Talk about being out of the blogging groove... I apologize to all my loyal followers ;)
So, life as a first grade teacher is indeed an interesting thing. There is never a dull moment. All of the teachers in the school have been saying that it's trial by fire, and after this I'll be ready for anything. So, so true. Did I forget to mention that I'm replacing a teacher for the time being (possibly until the end of the year)? Well, that's what's been consuming my life for the past two and a bit more weeks. I have become the ultra-organized multi-tasker. Thanks for all the prep Anna, I'm finally ready to take it all on :)

Aside from that, my bestest bud had her "surprise" bridal shower yesterday (above is the card I made for her). Well, we didn't fool her very much, and she was being a very naughty girl questioning her fiance for every detail, but he didn't let the secret out before the actual event. It was a lot of fun, many laughs, good food, and a pile of gifts for Julie! You deserve it!! Here are some photos from the event. Julie may kill me for the "hat" photo.

Four days off just flew by in no time at all. It was my birthday weekend and Easter combined, so quite a few things were going on, not to mention the fact that I finished my stage last Thursday and have now started subbing in a grade one class for an undetermined amount of time at the moment. I feel like I need another four day vacation after today! But I would rather reminisce about my lovely weekend.

On Thursday night, I stayed at school photocopying resource books until past 6 pm (crazy I know) and was pampered by my cooperating teacher who gave me some nice teacher-related gifts. She even made a little spiral-bound book with pictures of the class, and hand-written messages from all the children. I got all sappy over that.

After the long day, I went to Patrick's for supper. His family had decided to celebrate Easter that evening, so I rushed there to have a really nice several-course meal prepared by his aunt and uncle. They made the famous Oreo cake for dessert, and of course I had to have a huge piece. They sang me happy birthday and all, and I got a nice card from Pat's dad and sister.

The next day, I went to do my own workout at the gym and relaxed in the sauna (wow, I love my new gym). Then I went shopping for supplies, went to get my hair high-lighted, cut and styled, and then Julie and Ken had us over for my special birthday supper. I don't know how I managed to forget my camera for that event. We are really out of the photography and scrapbooking groove. Anyways, it was a super great meal with chicken parmesan and cupcakes for dessert. We then played the now-famous psychiatrist game - it never fails to disappoint. We acted out our parents this time, and apparently I am pretty convincing as my mother, because Ken caught on immediately, which kinda ruined the fun, but watcha gonna do.

Saturday was another busy day. I went to do spinning in the morning, started planning for this week, went to try on shoes for our bridesmaid attires, then had an Easter dinner (sort of, although half the family was missing). By the evening, all I wanted to do was vegetate, which exactly what I did. Patrick watched hockey and then I went to bed at 10:30 pm.

On Sunday, my mom made a brunch with blueberry waffles (just for the two of us) and then I got packed to go to the Alt hotel with Patrick as his birthday get-away gift for me. We arrived in late afternoon and stayed the night. Wow, what a nice place!! Check the photos... it was so good to go somewhere chic and new. It was just the escape that we both needed. We also went to try Casey's for supper and were pleasantly surprised.

Yesterday was an easy-going day. I tried the new Jukari class at the gym. If you aren't familiar with this (as I wasn't before I joined), you will be amazed after watching this. I am in so much pain today after holding on to that bar and jumping around for an hour. It is so much fun though, despite that!

Anyways, time to crawl in bed. I'll leave you with some photos from the hotel. Cheers :)

Some random thoughts/happenings at the moment:

1 - I have 4 days of stage left and then I'm officially DONE. Yay me!

2 - I am now a member of Mansfield gym. I did a spinning class this morning and found it very hard but so invigorating. It's going to be fun getting back into the groove of working out properly.

3 - I need to get inspired by photography again. I need to take more pictures.

4 - I need to get back into scrapbooking.

5 - I'm getting my hair cut next Friday night and can't wait. It's about time for a change.

6 - Patrick is super busy with clients lately and I'm so proud of him. Things have really picked up in the last little while. I can't help but think how the world works in mysterious ways. I'm tempted to believe that it was part of his mom's gift to him...

7 - We are carrying on fairly well considering.

8 - I'm working at the library this weekend, so I have little time to do anything.

9 - My mom had a birthday supper for my grandma and I this evening. There was lots of delicious food, 2 amazing cakes, and the usual laughs. Of course, I got no decent pictures of the event.

10 - We also got a new kitchen table today, which was set up just on time! There is always something going on...

11- We played this game called "psychiatrist" where one person leaves the room, and everyone else has to think of a "problem" and then act it out when the person comes back. That person then has to guess what the problem is by asking questions and deciphering what the heck is going on. It is SOOO funny. Some examples: we collectively were Celine Dion; another one was that each person was a finger (thumb, ring finger, etc); and yet another, we each acted like the person sitting to our left... The game was introduced to us last week by Nadine and Brad and we had a great time playint it then as well. I recommend it if you have a crowd over and are looking to laugh like crazy.

12 - I should really be going to bed now. I feel like I'm on the verge of coming down with something again. Patrick and my mom are both sick. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'm starting to develop an immunity against the infected children I come into contact with every day. Anyways, goodnight!