What to do ... what to do?

Today was an interesting day! Maybe because I haven't even been awake for 12 hours. Yes, you read that right. I woke up around 11:00 this morning after a BIG night out for Amy's Bachelorette Party. I'll post some pictures when I get a chance.

Anyhoo, I woke up to Molly emptying the living room here. All last week, M & E had tilers working in the bathrooms upstairs. It was not fun to try and calm Minners down from the workmen running up and down the stairs every 5 minutes; dodge tile pieces, dust and dirt falling from the ceiling; and move our stuff in and out of the bathroom every day. Well, this week will be the a totally different construction experience. Workmen will be here the majority of the week tearing down the ceiling in the living room (and under the bathroom that had the leak) to put up a new one. Erik's brothers came over to help empty all the furniture out of the room, and we also covered the carpet with that sticky plastic roll stuff. (I have pictures to share of this, too!)

What this means is the following: no couch and chairs to sit on; no "usual" meal time set-up (on laps in living room); no play place for Minners & me (she's at grandma's and grandpa's for now); NO TV or DVR!

We've only been without the TV for about 8 hours and I'm already going crazy! And today we even tried to be gone and run errands! I don't tutor this week, so this is the only week this summer that I have nothing to do and nowhere to be! Blech!

So now ... it's time for me to find stuff to do. I think I'll try and get some old magazines read and then recycled. I'll also try and get some more stuff posted on Etsy. Maybe go work at my "home office", Panera, a few days. Go to the pool. Read. Be bored!

Anyone have ideas???

Etsy Favorites ... back with a bang!

I know it's been FOR-EV-ER since I did Etsy Favorites! It's also been forever since I've posted new items on my Etsy page. Today I'm doing both.

This is how I figured out how to post my new magnet gift set with the perfect name.

Dials Mom at work: "Hey Mom. You know that one painting that has black and white lines on it and some red and yellow?" [Don't you like my super vague description?]

Mom: "Yes ... and?"

Me: "I've been googling 'contemporary art + famous + black and white' for about 15 minutes and I can't figure it out."

Mom: "You want Mondrian. What for?"Me: "I have this new set of magnets to sell on Etsy and they look like they are Mondrian-inspired! Thanks, Mom!"

Mom: "No problem. Aren't you glad you have me around?"

So ... here they are!

These magnets were made from some vintage earrings that Jill scored for me from her grandmother's massive collection of clip-ons! Aren't they great looking?

I think this little girl's skirt is fantastic! It is handmade (of course ... it's on Etsy) and looks super comfy! Mitzi was amazed that someone had made it to sell on Etsy when I showed her how cute it was! She must not be browsing on Etsy for hours like I am!
This is the plate that goes with a whole Mondrian-inspired plate and coaster set. I think this makes the perfect gift for a house-warming present, wedding present, or gift for yourself!

This tile mirror is the perfect thing to add some color to any room in your house! It is so detailed and beautiful AND a perfect size: 9.5" X 12.5".

For a girl who LOVES big, bright rings ... this one caught my eye! The artist calls it Mondrian in 3D. This ring could also have fit in my KU-inspired Etsy Favorites a few months ago!

Last, but certainly not least is this handwoven, beaded cuff. The artist had another bracelet that was Mondrian-inspired, but I thought the colors of this one were beautiful!

As always ... feel free to let me know if you see something of mine that you would like in a different size or color. AND ... go browse around on Etsy! It's always nice to help local artisans out!

Kitty Dialogue

This is a post for cat lovers and even those of you that don't like cats so much!

Even though I'm a bit allergic to kittens (yes, Mitzi and Jill, even your nice kitties) ... I'm starting to like them more and more. It is all thanks to the best blog ever, Itty Bitty Kitty Committee!

There are too many great things to say about this blog, but basically this wonderful family takes in litters of brand-spanking-new, less-than-one-pound, ended-up-at-the-pound kittens! The human Momma is not just a great person who raises kittens and then adopts them out ... she's also a fabulous photographer and blogger!

I wish I could post the pictures from this particular post, but I can't. So ... you'll have to just check out the link to "Charlene Doesn't Like to Share" and take in how hilarious it is! I caught myself laughing out-loud at Panera at the captions! Charlene Butterbean is the older "Momma" cat of the house, even though none of the babies are her's. Twyla is one of the cuties (and Mitzi's favorite) from the latest litter! She's got a precious face. Once you've read this post, you need to click on the link at the top so you can see her whole blog ... then mark it as a favorite and check back often for your daily smile!

Enjoy!

Shameless plug!

I know that I've definitely slacked on my Etsy Deals of the Week and my Etsy Favorites of the Week ... but I don't want you all to forget about this incredible site!

For those of you that don't know ... Etsy is similar to eBay, in that you can buy things that other people are selling. However, Etsy prides itself on being a site to buy and sell handmade goods. You do NOT have to bid on items and one of the new features is that you can actually put a request out for a particular item to be made, and the creators can bid on the chance to make that item!

I have had a store for a little over a year, and although it hasn't been a steady money-maker for me, it's been a lot of fun and quite the learning experience! I've even inspired some friends to open their own Etsy stores. Check out Jill's Knit1Scrap2 and Margaret's Seafoamgirl store!

Once I either get some more time with some wireless internet OR get set up with my own internet at my new place ... I promise to start up with my Etsy Favorites again! It was a great way to "meet and greet" with other sellers! It also kept me up-to-date with posting more items for sale in my store!

No-So eXcel Team Trivia!

Well, I have bad news. I am NOT $110 richer after the Trivia Championships last night! It was quite the experience, though! We caravaned down to Harrah's casino to go to the VooDoo lounge for the BIG event! I didn't really know what to expect since we've never gotten this far.

I had seen pictures online, but I don't think that really helps you imagine the scene very well. We walked in and the place was lined with tiny tables and lots of chairs. Each table had a team name tent on it. We happened to be up close to the stage, which was nice. We were excited and thought that would mean that we could hear the questions better. What we didn't factor in was the decibel level of the LARGE speakers AND that everyone was actually there to listen to the questions. We normally have to compete with Loudy McDrunkersons at Tanner's who are talking loud enough for the whole bar to hear!

This is a small picture to show was it looked like with close to 60 teams and about 600 people crammed in there! There were teams up on the top level, too!

Here is our table. It was a bit hard to hear each other since we didn't want to be too loud. The tables surrounding us were teams from "our" Tanner's that had also qualified. We also seemed to be sitting in tables according to who "our" DJ was from our home bar. Our DJ happened to be the DJ for the whole night, which was nice ... because he seems to be one of the only normal ones.

In the front of the this picture is our answer packet. Normally we just write our answers on a small sheet of paper. This time they had the questions typed up for us and printed in packets. This did help a bit because we could look ahead to see what type of question it might be. Since Trivia is all auditory, the questions only helped so much. Examples: "Name the person who wed this artist in April of 2008." They played a clip of a Mariah Carey song ... so we knew the answer was Nick Cannon. "Name the character played by Whoopie Goldberg in this movie." We guessed it was going to be a clip of Ghost, and sure enough it was ... so our answer was Oda Mae Brown. We have sucked BIG time on "What year did ... happen?" questions. We have consistently been off 1 year every time!

This is the view I had from my chair. I could see the stage at the front. On the left, the DJ (in the blue shirt) played videos and songs and on the right, they had all the team names and the scores.

Here are Mitzi and Jill waiting patiently for the next round. Trivia normally consists of 10 regular rounds, 3 montage rounds, and a wager round. It starts for us at 8:30 and we are done by 11:30! Last night had only 10 regular rounds and 1 montage. It started at 7:00 and we got out at 11:30! It took FOREVER to tally all the scores after each round!

Here is the table next to us that left after round 7. They must have had to work today (suckers!) and they weren't doing that well. We stuck it out for the whole thing!

My post title comes from the fact that they spent probably 30-45 minutes last night (in between rounds) trying to figure out the Excel part of the score sheet. It was SO frustrating! Even more so when we found out that the guy they got to help fix the spreadsheet was on the winning team! they happened to have a perfect score for the first 4 or 5 rounds of questions. Hmmmm ... that sounds fishy! Here they are all just staring at the score sheet. This was the most frustrating part because it seemed to slow down our momentum of answering the questions.

Overall, it was a fun night! It would have been more fun had I come home with some cash in my pocket, but of course, we'll continue to play! The next "season" starts next week! Yippee!

I can name that tune in 5 notes!

Tonight is the BIG All-Metro Xtreme Team Trivia Championships!

We're all pumped and we've been studying in our own unique ways. I probably haven't been doing as much studying as I should have been, but I'm excited for the chance to win some money tonight!

I'll be sure and update tonight with the final score and how we did! It should be an interesting night, so I'll be sure to take my camera as well!

Off to grab a quick bite to eat before we meet up!

I don't want to jinx it ...

... but as of today at 12:00 when I signed the contract, I should be a new home-owner on July 21st!

Yippee!

I will get some pictures uploaded in the near future. [Again, I need to get to some wireless internet to do that.]

I can't believe how smoothly this all has gone. The last time I did this just one short month ago, it ended in disaster! Now that I've found this new condo, I truly believe that I shouldn't have been at the last place, and if I was, then I wouldn't have found this wonderful condo.

Here are the specs:

• 1500+ square feet!
• 2 bedroom, 2 bath.
• Hardwoods in dining room, kitchen and hallway.
• WALK-IN CLOSET in Master bedroom!
• 1 1/2 stories with a loft.
• Super tall ceilings.
• Kitchen that will need some work over time.
• Paint colors I can live with and actually enjoy.
• Pool, clubhouse, etc.
• MINE all MINE! :)

Thanks for all the good thoughts you all sent my way. I know it helped.

Now ... this is going to be the hard part: Plan accordingly for a move that should happen in a month, but also be prepared for anything to happen! I can't wait for everyone to see my new home!

Waiting ... waiting ... waiting

I put a bid in on the condo yesterday! Mom, Dad & Molly all loved it and so it was time to make a move!

We heard back today with a counter-offer, so we counter-offered back.

Haven't heard back from them yet. Cross your fingers for me! I might not be homeless anymore, in the very near future!

Too tired to write much more about it. Must go get some sleep as I can barely keep my eyes open long enough to write this!

Happy Birthday to my oldest friend, Megan, today and Happy Friday to everyone else tomorrow!

A Fresh Start!

I hope you all have heard of the 13-part documentary about Greensburg, KS on this new channel, Planet Green! Planet Green is a branch of the Discovery Channel and now airs all sorts of shows about being "green"!

So far, only 2 episodes of Greensburg have shown, and I just finished watching last Sunday's episodes. If you can find the channel on your cable guide, you really should tune in next Sunday night. I have seen pictures of the devastation of that town, but I guess seeing it in a video format really opened my eyes. I couldn't believe it when I heard that the tornado was on the ground for 12 minutes! That would seem like an eternity if you were trapped in your basement, not knowing what type of damage was being done above your head.

In the show I just watched, some of the towns-people fought and argued over why they needed to rebuild as a "green" community. Well ... they don't have to do anything. However, this community has a once-in-a-lifetime chance to do something the rest of the country or world can't do: They get to start over from scratch! What an amazing opportunity!?!?

It was very interesting how the high school students (just 100 kiddos) are getting really involved and seeing the big picture of things! They know that Greensburg will hae the chance to be known not just for the F-5 tornado that demolished and ruined 95% of their town ... but ... the first town to be completely "green" and working towards a better planet for all of us!

Let me know if any of you are watching, too! I want to hear about it!

Might have found it!

Today was day 3 ... I think of actual going out and looking at properties with my Realtor, Spencer.

After looking at the first 4 units, I was optimistic, but not really excited by any of the condos. Then ... I walked into a GREAT condo! I couldn't believe how nice it was! Lots of nice upgrades and LOTS of closet space!

I have to say, that as a girl who likes a lot of closet space ... that can almost be a selling point for me. Spencer thinks I'm crazy, but this is true!

So ... going back tomorrow with Mom and Dad. Even though it's MY place, to be bought with MY money ... I'd like their approval. They already vetoed the one house that I semi-liked on location alone.

More details if this goes anywhere.

Going to Adam & Jill's for Crafternoon into Crafterevening. I haven't done anything creative in a long time and I'd like to get some new stuff up on Etsy!

Pal, go get 'em!

I know there have been so many great tributes to Tim Russert, but this one really got to me. I love the friendship that Matt and Tim seemed to have every day that they were on The Today Show together!

:(

*

*

Finally! We made it!

Tonight we went to another Tanner's to play in the Regional round for Trivia. Well ... after a long night of questions (many that we missed) we qualified to play at the All-Metro Championships next Sunday at the VooDoo Lounge!

I'll write more later. I just got home and it's been a long (even though we were very lazy) day!

Hope everyone had a geat Father's Day! :)

John's Space Age Doughnuts

Molly's been talking about it for weeks. I'm pretty sure since the weekend I moved in, we've been talking about getting up early on a Saturday to head to the doughnut shop in downtown Overland Park!

The Saturday that Adam & Jill came over to get hostas, we jokingly said that they should make a pit-stop between the OP Farmer's Market and the house. Jill was amazed that "the McKnight girls know about the most random places in Kansas City". I guess we could thank our parents for that! We used to go to John's Space Age for doughnuts (and Fluffy Fresh on State Line) occasionally on the weekends! It has the best old fashioned feel! You can sit right at the counter. You will eat off of paper plates and drink out of small milk cartons. The doughnuts are super cheap! The couple that runs the place waits on you. It's fantastic for people watching!

So anyway ... we got up this morning and headed straight there. Molly's been craving an apple fritter for weeks and swears that Space Age is the only place that has good apple fritters!

Since we got there a bit later than we had planned ... we found that there were very few doughnuts left. Molly was immediately concerned that she didn't see any fritters in the case, but assumed there were some in bad. No. Such. Luck. He said they were all out! I thought she was going to cry!

She "settled" on a white icing and sprinkles cake doughnut. I got a cream-filled one. Erik got a glazed chocolate one. Then we got a dozen glazed holes to share! We all got a small carton of milk and our total was $6.32 or something ridiculously cheap! As we sat down at the counter, Molly seemed a bit down in the dumps. We had come here after all for her apple fritter.

All of a sudden, the owner comes out of the back kitchen with something behind his back for her ... AN APPLE FRITTER! On the house! She literally teared up from the excitement and passed her cake doughnut on to Erik! Erik said that the owner was probably saving it for himself, but felt so bad that he gave it to her. We don't know if that's true ... but regardless, it was very nice of him!

We all left with empty plates and cartons and full bellies. Then we walked to the Farmer's Market to see what we could find. You really should go earlier than 10:00 to beat the crowds and get the first pick of what you want to buy! We then walked back to the car hoping we had walked off our doughnuts, but realistically knew it was more like just one doughnut hole! :) And we were off to start the rest of our day ... now that we ALL were happy campers!

No more white board ...

Today was a sad day.

Tim Russert died at work from a heart attack. I loved watching him on TV and loved how explained things in such a simple way that even the viewers who think they don't know anything about politics can follow along!

The election this year will NOT be the same without him. The Today Show will NOT be the same without him. The news, in general, will NOT be the same without him.

:(

Surprise, surprise ... more rain!

So, my summer started 2 weeks ago and I'm pretty sure that it's rained or been cloudy all but 3 days. I haven't gone to the pool yet this summer ... I think last year at this time, I was already tan!

We stayed in tonight and watched new shows on TV. No wait, scratch that. We watched Gary Lezak for about 90 minutes.

I'm all for being able to watch the weather and news to be prepared in bad times (as we've all seen on the news lately, it's very important), but you can only watch the radar go over your area so many times. The one cool thing we actually saw was a live camera feed from near DeSoto (outside of Lawrence, KS) and we saw 2 tornados form out of nowhere and touch down! It was amazing to see it live as it happened. I'm sure NBC will be replaying the clip for days to show off the footage they got! ;)

Alrighty ... off to bed! Tomorrow I get to sleep in. I have a feeling with the storms tonight, I might not get much sleep; so not setting an alarm for tomorrow morning will be really nice!

House Hunt

Today was day 2 of going out with my Realtor to look for a new home for me. If you are following the side bar in between my pictures on the right, you'll be able to see how it's going.

So far, we'e gone out to see 11 houses and I was pleased that the first one I saw today looked very live-able and I could actually see myself there. We'll go out again on Friday to look at more houses and some condos, too.

Keep your fingers crossed ... I'm pretty sure that Molly and Erik don't want me living here forever. It has been a lot of fun, but I'd like my own place, too!

Tonight they babysat Minners while I went to try and qualify for the regional finals for Trivia (we did!) and I came home to a note on my bed: I took Minnie out @ 10. She barked a lot! This is also a sign that we need to find a new home as soon as possible. They knew they were taking me on, but having a dog in a non-dog house is a totally different situation!

Alrighty ... off to bed! Tomorrow will be my last day of tutoring for the week, and after waking up at 6:30 this week, I'll definitely be ready to sleep in on Friday!

Sex and the City, The Movie ... TOTALLY worth the wait!

Well, I have spoken pretty unfavorably about the hype and press of this movie before today.

I take it all back. Okay ... most of it!

I just walked in from seeing THE movie, and I can tell you that it was VERY worth the wait! I was waiting to see it ... for things to die down a bit, for the crowds to be smaller, for a good time to go, and for a few other friends to go with. Molly, Michelle, and her friend Molly and I met up tonight at Town Center. Molly and I got to the theater about 30 minutes before it started, and we didn't get there a moment too soon! The theater had to be sold out, and I was glad that we managed to find what were probably the last 4 seats together in the small theater! There were groups of girlfriends (really that was the whole theater ... only 1 poor man who checked his e-mail the whole movie) that were split up all over the place!

You could tell that everyone was decked out to see the movie: cute clothes, cute shoes, LOTS of perfume, and it was so loud before the movie, we could hardly hear each other!

So ... the movie!

It really was better than I thought it was going to be. The first 10 minutes are sort of a re-cap of what led the girls to where they are today. I started crying at the very beginning and didn't stop ... shocking, I know!

Sarah Jessica Parker had something amazing like 84 wardrobe changes, and each one was better than the last! Michelle and I literally gasped out loud at some of the beautiful clothes! I'm not going to give any spoilers away, but if you have seen it, and want to chat about it ... let me know. I'm even willing to go again just to see what else I can pick up on the second time around!

I'm still here ... don't you worry!

So, I got a "frantic" e-mail from Mom this morning wondering where my blog post was from yesterday. I just didn't really have anything of substance to write about. Either that, or I was up too late watching the latest Bachelorette, and by the time I was done, it was time for bed! ;)

Yesterday, I was a bit bored, so I had to find something to do. I've finished painting one wall of the basement, so that was done. Now it was time to start baking! For those of you that know me, you know that I "don't do cooking", so I must have been really bored to be baking in the middle of the day!

I was craving something sweet, so I went out and bought a box of Low-Fat Betty Crocker Brownie Mix. I also bought a package of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. {P.S. Has anyone else noticed how they have decreased in size?}

I ended up making brownie cupcakes instead of regular brownies, and they turned out really well! All you have to do is make the batter, break up your PB cups and put them in the cupcake papers with batter both on the top and bottom and ... ta da! ... you have a yummy, delicious treat!

I highly suggest them ... ENJOY! :)

An open letter to Chili's:

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Chili,

I love your restaurant, and spent many a night during college coming in for bottomless chips and salsa (with ranch) for $2.89 and bottomless diet cokes for $1.89. I used to frequent your local restaurant, but so many other great places to eat have popped up around town, that I rarely come to eat there any more.

Today, I remembered about you and decided to pop in with a friend. I'll ignore the fact that we walked in and the host stood there for about 3 minutes (doing nothing) before he asked us if we wanted to put our name in AND the fact that once I was seated several children in the waiting area were playing the drums on the walls and doors and it was super loud. Technically, that was their parents' fault, not yours.

What I don't understand are the following things:

1. We had to ask for silverware and napkinS. When Random Waiter (not our Waitress) replied, he asked if we needed a knife too, or just a fork. Really? Is it too much trouble to grab TWO utensils at the waiter's stand? He also brought us each just ONE napkin, like there is some sort a ration going on at Chili's that we didn't know about.
2. When I was looking at the menu, I found the most confusing thing. Under the sandwiches menu the prices seemed strange. The Smoked Turkey sandwich (which is one of my favorites) is priced at $6.79, but for an extra $1.29 I could add applewood smoked bacon. Right next to that was the Turkey Combo Deal also priced at $6.79, but if I wanted I could add applewood smoked bacon for $0.69. Hmmmm ... does this make sense? Is there going to be less bacon on the Turkey Combo sandwich?
3. Why do the waiters and waitresses come by approximately 30 seconds after you get your food to ask if everything tastes okay? Well, I have only gotten the chance to see and smell my food, and so far so good. [We had a similar experience at Gap today. We were literally 3 steps into the store when one of the employees asked if we were finding everything okay. I wanted to say, "Yes, I found your store and the front door okay. That's as far as I've gotten."]
4. When you have no more drink in your glass, why is that always the hardest time to find your waitress?

Okay, I think that's it for now. No, I'm not going to stop eating at your restaurant, but I will remember this is in my list of pet peeves around town!

Sincerely,

Applewood Baconless

What a busy and fun day!

Molly and I woke up early (I even set my alarm) to be up and at 'em when Jill and Adam stopped by for a bit of plant sharing. By the time they left, it was work time for Molly and me. She trimmed the majority of their plants in the front yard (the back yard was too big to tackle today) and I weeded, and picked up her fallen leaves and branches. We worked for about 3 hours. It was hot and just started to cool down when we went in for lunch.

Erik got home from Lawrence and ran out to get us lunch and then we spent some quality time on the couch in front of the TV cooling off and resting. Then, it was back to work for me. I painted the "work-out" room in their basement. I only got one coat done, but it already looks a million times better (even if Molly says she can't tell a difference). I do have pictures, but have to get to some wireless internet to post them.

After that, I bathed Minners and we all got ready to go have dinner with some family friends. It was so much fun to see them, and Courtney brought her cute-as-a-button daughter in town with her so we could meet her and play around. It took little M.C. a few hours to warm up to us, but by the end of the evening she was showing me how she could do somersaults and how she could throw rocks into the back of her trucks! :) Courtney teaches Creative Adventure classes out of her backyard back home in California, so it was so much fun to swap stories and hear about all the fun things she does with her kiddos!

After that wonderful dinner and catching up, it was time to meet friends at Johnny's in Corinth for a few drinks. What a great night to sit on the patio and have a few beers!

Off to bed, finally, so I can sleep in tomorrow and get ready for a busy week ahead of me! Hope everyone has had a great weekend, too!

Summer blogging is harder than I thought

Maybe it's because I don't really have anything going on right now.

Normally no news, means good news, but for me I think it really just means life is boring.

We lost at Trivia last night. Boo!

It is raining again. Boo!

I'm going to the dentist first thing in the morning. Boo!

Minnie is still adjusting to being away from Peanut and living here. Boo!

I went to see Amy's new house today and helped her paint. Yeah!

Molly made yummy pasta for dinner and yummy rhubarb crisp for dessert. Yeah!

The weekend is almost here. Yeah!

My new house hunt starts on Monday. Yeah!

Hopefully I'l have more to report in the coming days, or you're going to find that I'm posting about more stupid stuff or I'll be posting less. Eeeks!

UPDATE: It seems as if everyone was interested in the rhubarb crisp, so I'll give you all the recipe. Molly found it in Martha Stewart - Everyday Foods! Enjoy! :)

Here is the recipe

Will Work For Room!

I hate to say it, but ... I'm bored! I know that is the #1 no-no rule of teachers on summer vacation, but I think I have an excuse!

All of my belongings and crafts and projects for the summer are in boxes in my parents' garage. I'm here at Molly & Erik's with only a few suitcases, a few books (that I had to go out and buy yesterday) and Miss Minners. I love TV, and there isn't even anything of interest to watch during the day or at night! Tutoring hasn't started yet, and my new house hunt hasn't started yet, either.

So ... I've decided to come up with some work to do around their house. Erik keeps joking that I can pay for my room by doing all the cooking and cleaning. He must not understand that my cooking consists of ordering in, picking up, or warming up! That leaves me with cleaning.

Yesterday I pulled all the weeds from in between the bricks in their front walkway and backyard steps. I've emptied and filled the dishwasher several times. Today, I went to JCCC to pick up their locally-grown veggies (kale, radishes, lettuce, rhubarb and mushrooms). Then ... I came up with a several-day project! I'm cleaning the walls (more difficult than I originally thought) in the basement "work-out" room and laundry room so that I can paint them. They are in desperate need of a freshening up! I'll need M or E to pick out paint for me, but then I think I can do all the rest on my own! They are so busy, what with working full time and all, that this is a little something I can do for them. It's not something that would ever be on the top of their To Do list, but I think they'll be happy it's done. After that I'll be looking for the next summer project!

Don't you wish that you took me into your home?

Too precious!

Minnie refuses sit by herself in the car. IF she didn't ride on my lap and IF she would actually sit in a pet seatbelt ... I'm pretty sure this is what she'd look like!

I just found this on CuteOverload and HAD to share! What a hoot!

The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

Okay, maybe it wasn't the sky, but it was ceiling lights, ceiling tiles, walls and boxes!

I promised you all I would show you pictures of the war zone that is, scratch that, was my classroom! I know this is a bit of picture overkill, but I'm still completely shocked when I look at the transformation that my classroom took. I also can't believe that the working conditions we had were OSHA approved, or that it was safe for 450+ students to spend 8 hours a day in classrooms that had few ceiling tiles, cement dust floating around, holes in ceilings and walls to the outside and wires hanging from ceilings. But, I digress ... .. .

BEFORE: Here is my classroom the last few days of school. I still had things on my walls, and the room was still functioning. However, I had started to pack (what I thought was a lot of boxes) and I was making progress!

Bulletin boards and turn-in trays. Boxes of books and binders. The kids' desks, the reading corner and the front of the room. My corner from hell! What a mess this was!

DURING: This is what my classroom looked like literally 45 minutes after the kids left! We went down for our last-day-of-school lunch in the cafeteria, and I came back to very few lights, my desk and things shoved all over the room and the "tear down" process already starting!

My corner after they shoved my things all over and threw them on the floor. The ladder was in the place of my desk chair and file cabinets and I had significantly less lights!The kids were nice enough to help me stack chairs and desks. They were moved shortly after this.My corner, sans doors. The doors were the first thing to go. Brenda lost some things she had on her door window, and I grabbed her curtains as they were walking out the door!

AFTER: Here is what used to be my room and pod (hallway to those of you that don't teach in a BV school)! There are no more walls and many of the boxes have already been removed. If people thought I was freaking out yesterday when I came back to a few lights missing, they would have seen me basically having a panic attack when I came to find more of my things thrown on the floor and no lights and walls!

This is a picture of both my room and Brenda's room. Mitzi is showing them off! Brenda's room starts to the left of that TV that is hanging on the back wall.
There's Brenda waving in the back from her room. You can also see one of the construction workers. I'm pretty sure they were all tired of hearing us bitch and moan, but we were shocked to see movers that came in to move our belongings a whole 30 hours before we were told we had to be done!
My desk and corner, finally empty. It took about 10 helpers to calm me down and help me throw stuff into boxes that I labeled "To Be Filed". I don't know the final box count was, but I was constantly sending coworkers out to find me more boxes.
This is a view of 4 classrooms across the hall from me. All the walls were gone and their boxes were gone the day before!
This is the view from my end of the pod up towards the main part of the building.
My lovely teammates and I. They were so good when I cried several times throughout the week, and they were there to help me even when they weren't done themselves!
My room into Brenda's again. Wouldn't it be fun if I could always see her at her desk from mine? We probably would get even less accomplished if we were and open classroom building design! :)
I don't even know what this is. I think this is more of my room looking into what used to be a hallway. That is Mitzi's door back there on the left!
More of our pod.
This is the gym where they are going to be storing all of our things. I'm shocked the piles weren't taller than this!
More boxes and those are doors and wall sections on the right.
More boxes. Watch out for that tilting stack!
More furniture!

Okay ... that's it. I'm kicked out of there until at least August 10th. It is kind of nice knowing that I can't go up to work, even if I wanted to! I did bring home personal items and a few boxes of things to use for tutoring.

Off to run a few more errands. Hope everyone enjoyed the picture show of the construction chaos!

First full week of summer ...

... and I'm very excited about it! Even though summer officially started for me on Friday, I don't really feel like I've had a chance to sit back and relax yet. I've had things going on every day, so I haven't really had that true summer "down time" yet.

Tomorrow I have no plans. Minnie is officially here with me now, so hopefully we'll get a good walk in and meet some new dog neighbors. I'd like to also find some wireless internet so I can upload pictures, too! I still haven't had a chance to upload pics from Julie's bachelorette party and that was about 3 weeks ago!

That is the entirety of my daily plans. Exciting, huh?

Happy Monday to all of you that will be at work! ;)