks for teaching me how to pose Tyra…

I liked my little sunflower so I had to share this one!

That time of year again

Currently, I sit on my back screened in porch. The past two days it was around 90 and very humid here in the Midwest. The heat has finally subsided; however, my classroom has no ac. It is near sweltering. For the past three days, people have come into my room, stayed five minutes and then asked me how I wasn’t sweating. I commented that, it must be because I spent the majority of my summer in knee socks, a corset, and three layers on top and five layers on the bottom while working over a wood stove in 90 degree heat, so no this isn’t really that hot. If my ancestors suffered, so can I. Therefore, a cool breeze – in fact the perfect end of summer cool breeze – drifts gently through the window on my right. I could not ask for a better evening on the porch.

I’ve hardly written at all this summer and I thought I would write a lot more, but I guess when it came down to it, I felt I didn’t have all that much to say. Oh well. School is starting again and that always brings up lots of new and interesting topics.

I did not complete any of my sewing projects. That’s not very exciting. I’m close to finishing one. I want to wear it this weekend too, but I’m not sure how I will finish it besides taking it with me to the event and finishing it there, which isn’t a bad idea. I made a bedgown. I’m fairly happy with it. Though, when I showed my mom my progress, she thought I had sewn the fabric inside out. But it’s woven cotton. Is there a right side? Not sure. But if I line most of the inside, and no one ever sees it, I’m not sure it matters all that much. So ha!

I also did not paint the upstairs “man’s” bathroom. My husband specifically went out of town for four days so I would have the house free to myself to paint merrily away without distractions. At the time, I totally forgot that had been our plan at the start of the summer!!!!!!! hahaha again. He was only mildly amused about my forgetfulness. Heh. So now my excuse is that I’m waiting for a cooler autumn day! It’s a tiny bathroom and I’d rather not paint upstairs with poor ventilation.

Since reading Better Homes and Gardens (which began when I was probably in middle school or some other young-ish age), I’ve always been on the look out for “my” bedroom. I see various color combos and types of furniture. But this one has neutral walls which I didn’t really think I liked all that much (though I would be open to changing them, and it was the perfect color of purple pillows – literally the shade of purple I have been searching for my entire life! I couldn’t believe it. My husband and I have been talking about the possibilities of moving vs. adding on to our current house. I told him either way, this was what I wanted our room to look like. I even interrupted his video game (which is un-pausible) to show him the picture. (I don’t think he really “got” it though. Heh).

In other decorating news, I’m the type of person who every so many months would rearrange my dorm room for no apparent reason. I like the little changes in life. Currently, I don’t have the time to rearrange entire rooms in my house (though I did rearrange the screened porch this spring) mainly because grading and coaching controls 9 months of my life.  In my previous school district, even though my room was not that much bigger than my current one, the furniture was much more flexible. I changed the layout each quarter. It was always refreshing for my students and me. It was never that time consuming or cumbersome either because I just told myself, today is the day I change it, no matter what! And that was that. Well after being in the same classroom for 3 years at the new district, I have had the same configuration. I really like my students to chat with partners a lot or to work in small groups. So my desk layout/seating arrangement accounted for this. In the back of my mind, I kept wondering, would it work if I moved the desks this way? I never had the time to change it during the year last year because, well, paperwork kind of explodes around my room to put it nicely. Well, this Monday, I had help and I said, we are moving the room to this new layout. And it TOTALLY works!!!!! I’m soooooo excited. I think it will be a wee bit different for students and first, but I will at least enjoy the change.

Lastly, Aug 24 was my last day at Old World Wisconsin. I truly enjoyed my time there and met the most wonderful people. I wish I could work with them forever. Honestly. Everyone is that amazing. When I got home on my second to last day, I forced my husband to take photos of me while I still had my hat on. So here are a few to share………

The bustle era is now my new favorite era. I desperately want to make a million bustle dresses!!! Why? To wear them. For fun. Because I can. 🙂