loving the laundry...

i have been fighting it for a long time...but i have finally faced the music. i am allergic to regular laundry soaps and i have to use the stuff that usually doesn't smell the greatest. i have been using regular laundry soap because i *hate* the free and clear stuff because it has no smell. i decided to try a new product called seventh generation natural laundry detergent (http://www.seventhgeneration.com/Laundry-Detergent) target sells it and it is about the same price as tide...so i picked some up and used to today when did laundry along with some free and clear downy. the smell of the laundry detergent i got is "blue lavender/eucalyptus" and i was not wild about the smell of it in the container. i tried it anyway and i am shocked. first of all the smell doesn't smell the way it does in the container when it is on your clothes and you clothes are dry. my clothes smell clean, but are not overpoweringly perfumed. and the second thing which blew me away is how soft my clothes are. they are the softest they have ever been, seriously. it isn't the downy, because i have always used downy, so i am chalking it up to the laundry soap. i am beyond thrilled with this product. it is all plant based...not petroleum based like other detergents and i know it will be better from my loopy skin. i am just so in love. :)

today was day one of post-planning at work. i spent the entire day...well maybe more like 3/4 of my day organizing the book storage room which has been a disaster. it is slowly coming together and mr. m is all about throwing away junk we don't need... so the editions we don't use are getting piled up in an extra room...and i have a feeling they will be in there for the next year, but at least they aren't in my organized book storage room. :/

schooool's out for summer.... schooool's out for-ever....

yesterday was bu-sy. it was the last day of school and it was a 1/2 day. i gave my students a bible final and then i made them clean out their lockers. we took out 5 giant black trash bags of junk out to the dumpster...and the bags were so heavy i couldn't lift them. those kids are trashy. after that i handed out classroom awards and we all ate cookie cake. then the kids went outside. so later we come inside and a few of the kids had to finish a history quiz and mr. m informs my class that they will be turning in their history notebooks too. well they all freak out because it is 11:30 and they are leaving at 12 and blah blah blah. i go and check on my group in the computer lab and i go back to the other room and here comes my one student. i asked him where he was and he said at his locker. i just walked past the lockers and he wasn't there and he was all sweaty. i kept asking and he wouldn't tell me. i said, "did you go out to the dumpster to get your history notebook?!" and he said "no, no...." well, another student went out to see if the bags had been torn into. i came back to the room (after checking on computer lab kids) and he was trying to pay the rest of the class to not tell me that he had gone into the dumpster to go through the big bags of trash we had thrown away. the kid went outside and went into the dumpster to find his history notebook. dis-gust-ing. on the other hand...it is 1/4 of his grade....

after everyone left at 12, i was invited to lunch with ms. em (4th grade teacher) and her husband and daughter. she warned me that her family was a little different and quirky... (um, hello... i am a little unusual too) i had to take my car to get my window fixed, so she rode with me and we dropped my car off at the shop (that was closed, i thought just for lunch) and then her daughter picked us up from the shop and we went to logan's for lunch. they are a great family and i just had a wonderful lunch!!

after lunch ms. em's daughter took us back to check on my car and the shop was still closed. so ms. em and i went by another shop and they were able to get my car in that day. so we finally made it back to the school (after taking an 2 1/2 hour lunch) and i was able start getting my room taken apart and things put away. my car was ready at 4:30, so i picked it up, came home, and had to get ready to go BACK to school for graduation.

last night, my beloved stanley graduated. he was the only graduate, but it was a nice graduation nonetheless. his sister, peaches, won't be back in the fall. she decided to go to another school where she can be involved in sports her senior year. it breaks my heart that they won't be around next year. they really are some of my favorite kids.... but i understand people grow up an situations change.... but i can still be sad. :(

now today, i woke up at 9:30...which was amazing. and i am debating going to the grocery store. i know it will be a mad house because of the holiday weekend.... but i do need some food. sigh.

next week i have to go to work for post-planning and then i am do-ne until the second week in july (when i go back for summer school). yay!!

here's to a great summer!

a few for today..

tonight i went to kindergarten graduation. what a riot!

2 and 1/2 more days of school.

i have monster sinus congestion and it is driving me nuts because i feel like i am talking into a tunnel and my head is throbbing. :/

my paper mache elephant turned out pretty good. i painted him lime green with spots.

the end for today. :)

words...

i have been teaching my bible class about wisdom (the curriculum is based on proverbs) and we have been talking a lot about character and self-control and things of that nature. a couple of days ago we were talking about sins of the flesh and about murder and how you can murder someone with your words. today's lesson talked about courage and standing up for what is right when someone is being bullied or being disrespectful to a teacher or an adult and about sarcasm. ...how our words are like knives and we can stab someone and it may not hurt too bad at first but then later someone else stabs them again. eventually the person is hurt and bleeding and later can become scarred and calloused because they have been stabbed so many times.

then there is the flip side of it all. tonight i was at the b house and abi looked at me and out of the blue said "i love you!" and it struck my heart in a different way. her words brought a little bit of healing to some of the little knife wounds that my heart has. how often though do i speak with harshness in my tone or sarcasm in my voice...? i don't want to be a person whose words cut and wound, but someone whose words heal and bring life.

sunday in south carolina

today i went to anderson, south carolina to meet up with amy at the victoria tea room (www.thevictoriatearoom.com) to have lunch and to spend the afteroon together. now, there is really not a whole lot of anything in anderson, but the victoria was incredible. very quaint and good good food. the owners are the ones that run it and they are very friendly. i would definitely go back again. :) after eating and waiting for a downpour of rain to pass we tried to walk around the downtown area and nothing was open, so we headed to the mall and did some shopping. it is always good to spend time with ams and today was a great day.

so on my way home, i realized a couple of things....

1.) not a lot of people observe the "lights on when raining" rule/law/common courtesy for other drivers thing. ...which really makes it difficult to drive in pouring rain...

B.) if you drive on 285 and are in the left 2 lanes, going 65 does not constitute going "fast"...you need to be in the right hand lanes. yes, the posted speed limit is 55...but you have to be going at least 75 to keep up with the flow of traffic and even then you are getting passed by crazy fast cars.

3.) the big d.o.t. signs announcing traffic delays are not there to make it feel like we are in las vegas...they are there to deliver important traffic information. read them! if the sign says that the right 2 lanes are blocked...stop driving in those lanes...merge left and then we won't have the big pile up at the accident site!

d.) i admit very occasionally i will send a quick text message while driving in town... but NEVER on the interstate...today i was behind a lady from tennessee who was obviously texting and she was driving like a drunk driver. it was awful. she kept swerving into other lanes... it was crazy.

thank the lord that i do not have a commute to/through the city on a daily basis... i would go nuts. and with that i conclude my two cents on driving in atlanta....

today was a great day. :)

random bits and pieces

this week has been the longest/busiest week ever.

i am so happy it is saturday and i was able to sleep in until 8:30. :) i got up and went to chick-fil-a...then to walmart and to target to pick up a gift for graduation on friday. and my poor little apartment has been so neglected, so i have been spending the rest of my day, thus far cleaning and cooking and sorting laundry... and i still have cleaning to do and lessons and final exams to put together. ..and it *has* to be done today, because tomorrow i am going to south carolina to meet up with aem to have tea! :) well...we are eating at a victorian tea place....jane austen would so approve. there is so much more i could write... but words are failing me now. sigh. i shall end here.

ninja lizard.

ohmygoodness.

so today a lizard snuck into my house. it wasn't a regular lizard...it was like the jackie chan of all lizard kind. it was small....and black and red. it was a ninja lizard. it was SO fast. i wasn't afraid of it...i just didn't want it in my house. so for 2 hours i tried to catch it to no avail. i called viv and asked her to help me catch it... it seems like we make a semi-decent rodent catching team. so after working at it for about 20 minutes and moving the insanely heavy couch 80 times we caught it. and it was tossed by viv toward a rabbit eating by the woods. i seriously think the whole escapade equaled a good cardio workout. it all worked out good for everyone...except maybe the rabbit who is now probably getting kung-fu'ed by jackie chan lizard.... :/

downey, idaho 83234

hi world.

today i finally bought a new shower curtain. it was needed. i had been looking for one for awhile now and nothing ever really hit me... but i settled on a black and white dot one that goes with my red rugs which are still in really good condition. i was a bit taken aback by how much shower curtains cost these days... i spent $17 for a plastic one and $6 for a liner (and it isn't even a anti-mold one)! it is ridiculous...blame it on the recession. :/

i spent tonight at the b's for iz's first birthday. it was the best time i have had in a long time. :) happy birthday to iz!

13 more school days.... thankyoupreciousbabylordjesus. thankyou.