Bumps in the Road

After being up in my classroom for a short while this morning, it's official... I am so excited for the new year to begin!!

Bump #1: There are approximately 5 large wooden doors, many spray-painted frames and screws, and an assortment of huge bulletin boards and whiteboard just WAITING to be put into the other classrooms that aren't finished yet! I can barely get around to find anything! (Which is a teeny bit dramatic, but I just want to get in there and get my boxes unloaded. There are two books now that have been misplaced somewhere and I cannot find them anywhere. How frustrating.)

Bump #2: School isn't even close to starting. I'm talking - a good 30 days away. The kiddos officially get to show off their new clothes, bring in all of their new-school goodies, and meet me one month from today! (Maybe I'm also a little nervous, now that I think of it. But a good nervous! I'm a planner, so I actually have my first 3 days of lesson plans done for K-2nd. That's a start.)

Bump #3: I have no schedule in sight. I guess it is only Monday of this week, and I've been looking forward to this since the beginning of June - when my principal said that we "specials" will meet and make a schedule. (This is the first time in 4 years that anyone has ever asked MY opinion about MY schedule... Is that normal?)

Other than the obsessive planning on my part, and the occasional (ok, weekly) collaborating with other fellow rockstar music teachers throughout the summer, I have had a few things that kept me busy. Time at the lake, many more weddings (including 2 more still to come), T's birthday tomorrow... The good stuff. :)

The poor guy is working so hard this week, and I'll have to get some kind of dessert ready for him. (This is the time where knowing how to make a pie would be so beneficial! I'll see what I can come up with!)

Have a great music-making Monday! Hopefully, when I come back later this week, I'll have an official theme picked out and ready to start creating!

Shopping Problem

Alternate title: Hello. My name is Lindsey, and I am a shopaholic.

Nothing makes me happier than back-to-school shopping! I love the fact that my job gives me the "excuse" to buy a few pieces of new clothing each year (always justified as back-to-school clothes).

However, the problem usually occurs when I have an absurd amount of ideas that I want to incorporate. Each year, I tend to buy books, theme decorations, and a crazy amount of organizing tools. I love me some great notebooks, tabs, page protectors, sharpies, and everything else!

So when this little beauty popped up, I knew it was just for me and I had to have it! I love when stores have their "Teacher Sales," but I never seem to get the memo in time! I always find out a day late or I've already been to the store earlier. So I got online at Mardel.com and found me my new favorite thing. I can't decide if it will go in my scrapbooking room, or if I'll tote it up to my classroom... (And I know I couldn't sell T on the idea of purchasing one for both...)

(Isn't she wonderful?!)

She should be here in about a week and I am so excited! I'm sure I'll be full of more great ideas once I meet up with a few of my rockstar teacher-friends this week! Be on the lookout!

Top 10 List for July (so far...)

So I guess over the summer, I'm finally really figuring out what "summer break" is all about... I've been working part-time, going to workshops, and family reunions, and just this week started to relax!

Here's my Top 10 List for the few days we've had so far this month...

1. 4th of July is by far one of my all-time favorite holidays! I was able to spend the holiday this year with my husband's family at our lake"house" (I use the term "house" loosely, as it's really only a trailer - which is all you need at the lake!) The day before the fireworks (love them!), my brother-in-law proposed to his girlfriend - an adorable Kinder teacher that we all love so much!

2. We were able to go back to the lake this past week!! (That NEVER happens!) But the honey and the pups were able to work off some serious energy in the water - tubes, skis, you name it! (And I have to confess that I am terr.i.ble. when it comes to water sports, but I gave it a nice shot! That's all a guy can ask for, right?)

3. Schedules. I am seriously trying to ween myself back onto school hours!! It takes me such a long time to realize that I don't get to stay up and read until the wee hours of the night, take an afternoon nap when I please (or cuddle with the dogs when I do), and I NEVER hear the term "sleeping in" during the week. So by then end of this month, I hope I'll have it figured out (or something close to it).

4. I have been obsessed the past couple of days with catching up with my blogger friends! (No, they may not realize that I obsess stalk read their blogs as much as I do, but I consider us friends, nonetheless.)

5. I am kind of an organizational maniac when it comes to my classroom. My house on the other hand, it needs work. One room at a time, it will be clean come August! (This is probably one reason we never had an "inside" pet when I was growing up... The hair-shedding in this heat has been horrible!)

6. Rain, rain go away... OK, so I guess you can only really sing that song if you'd been lucky enough to HAVE any rain in the past few weeks. I guess I am finally getting used to the triple-digit weather, but when our power has to be shut off on Monday to fix a wire in the neighborhood... yeah, there's no way I'll be singing the same tune. Hopefully, they'll finish quickly because they don't have any resting place close by with air conditioning!

7. Back to basics on my classroom todo list. I still need to choose a theme! I've seen all sorts of bloggers out there that are ready for the new school year! I've seen a lot of Pirates actually (ahoy matey!), but some other adorable ones are Hollywood, Bees, Sports-related, and many more. I went for frogs last year (and if you knew me at all, you'd be in shock as I am running-scared-pee-on-myself terrified of the real things)!

8. More on the organizational side, I just switched positions within my school district (3 cheers for no more traveling in ice, snow, rain, and heat!), but we had a teacher retire and I was lucky enough to be considered for the job so early in the school year. The organizational side in me is itching to get in there and start getting things done. I want to organize the new closets, the storage behind the stage, all of the fabulous music and programs that were left for me, and get my treasures out of their boxes (where they've lived in this heat for almost 2 months now). This could seriously take days...

9. I have some super-amazing music friends that have kept me in check all summer and need a quick shout-out. Katie and Mary are two of the best people to hang out with - and we always end up bouncing off new ideas and ways to make them work in our rooms! (It's summer! Why are we still planning for next year's students?? Haha - but we'll be ready for them!)

10. Lastly, I have a couple of goals for the last few weeks of July:

-begin (and finish?) the first book of The Hunger Games

-clean out and organize my new classroom (yes, I want that done in July)

-fill my brain with all kinds of wonderful new things that I can incorporate

into my music room!

-and finally, take one last trip to the lake with a fruity drink in hand.

Any objections? :)