A little space, a little time, see what it can do...

Full blasting that song right now. "A Bell Will Ring" by Oasis. I'm always drawn back to their words. They've been keeping me on track since I was twelve. Seriously. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's true in many respects.

It's been a crazy/busy week in more than a few ways! My uncle and aunt were in town from Monday to Friday. They were sort of in and out, staying at our place but always going out to see other friends and family members. I enjoyed having them, but found that the time was cut short! I didn't even manage to get a picture of everyone together, which is quite upsetting. We had a big family dinner on Monday night, and it was nice to catch up on their news and reminisce, as always, about the good old days. I love that. I love looking through the old photos. I just recently made this page about my mom and cousins, which coincided perfectly with my uncle's visit.

Throughout their visit, I was also rushing to get portfolios and report cards finished in time for parent-teacher interviews on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning. We were all at school until 9:30pm on Wednesday, how crazy is that?! My interviews went pretty well, so I'm lucky. Afterwards I got to hang with my favorite teachers for a bit and then we had a little wine and dessert thingy in the staff room.

Thursday and Friday were ped days, so we used that time to go the teacher's convention. We had 50$ each to spend on school supplies, so I ended up buying a ton of posters that were on sale for 6$ each. That was pretty sweet.

Yesterday was Darla's birthday supper/party. We ate at a cool pizza place and then went back to Cheryl and Brent's new place for drinks, games, and general madness. It was SUPER fun and I'm glad that we got the chance to party. I won't go into too much detail, but the evening was very entertaining in more ways than one, lol. I will be back later with some pictures, since they are on Pat's camera and I don't have an XD slot on my computer, boo!!

Today we're going to April-Anna's book release party. Patrick is featured in the book, from the time that she did his body painting. That should be pretty interesting, but I can't really afford a late night after yesterday and with a mini-meeting bright and early demain matin.

Alright, I'm out. Cheers.

Monday, Monday

I'm just stopping in for a very quick post before a big family supper. My uncle and his wife (well, common-law) are in town this week, staying at our place, so things are quite busy, but in a good way.

I wanted to share this amazing artwork that my students created. We've been learning about the body parts, so we made life-sized self-portraits. I am so pleased with what they came up with (with guidance, of course). Did I mention I love Kindergarten?! Check these out:

I am in one of those over-stimulated brain states where everything that I think about is super inspiring and I wish I could split myself into a thousand pieces to be able to do tackle it all at once. Did that make sense? It's just that I haven't downloaded music or scrapped or done anything creative for a little while, but have the overwhelming urge to do it all right now, during my busiest week!! I have parent-teacher interviews, detention duty, report cards, portfolios, and the teacher's convention this week, but I'm in a happy little bubble right now, so even that sounds kind of fun. I work with some pretty awesome people, all of whom are around my age, so that makes the day just so much more enjoyable and fun. And having a great class, for the most part, doesn't hurt either.

Alright, enough nonsense rambling for now. I am going to finish up some photo-collages for my students' portfolios. It's pretty sweet to just drag and drop their pictures into some templates that I downloaded from some scrap site a while ago, I forget where, and then add in a few digi-elements. The hobby can really come in handy in a number of ways.

I hope you're all having a good week! Cheers :)

Two posts in one weekend?! Shocker.

It's Sunday morning. The sun is out. I do not have to work. Patrick and I are going on a "date" today. Life is good!

Yesterday, my mom and I went to a L'Oreal warehouse sale, which was absolute madness, but worth it for some very good finds. It was invitation only, meaning you had to have a card from someone or somewhere (normally a company, from what I understand). I hadn't mentally prepared myself for the crazy lines, however. It was like the La Senza sales, only more compacted. We waited outside in line for about forty minutes, and then pushed our way around once we finally got inside. I managed to get some makeup for very cheap (mascara and eyeshadow for 4$, lipgloss for 2$) and a huge bottle of cologne that both Pat and my uncle wear for only 18$. So that was very good. I had completely had it when we left that place, however. It's so draining to be in a huge, pushy crowd like that.

And a message to parents out there: please have enough sense to not let your toddler run up hills that are next exit ramps to highways whilst you turn your back the other way arguing on your cell phone! Thank you. What is WRONG with people? There was a man yesterday doing just that while we waited in line. The kid actually did dart out into the road, and only then did the man bother running to grab him and pull him by the arm down the hilll, then throw him into the car, all the while still talking on his cell phone. I really think people should have to pass a test to become parents...

Anyhow, we did make a quick stop at the scrappy store before going home. I wasn't going to go all the way out there and not stop for some tape runner and glue, which I really needed. Oh, and somehow, some Cosmo Cricket Christmas papers and chipboard ended up in my basket... It was this mainly that I couldn't resist.

I really wasn't really planning on spending 50$ but man does it ever add up fast. I can't get over what an expensive hobby it really is. I justify that I will make a very cute Christmas mini-album, so it's worth it. But I am so glad that I don't live very close to that store, or else it could be dangerous.

Anyways, I should get started on lesson planning for next week, and making sure I have all my marks together. I tackled most of the portfolio stuff already, because I actually find them fun. It's like making a giant scrapbook filled with my students' work, so right up my alley. I hope you all have a great day - enjoy the gorgeous sunshine. Cheers.

Poor little neglected blog

My posts are becoming few and far in between. I've been considering whether or not it's worth it to keep the blog up... Also, I haven't been taking ANY photos lately. Okay, let me re-phrase: I haven't been taking any photos of my "social" life, but I have been taking a ton of photos of my students. The problem is that I can't share any of those on here, so it translates into a very boring blog... I haven't been documenting anything and it makes me feel like an aspect of my life is lacking. I miss doing photo challenges and scrapbooking. I think I might challenge myself to take a photo a day from now on.

Why am I home on a Friday at this hour, you ask? Because I am really sick and decided that it was better to stay home and rest. It's a ped day anyways, so I didn't have to bother with the sub prep, which would have been more of a bother than it's worth. Four students in my class were sick with "flu", "fever" and "illness" yesterday (as was written on their absence cards), so it's not looking too promising. Plus, there's a student teacher who comes to teach my students French with their regular teacher, and he was out all last week and claims that he had H1N1. I really, really hope that he didn't spread it around, but I guess there's just no stopping it at this point. I don't think I have H1N1, but I did start burning up yesterday afternoon, had a sore head, and felt extremely congested. I forced myself to make it through the rest of the day, left pretty much right at the bell, and came home to rest. I went to bed at 9:30 and woke up at 9:00. Almost twelve hours of sleep, how crazy is that?! I feel a bit better today, but I think I'm a little over-ambitious. I feel okay while sitting or lying down, but when I get up it seems to be a different story. I'm just taking it easy and working on a few things for portfolios from home. Hopefully I'll be all rested for Monday. Thankfully I don't have to work at the library this weekend.

That's another thing that's been on my mind lately: the library job. I feel like I'm really pushing myself more than I should be to keep it. Like Julie said yesterday, it's okay to be working there when you're feeling healthy, but the second you get run-down, forget it! It works out so that I only have 4 days off per month. It's pretty draining. I work every second weekend, so sometimes I work for 14 days straight without a break! It's starting to take a toll on me. It's not like it's completely unmanageable, and the money is good, plus I work with a good team, but when it's a busy weekend, I just wish that I didn't have to go in... I'm still debating what to do. My mom thinks I should keep it for the time being and see how it goes, especially since I don't know if I'll have a job in January. Maybe I will keep at it for now. However, there are going to be all kinds of changes by the new year, like a new front desk and a new Internet sign-up station, which complicates things for us and customers. I have to re-learn a ton of stuff and with lesson planning and everything else, I just don't feel like it. I'll let it sit for a little while and see how I feel by the new year...

Anyways, enough complaining! I did manage to work on a digi page a few days ago, and here is the final result. It's pretty funny, I know. Do I seem a tad bit desperate?! Hahaha. Thanks for the photos Michelle.