TGIF

Currents
listening: to an old playlist I made and I'm loving it (anyone else but you is playing right now)
eating: just had oatmeal with peach yogurt and raisins
drinking: just finished an extra large coffee; two creams, two teaspoons of Splenda
wearing: jeans, Roxy shirt with hearts and pink slippers
feeling: inspired (to do something creative today) and hopefully productive (to finish up my report cards and portfolios)
weather: freezing rain (yuck) but some white sunlight is shining through the clouds
wanting: to re-do my blog design. I'm so bored with it.
needing: to fold laundry
thinking: hmmm, maybe I should go in to work in my classroom a bit? (it's a ped day/convention day, so a lot of coming and going)
enjoying: my teacher friends. Clarissa, Jill, Jackie, Audrey, Cindy - you girls rock. Thank you for making work not feel like work. (And Stacy, I miss you sooooo much)
wondering: when will it snow? when will Alex have her baby?!

Time wastin' and compiling x-mas lists

To break up the terribly long and boring task of writing report card comments, I will amuse myself by posting on my blog. A small reward for completing ten mega-packed paragraphs pertaining to my students' progress, with five to go. I should be able to get them all done tonight. Patrick is gone to a presentation downtown, so I might as well be productive at home. But first, some fun.

With December right around the corner, it's almost time for my Christmas movie-marathon. Each year I rush around at the last minute trying to think of all the movies I want to watch to put me in the holiday spirit. This year, I figured I would make my list nice and early so that I can actually rent/download them all, then find time to fit them into the schedule. So here we go, in no particular order.

Classic. Brings me right back to elementary school. "You're what the French call les incompétents". They were so mean to poor Kevin.

How could you watch the first without the second?

You can't really go wrong with Will Ferrell in an elf suit. A little on the light-hearted side, but still really funny and charming.

We discovered this movie as a happy accident last year and man was it good. Vince Vaughn does not disappoint. And, Patrick can practice being a Vaughnabie. Yes, he coined that phrase.

Perhaps my favorite childhood Christmas movie. I cannot do Christmas without watching it. And, I have the singing Rudolph to go along with it ;)

I have to confess, I've never watched this one. I was highly reprimanded for that last year. I intend on remedying the situation come December. I hear it's the Christmas movie.

Swoon. How can one not love this movie?

"In God We Trust".... That line really stood out for me apparently. It's a feel-good, happy ending sort of deal. Maybe I should check out the original as well.

I sorta forgot about this one, but it's a good one, isn't it? Need to watch it again.

So there you have it. My feel-good, get-you-in-the-mood-for-Christmas list. Any other suggestions?

Is it Friday yet?

Man I'm looking forward to the weekend! I've been getting pressure headaches for the past few days and they are draining. I have such a hard time to focus, but I'm plowing on. Surprisingly, I've been inspired to spruce up my classroom a bit more, even though we are right in the thick of portfolios and report cards. We have started the five senses and the body, so I finally made a "theme" area in the room, complete with posters, vocabulary words, and information texts on the topics. We also started our full-body portraits - no small task I tell you! At first we were going to color them with wax crayons, but at the last minute I thought we could experiment with paint... So yeah, there's a big mess waiting to be cleaned up tomorrow morning. I had no energy to do so after our super long staff meeting after school. Thankfully I don't have to work this weekend so I can do whatever I want!!


I am going to scrapbook soon, since Patrick has a later client and I'm waiting for him. I have been working on my Bahamas album. I've also started a digi project that is top secret at the moment, just in case my mom reads my blog. I will have to really get moving on that if I want it to be ready for Christmas. I'm not sure how feasible it will be, but at least I can give it to her as a work in progress.

Anyways, I will leave you with a layout I made a month ago. Brings me right back to my high school days. Hmm, maybe a new playlist is in store. Some of the songs from these albums are still my favorites.

Halfway through November...

And time keeps rolling by. It seems crazy that we're almost a month away from Christmas. The days go by sooo quickly as a teacher. It's one of the perks I guess! I'll take 'em where I can get 'em as they can feel really scarce some days. No, but in all honesty, things are looking up. My students are in a groove, they are picking up on things much better overall, aside from the few moments here and there when they become extremely distracted. I have started a student of the week award and that seems to be keeping them motivated to do well in general. Rather than highlight what they're not supposed to be doing, I just keep giving praise to the ones who are doing what they're supposed, and magically, in most cases, the other students follow soon after.

This weekend was busy. I worked at the library and there were crowds. Annoying crowds. But I did get some new books for my class and magazines for myself, so that's good. On Friday night, I went to Jack's for drinks with my teacher friends, which is always a good laugh (especially when Steven is there - that's so camp ;). Afterwards, I went for dinner at Carmine's, which was way better than I expected. Like way better, and for a decent price! I will definitely be going back there. It's more on the fancy side without being too overpriced. Our friends Ben and Stephanie know their restaurants so we were pleased to be introduced to this place.

On Saturday night, Ben came by the apartment to cook us tacos while we watched the game. The boys were quite pleased about the 7-2 win over a team they apparently hadn't beaten since 2004 or something of the sort. I'm glad that Pat was able to watch the game with some real fans for once, since I tend to zone in and out of periods. Watching with die-hards is so much more exciting for him.

Since I am sooo behind in updating my blog, I should also share what I did on the weekend before last. On the Friday, I had a ped-day, which my amazing principal told us we could spend as we liked in payment of all the hard work we put in at the beginning of the year (ie coming in on the weekend and staying super late every evening before the students arrived). I chose to spend it on a shopping spree to Burlington with my mom! We had some good finds (mostly Christmas-gift related for myself), ate at the Olive Garden, and then made it back through the border without having to pay duty yet again! They seem really lax lately, but I will take the good luck when it comes.

On the Saturday it was Alex's baby shower! Her little guy is due very, very soon so we had to celebrate and help her prepare for his arrival. I think he will be very pampered with all the generous gifts she received. Her family did a great job with all the planning - the decor, the treats and the games were great. Here's a little peak into that day. Can you tell what the theme was?!

Alright, well time to go eat supper. I hope you all have a great week. Cheers!