Top 10 List for June...

Since I have not been able to consistently write everyday (or every week for that matter), I have opted to make a Top 10 List for this month. Some may be things I have done and others may be things I still want to do... Either way, here they come!

1. We just got back yesterday from my husband's annual family lake trip (aka family reunion, but funner). The lake itself is about 5 hours away from us, so my sweet babies had to stay at the vet clinic for a couple of days. Once we got there, we actually only made it to the lake once. Once! That was it! We did squeeze in a nice canoe trip, but every single night (and most afternoons) were filled with pitch. I was a newbie when I first came to the family, but I am all kinds of professional now! (It's a surprise at how competitive I get...)

2. Today was such a lazy day, that I filled it with cuddles from puppies, 2 books, and lots of reality tv. (Real Housewives? Yes, please!)

3. I have been watching The Bachelorette and I am pretty sure that I am more annoyed with this season more than others. It disgusts me that the producers think we (the audience) need to hear Bentley's name that many times, AND the fact that they thought that a boxing match with 8 guys wouldn't be full of competitive testosterone and a nice guy getting knocked around. I'm kind of over it.

4. What I love Wednesday is tomorrow!!! I'll be spending the day with 3 of my favorite Kappa Delta sisters - who I haven't seen in months!! We all live 1-2 hours apart from each other (which isn't much), but it is harder to get together with our busy lives. I am extremely excited and cannot wait!

5. I have been reading for pleasure again... I tend to read a lot during the school year even (we have no kiddos yet, so I am still selfish with my free time). However, summertime is usually filled with school-related books. Classroom management, curriculum planning, etc. I'm a nerd, but I own it.

6. I have officially found the coolest site! Zazzle.com has become my new favorite thing! I ordered a friend and I a personalized notebook, because she and I are organizational queens! Everything must be filed with labels and dividers...always. (It's a sickness.)

7. I have newly become a lake person. My husband and his 2 brothers purchased a lake house from their great uncle this past spring, and I've only gotten to go and stay once!! This weekend will be our next adventure (second week in a row with his family... kind of like a mini-family reunion). But I'm really excited!! (I'll have to come back and tell everyone why! It's a secret for now!)

8. Boot Camp. (Doesn't that say it all?) I signed up this summer - knowing that I wouldn't be able to attend the last 2 weeks of classes - but I still got in about 5 weeks of it! Sounds crazy (and Mr. T agrees), but I LOVED it! Two days a week at 5:30 a.m. for 60 minutes. I did work and I am proud!

9. After Boot Camp comes.... my version of exercise. I have to start getting my butt up again (which seems to be hard for me without a set schedule or routine during the summers), but 5:30 was a great time for me to get out there. I head up to the track and keep trying to add another lap every couple of weeks. I'm by no means where I need to be, but I am out there and I am doing it! (Which is more than I could've said for the past 3 years since I've been teaching.)

10. Fireworks are my favorite! Hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th!!

Playing Catch-Up

I can only begin with an apology. I am so incredibly sorry that I have been absent from blogging for almost 3 months! Yes, we all know that the end of the year is chaos for everyone, but I am finally getting a short, well-deserved break since May has ended.

Since school's been out, I've cleaned out my classroom, because.... I'M CHANGING SCHOOLS!! I have really been troubled over this decision since December, but I finally took the leap. I will miss my friends terribly but I will be so thankful that I won't be traveling during the school day. I am confident that I can make it work anywhere and teach how I love to at any school. However, I don't think I'll be complaining about the few extra breaks during my weekly schedule or the PTA support.

My brain is overflowing with new ideas, and I've already been planning my new year! (Yes, I am still thinking about school and researching new things, going to workshops, etc. over my summer "break." It happens.)

Other happenings since cleaning out my classroom:

1. The weekend after my classroom clean-up, my family entered a local softball tournament and WON! (We've participated the past 3 years now, and have won 2... My brother -the college QB- tends to stack the team with talent, but still manages to invite me.)

2. Memorial Day Week, our church hosted it's annual summer VBS. Last year, we weren't official members yet, but our friends talked me into being a small group leader. I gotta say, I liked that job sooo much better. I was an FCA Camp huddle leader for about 6 years, and I could never get enough of it! However, this year at VBS, I was co-in charge of all things involving music - including (but not limited to) 4 daily sessions of music with each group, the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the program for the families on the last day. I was more than exhausted, and didn't honestly like it all that much. (I would've been fine if it was just the 4 music sessions... the impromptu skits are what killed me. That's not my strong suit.)

3. These past 2 weeks, I've worked in an office. A phone-answering, stock-selling, 8 to 5 office. What cracked me up is that I had multiple people ask me if I would ever work there and make it a career. I simply said, I have a career and I seem to be pretty good at it. If I wasn't a music teacher, and I wasn't online during boring blocks of time researching and getting new ideas, I don't think I could make it the whole day. It is such an easy job!! (You hear that! I'm complaining about a job being too easy... What has teaching done to me??)

4. Lastly, I have a Great Expectations workshop from Tuesday - Friday this week. I'll be up at school by 6:15, ready to depart with a small group of the new teachers I'm working with next year. Wish me luck!

Hopefully, I'll come back with a few new ideas that I'll be ready to add to next year's agenda! (That and anything that gives me the excuse to take a trip to our closest office supply store (and spend entirely more than necessary). Yay!