I figured it out today

If you are someone who works with children, you might already know this:

The kids that need the most love are the kids that are the most difficult to love.

I wish it weren't this way!

Etsy Deals of the Week!

Yesterday I was struggling to find something to write about (to keep up with my resolution of at least one post a day) ... and I totally forgot that I was due for my Etsy Deals of the Week!

When you get to my site: www.betsyonetsy.etsy.com, make sure you check out my new banner that Jill helped me with! It is so fancy! She's been a knitting fool, and has posted some really cool stuff on her site: www.knit1scrap2.etsy.com. She'll be posting more things for sale in the upcoming weeks, too ... so be sure to check them out!

You will also see that I've posted a new announcement! For every sale from my site that is earrings or rings, I will make a mystery pair of earrings to include in your order ... FOR FREE! These will be a surprise pair of earrings that I will make especially for you. You can't go wrong. It's almost worth it to make a purchase just to get the extra surprise pair!

On to the deals for this week:

A new Minnie's Fleecy Toy. This one is smaller and is great for a smaller breed of dog or for the new puppy in your life. I made it with bright yellow, blue and multi-colored Hawaiian print fleece.

This small fleecy toy is for sale on my site for just $2.50!

Next is the magnet gift set for this week. It is a little different than the others because it is packaged in purple plastic box and I've mixed the two sizes of magnets. These dog-themed magnets are set up to look like a paw print in the box.

This set is on sale for just $4.50. UPDATE: This item sold today! Go look for others that are similar on www.betsyonetsy.etsy.com!

Now for the jewelry deal of the week. Jenny had me pick these Robin's Egg earrings because she said they are great for winter and they can transition into spring well. I love the mixture of these baby blue and white beads.

This pair of earrings goes for just $7.00. But, don't forget that if you buy these or another pair you will receive a FREE pair of mystery earrings with your purchase! UPDATE: This item sold today! Go look for others that are similar on www.betsyonetsy.etsy.com!

The last deal of the week is a new key chain I made. Jenny showed me how to make these and I was playing around with shapes and came up with this. The tough part of these key chains is making a shape that starts and ends at the same point. I thought this Mail key chain would be really fun for a new home owner or anyone else that has a key for their mailbox in their neighborhood.

This one sells for only $3.50 on my Etsy site!

As always ... let me know if you see something you like. I'm happy to make custom orders and I can work with you if you are looking for something you want for a gift or for yourself! www.betsyonetsy.etsy.com!

China Moon

Today was a pretty lazy day. Minnie let me sleep in until about 8:30 and then we both went back to sleep after she had her breakfast. I sat around and watched some TV and read magazines and then went to meet Mom and Molly for lunch and running errands.

Minnie was lucky enough to get to hang out with grandpa while the girls went out. One of our first stops was to Blue Koi at Mission Farms (Mission Road & 435 overpass). The original Blue Koi is on 39th Street. We sat down to just have a few things to do some taste testing for a meeting Mom is having there ... but ended up stuffing ourselves full of their great food.

We had 2 kinds of their fried dumplings (which they are known for): chicken and pork, the egg plant pockets, and the China Moon. Molly described the China Moon dish as a Chinese quesadilla and she was right! It was SO good. I could definitely go back for this. The egg plant pockets were crispy and filled with veggies and the China Moon was a crispy flat bread that had a marinated shrimp mixture on the inside. It also had a sweet duck sauce to go with!

I highly recommend any of the things we had, and think you all should make your way down to Mission Farms when it gets nice to eat outside on the patio! Go check it out!

He's looking for a boy space friend!

This one is for all my friends that have moved other places from wonderful KC, or my new friends that have moved to KC from other wonderful places.

I've had SEVERAL friends pick up and move other places across the country for various reasons. They all have loved their new hometowns, new jobs, being with family or significant others ... but they have almost all told me how hard it is to make new friends. We are at that age where we like the friends we already have, but sometimes have to make new ones. It isn't easy. People have set groups of friends and I really think it's especially hard for girls. We are so damn picky that we don't let "just anyone" into our groups! :)

I was lucky enough to meet Adam this year at work and then he introduced us to his lovely wife, Jill! She came out to our Girls Night Out (with work girls) and we immediately loved her! Now I have two new friends (that are nice enough to let me come to their place to play Wii, Guitar Hero, knit, eat, drink, be lazy) and I hope that they are happy with us as their new friends.

Now for Adam's sad story. He's one of 3 men working in our building. Being a man and working in an elementary building is NOT easy. The women are always talking about girlie things and doing girlie things and being girlie girls. This is Adam's first time to live in KC and he is on the prowl for some boy (space) friends. When he finds them ... we've decided that it's a WIN-WIN-WIN situation for all of us! Adam gets some boy (space) friends to do manly things with; these new boys get fun Adam (and now Adam's fun friends) to hang out with; and we get fun new boys to hang out with!

WIN-WIN-WIN!

Which kind are you?

I believe that there are two types of teachers out there in the world.

The type you are all depends on what you do when it comes to Friday night.

You are either:

a) The type of teacher that can't wait to go out with friends after school, celebrate the end of the week and forget about the fact that you have to go back in 60 short hours.

OR

b) The type of teacher that is so exhausted at by the time it's Friday night that you can barely keep your eyes open. You can't wait to get home and crash on the couch and NOT make decisions for the next 60 hours.

Tonight I tried to be both types. I went out for a Happy Hour with work friends to celebrate the fact it was Friday BUT then I came home and fell asleep on the couch and woke up to the dogs barking at nothing outside.

I win!

So I JUST got home from work. Spent too much time procrastinating and complaining about finishing my report cards ... so I ended up having to stay until 6:15 tonight to wrap them up.

I checked Jill's blog and now I feel awful about the state of my messy classroom. I don't know how I can get on my kids' case for their messy desks when mine looks like it does. I guess I should tell them, "Do as I say, not as I do!"

These pictures are from last year, but my desk looks pretty much like this ... probably worse. Just ask people at school. I think I definitely win for the messiest desk out there!

So for comparison ... here is Jill's desk: Fancy-schmancy-high-school-teacher desk!

And my 22-kids-are-driving-me-crazy, I-feel-like-I've-got-no-time-to-grade, why-can't-I-get-organized desk:

Little Miss Shy Toes

That was my self-given nickname at yoga tonight. My toes were NOT at all ready to be out in public, and are in desperate need of a pedi before next week's class! They tried to roll up in my yoga mat, but that didn't last long.

Tonight was the first class yoga for this semester at school. My good friend, Amy, teaches the class and last semester there were anywhere from 8 of us to maybe 14 or so. Tonight there were 24(!) people all sprawled out on yoga mats in the gym. We barely fit in. Yeah for Amy! It should be a fun group. Lots of people from other schools in the district and now Mitzi, Adam and Jill have joined the "regulars", so that should be fun. I've never liked yoga until this year and even though some weeks are harder on my body than others, I always appreciate the time to calm down and center myself after a long day at school. I love how Amy tells us to appreciate this gift we have given ourselves: time to come in and relax and take care of only what our bodies are doing for that hour. The wind-down slow breathing at the beginning of class is worth the money alone!

Thanks, Amy!

This is what I felt like after class tonight. This picture I took matched my attitude completely, so I thought I'd share!

This picture doesn't do the sunset justice, but it is still beautiful!

I've hit the wall

It's always hard for me to get back into any sort of a daily routine after a break from school. I'm such a night owl, and so during summer, winter and spring break ... my eating and sleeping schedule gets REALLY off! I will stay up late, sleep late, eat late ... you get the idea.

Well ... the last 3 nights I haven't been able to fall asleep at a decent hour. I've tried to help by watching TV, reading magazines, surfing the internet, but none of that helped. I think last night I finally turned off my light at 1:00am.

So, of course, I'm FINALLY tired and I can barely move. Got home from work at 7:00 after staying late to work on grades and crashed on the couch. The dogs had no problem barking and climbing all over me while I tried to catch up on some DVR.

Now it's time for bed. Don't think I'll even last to watch the 10pm news. Goodnight to you all ... (is anyone still reading this damn thing after just 13 days!?)

;)