Ahhhh, teaching....

I decided to go to school yesterday to take a look at my classroom. It's weird, but in order for me to set up my class, I have to visualize the space. I am one of those teachers that likes to change the room every year. I can't stand looking at the same stuff in the same place, year after year. Most of that has been taken care of this year, since I changed buildings. (I moved from one portable to another). When I left in June, the room was in quite a state. Not only did I have my stuff (and trust me, it was a LOT of stuff), but Sally had her stuff in there, too. 2 teachers occupying a small space must violate several time-space continuums. I didn't bother to really set up the room because I knew that the floors were going to be waxed and anything I did would be destroyed anyway. (I learned that lesson my 1st year. All my stuff was in the middle of the room, in a huge pile). When I walked in, I was expecting a mess. Boy, was I correct on that assumption. So, for those of you out there that think teachers just slack off during the summer, think again! Here is what I have to deal with ~

Ugh! tables and chairs stacked on more tables and chairs. There was even furniture shoved inside the teeny-tiny closet. And, I am supposed to fit 11 middle-schoolers in this room and try to teach them! Right now, they will sit on the roof, I suppose. I am glad I went in early, because this mess will take longer than 3 days to sort through, clean, and arrange. Did I mention that there are 11 computers to hook up? What was I thinking? I mean, it will be pretty cool that each student will have their own computer to access, but what a giant pain. Sheesh. But, I have my vision and this mess will actually look like a classroom when I am finished.

On the positive side, the floor is shiny!

Ewwwww...

This morning, as Roger was walking in, he noticed a swarm of bugs crawling by the back door. Roger hates bugs, so he went and got the bug spray, thinking that the bugs were ants. Upon further inspection, the bugs were NOT ants, but spiders! Hundreds of them! ICK!! A spider egg sac exploded open and the baby spiders were crawling all over the side of the house. Well, not crawling for long, as Roger proceded to spray them with the spider spray. Actually, a couple of days prior, Roger walked into a rather large spider web (that contained a very large, hairy spider). That spider must have been the "momma" to all of the babies. Yuck. Anyhow, here are a couple of pictures of the aftermath.

Silly Girls

Well, I think it all started with a silly man. Roger, that is. He thought it would be cool to put the baby pool inside the big pool. His intention was purely selfish, at first, since he wanted to use it as a float for himself. Then, Jillian and her friends, Mary and Sydney, had other plans. They looked so silly, all three of them, floating around the big pool inside the baby pool. Alas, all of this fun only lasted the afternoon as they destroyed yet another floaty toy. That's 3 floaties destroyed this summer! Since I refuse to buy anymore, I guess there won't be anything left to float on

The three Musketeers!

Coquina Beach

On Monday we loaded everybody up and drove to the Atlantic Ocean. Paul has never seen the ocean, and this was the perfect day. The hour-plus trip was pretty uneventful in my car. In the van, however, was a different story. Not only has Paul never seen the ocean, I guess he never had to drive over some of the pretty long bridges that lead to the ocean. It can be an intimidating drive if you have never done it before. =) He did a good job, though, and can now cross 2 things off of his list of things he has never done!

Once we got to the beach, everyone clambored out of the vehicles and made their way to the water. One of the coolest items of the day was the way-cool beach wheelchair. As Cindy was pushing Mom on the boardwalk, a lifeguard-in-training offered us the use of the wheelchair. Boy, was it ever cool! There would of been no way that Mom's regular wheelchair would have worked in the sand. This chair enabled us to push Mom over the sand and right up to the shoreline of the water. It was so cool!

The waves were huge since Hurricane Bertha is churning out in the Atlantic. Hayley, Jillian, and Harold all boogie boarded in the surf. I even was knocked down a time or two by a wave, one of which involved Jillian, myself, and a poor guy that got caught in the way. It was too funny!

After spending about 2 1/2 hours at the beach, it was time to go. We packed up and headed for home. On the way home, Cindy, Danie, and the bunch stopped for pizza while I took Jillian and Hayley home. As I was walking in, the phone was ringing. It was Elaine calling to announce the arrival of the newest member of the family, Mason Paul. What timing!

I hope that everyone had a great time. Since I FORGOT my camera, I am hoping that someone will e-mail me (hint-hint, Hayley) some pictures from the beach so I can post them.

A Fun Day at Bal Gra

Our friends, Sally and John, were kind enough to let us hang out at their beach. They have a beautiful house along the Albemarle Sound. The water is calm and shallow. You have to walk out pretty far before the water even gets remotely deep. It was a beautiful day-a nice breeze was blowing and the sun was shining-a perfect North Carolina summer day.

Danie and Paul had their picture taken by the infamous tree. During Hurricane Isabel, this tree broke in half.

Jillian and Destiny had fun in the sun!

Jillian and Hayley had a great time making creations from the clay that is in the water. Hayley made a cool mushroom and Jillian made a turtle.

On the way home, Hayley had to take a photo of the "Ghost Tree." This tree has a really cool story behind it. I will post that at another time.

Thank you, Sally and John! We always enjoy visiting you and your lovely home.

Mmmmmm...food

Feeling kind of lazy tonight, so I made breakfast for dinner. When Jillian came home from playing, I told her, "We're having pancakes for dinner." Her response? "Whoo-hooo! I'm making the bacon!" I had pancake duty (but an eye on the bacon) and made some cheesy scrambled eggs for us. I ended up making a McGriddle sandwich with my food (way better than McD's). Jillian ate 3 pancakes, eggs, and bacon. Whoa! Now, with full tummies, it's time to relax.

While I am on the subject of food, I thought I would surprise Roger on Saturday with potato salad. Anyone who knows me knows that I really don't like potato salad (it's the hard-boiled eggs-yuck). I do, however, like German Potato Salad. I went to my favorite website (www.allrecipes.com) and did a search. I found the recipe, went to the store for ingredients, and commenced to cooking. It was FANTASTIC! I haven't had German Potato Salad in a while (I think the last time was when I worked with a lady from Germany at Newton Furniture!) So yummy! Roger loved it.

Call me Ishmael....

and here is my "White Whale." Or should I say, "Blue Vinyl Nightmare?"

After draining the dumb pool, AGAIN, we moved a bunch of sand to help with the unlevel ground. I also vacuumed a bunch of sand from inside of the pool, also. It still isn't level, but at least it isn't leaning AS MUCH as before. Roger promised to harpoon it if we have to do this again. Did I mention that I hate this thing?? 8(

Fourth of July

Jillian and I went to the fireworks display in town. Well, sort of. We ended up in the parking lot of a boat launch because there wasn't any parking downtown. It was all good, though. We saw the fireworks, didn't have the crowds, and got home just as it started to rain. Pretty cool, I think! Hope everyone had a great day. We will do our cookout on Saturday, since Roger had to work last night.

Jillian getting ready for the show!

Here are a couple of pictures of the fireworks. I need a faster camera to do them any justice. In any case, the display was nice. There was a lot of Ooohing and Ahhhing!

Finally!

Today was the last day of summer school. The little darlings had their 3rd attempt at passing today. If they still don't pass, they could possibly be retained. As of 3:30pm, 5 of the 13 tested today passed. I will go next Thursday to help review their portfolios (student work record) and help decide whether or not to retain. Fun stuff!

I decided to take a break on the bathroom today. The paint needs another day to dry and my body needs a day to recover. I did, however, try to vacuum the sand out of the pool. What a nightmare this pool has been. We are now on our 3rd refill of the stupid thing and it's only July. Did I mention how much I hate that thing? I rarely even go in it. I swear, next year we are getting a real pool. No more of the stupid vinyl nightmare. Ugh.

Update #3

The bathroom is painted! Yay! I think it looks so awesome. I am tired and sore, but I have accomplished something today!




Ugh! Cutting in. This is the worst part, by far, of painting. I hate cutting in.



Finished product!





Now Roger has to put up the other things. We will eventually replace the sink, cabinet, toilet, and tub, as soon as the Money Fairy pays us a visit. I am happy for now. Roger wants to know what room I am painting next.

Go figure...

In the midst of redoing the bath room, I was also draining the pool with our electric pump. I always joke on Roger about his ADHD and how he can't just focus on one thing at a time. Here I am, painting walls, running outside to check on the pool, washing dishes, and who knows what else. Uhhh, who has the ADHD? I think the middle school kids are contagious!

Update #2

Yay! Progress has been made. Today I sanded the rough spots from the spackling yesterday. Luckily there weren't too many to do, which is a first. I washed the walls, let them dry, and then painted on the primer. I ended up using 2 coats. I don't think this bathroom has ever been painted, since we found old wall paper behind the fixtures. Tomorrow I will paint the walls and my part in this adventure is over. Roger will have to put up the big stuff over the weekend. I can't wait for the end product!