Clog Blog

I’ll admit it; I’m a shoe fanatic! I have amassed so many pairs of flip-flops already this summer that my husband doesn’t know when I’ve bought a new pair (that’s a good thing!). I have summer shoes in every size, shape, and color with ribbons, beads, sequins, etc.

So, what’s the point, you ask?
Well, my point is this; the one shoe you will never catch me wearing this summer is the Croc clog. I don’t care how brightly colored they are or how comfortable or easy to clean, or blah, blah ,blah. They’re ugly and they look stupid with anything you wear! And, are you kidding me, thirty dollars for 2 pieces of molded plastic?!

Give me a pair of flip-flops any day. They come in thousands of colors, they’re comfortable and even keep my leg and foot muscles toned. They’re easy to clean or you can just buy a new pair. But, the biggest pro for us flip-floppers – the chance to show off our pretty polished toes!

I think dooce would agree.

Diet Coke & Mentos Fountain

On a day-to-day basis I drink only water (without lemon anymore, thanks to the whole burning a hole in my esophagus thing) and milk. Sometimes, when we’re at a restaurant or somewhere where I don’t trust the source of the water or milk, I will drink a soda.

For me, having a soda is a very rare occurrence. This video shows perfectly well why I’m not comfortable gulping down the chemicals in that stuff. Thankfully, I’m not a big fan of Mentos either, and I would probably never mix my Mentos with a diet Coke.

Grad Week Photos

Our ship docked in King's Wharf, Bermuda.


I'm somewhere in this sea of 2600 graduates. My husband couldn't find me, so I have no pictures of me graduating.

Grad Week

My last entry was over Easter vacation?!?
So much has happened since then…where should I start?

Oh yeah, I graduated! I have never felt such a huge sense of relief. I graduated on Friday morning, May 12th, and then we had an awesome graduation party in Cape May later that night.
On Sunday, beacherhusband and I sailed out of New York harbor for a five-day cruise to Bermuda. We were total bums for 5 days. We ate, shopped, and slept a lot! I think I went through about six full semesters in only two years, with about 4 or 5 hours sleep every night, so I really needed the rest!

When we got home, I got right back into the swing of my busy life and started subbing every day. There is no job lined up yet, so I’ll sub until I at least land an interview.

With only two more weeks left of school, the kids and I are looking forward to our first summer off together! Memorial Day weekend was filled with gorgeous beach days, and we even had a close encounter with a couple of dolphins that were playing very close to the shore one afternoon. I never have my camera when I need it. I should look into one of those camera phones for just such an occasion.

Spring Break

So much has been happening these last few weeks. Where should I start?

I had my final supervisor observation. High marks all around. Now I just have to stop procrastinating and finish my management and unit plan.

I just finished my third week of teaching full time. Definitely the best part of the whole student teaching thing! I've had to do so much work though.
I put together a small school store to coincide with the money lessons in math. Each student started with a 50 cent "nest egg" and earned money throughout the week for good deeds or some lost money for bad behavior. We made the nests out of milk cartons covered with tufts of brown tissue paper. We filled them with Easter grass and added a large plastic egg. We used play money and each student was encouraged to save money to build up their nest egg.
I've also taught during the school book fair, a technology exposition, class pictures, and the Easter holiday.

Thank goodness for Easter vacation!

Thanks also go out to Melissa Mae and her husband David for faithfully reading my boring blog. And thanks to the reflective teacher for the graduation congrats! See their links on the left.

6 Weeks and Counting

I can’t believe I’m going so long between posts! It really doesn’t seem like 3 weeks have passed.

The countdown has officially begun. My graduation is exactly 6 weeks away!!!!!

One of those weeks is Easter break and I’m off for a week before I graduate. So, that’s really the sad news. I have only twenty school days left with the twenty little beings that I have called “my kids” for the past few months. I choke up just thinking about it. I am going to just be a puddle of tears in May.

Cap and gowns came in last week and I was almost crying when I went to pay for mine. What is wrong with me?

I guess I can say that going back to school has been the most grueling thing I’ve ever done (remember, I am finishing 6 months earlier than originally planned). But I do believe that teaching is going to be one of the most rewarding jobs I’ve ever had.

OK, enough sobbing and sappiness for one day!

Where Have You Been?

I talked to my mom today and she commented that I hadn’t posted here in a few weeks. So, I apologize for the lack of postings.

During the last month, if I am on the computer at all, I am only looking for lesson plan ideas or submitting work to my dreadful Senior Seminar professor. Besides, I have nothing exciting to write about. Every day I am in my pajamas by seven and usually sound asleep by ten!

I’ve only lost a total of two pounds on WW. It is tough to lose when we’ve had 2 faculty breakfasts, 2 teacher birthdays, 4 student birthdays, a Valentine’s Day party, a class play party, Dr. Seuss’s birthday party, and a spring concert party all in one month!

I can’t wait for warmer weather so I can start biking and walking outside. The garage treadmill is getting SO boring! My latest iTunes downloads are “Dirty Little Secret” by AAR and “Bad Day” by Daniel Powter. Hmmm…wonder if there are hidden meanings in the songs people chose to download!

Do I have to get a job?

Well, I am finally down to short (1 page) lesson plans for math and science. Life is getting much easier!
My next hurdle is this electronic portfolio that showcases all of my teaching work to date. It is easily put together on this Task stream website that we need to subscribe to, but I just don’t know where to start!
I hate being assigned something that is completely new and unfamiliar. Without even a sample to look at, I am just staring at a blank screen and I need to sell myself and my ability to plan meaningful instruction in 300-500 words! That, by the way, is only part one of ten.
I wish that I could just focus on my student teaching and creating good lessons.
Well, I guess I should get back to work. Thank you Presidents Washington and Lincoln for an extra day this weekend. I need it!

Free Fun Fonts

This is one for all my scrapbook friends out there and some teachers may be interested, too. Click here for a really cool site that has downloadable font templates from movie titles, TV, games, cars, and even candy.

The Price is Right font has inspired me to develop a game for my math (money) lesson plans. And don’t miss the Jeopardy or Survivor lettering!
There are even band logos for all my concert pages. I’ll finally be able to scrap those concert tickets. I’m going to do a family page with the Brady Bunch font, too.

But, I’m still trying to think of a way to use the PEZ font. Stay tuned.

I Like It, I REALLY Like It

I can’t believe how much I really like this job. I have wanted to be a teacher for so long and I was nervous that the whole student teaching experience would slap with the “real world” horrors of the teaching profession. But, I love it and I can’t wait to go back in the classroom each day.

Don’t get me wrong, there is a TON of work and I’m starting to feel a little overwhelmed and completely swamped. How many times have I yawned in the past 2 weeks????!! I’m completely wiped out at the end of the day.

I’m looking forward to a little R&R this weekend with my best girlfriends at our annual Super Bowl spa getaway. We’re scrapbookers and we’ll spend the whole weekend talking, scrapping, and eating. It’s like a big slumber party.

Check out the Dream Events website for Scrapbook Vacation Getaway information.

Hat's Off

Once again, my hat is off to ALL teachers. I have been student teaching for exactly seven days and I am completely exhausted and my feet are killing me!
I don’t know how you do it every day…but you must wear more comfortable shoes!

I know that I’m not posting very much, but I will write more when I catch up on my sleep.

So So Saturday

We spent a soggy Saturday in Philadelphia yesterday. We did some shopping and visited with friends. One of our stops was IKEA. I love this store, but I buy so much stuff that I don’t really need. Everything seems so cheap ~ I now have enough tea light candles to last me a year! I had to buy them; they were only $2.99 for a bag of 100.

Anyway, I’m not really a city person. I love my lazy beach life. With the rain, the city seemed even more dismal and the traffic seemed even more crazy and congested. As we arrived home, a light snow began to fall and everything seemed perfect at the shore.

Do You Sudoku?

So, it’s midnight and I am still at the computer when everyone in the house is sound asleep. Why, you ask?
I am addicted to a little numbers puzzle called Sudoku!
You can find them at brainbashers.
I suggest you start with an easy or very easy. The premise is simple; insert numbers 1 through 9 into the rows, columns, and 3x3 grids so that no one number is repeated in the same row, column, or grid.

Maybe it’s good that I only have one week until spring semester starts. I have way too much time on my hands!

Busy, Busy

January 6th and my New Year’s resolutions are still on track! I think this is a record for me.
I have been organizing my rear end off.
All the new toys have been put away, old junk has been packed up, and the kids’ rooms are spotless (this week). I’ve organized all of the CDs, videotapes, and DVDs in the house. ALL of our music is now on the computer and the videos are being digitized as well.

I now have a designated scrapbook area in my bedroom and the 1,000s of photos are being sorted and dated. I even organized my nail polish, make-up, and jewelry last night!

As I’ve said before, I have some major clean-freak issues. I bought lots of new gadgets at organize-everything.com and I watch all the home improvement and organizing shows. Check out HGTV’s organizing page for some great ideas.

Resolution #2 is going pretty well, but so far, I’m the only one in the family who is eating better. Luckily, ice cream isn’t my weakness because my husband and kids are still eating Ben and Jerry’s almost every night!

How is everyone else doing with their resolutions?

Welcome 2006

Happy New Year everyone!

I love the start of the New Year, a chance to start fresh and look forward!

My New Year’s resolutions:

1. I want to organize everything in my life and to try to stay as organized as possible all year.  


2. I want to eat right and exercise every day. Hopefully, this habit will start to rub off on my husband and children.


3. I want to jump in headfirst and enjoy all of the new experiences that await me this year.

This year already promises to be very exciting. I will begin student teaching and my last college semester in two weeks! I will finally have the same spring break as my kids. I will graduate in May and go on a Bermuda cruise to celebrate! I will turn thirty-five (still not sure if that’s good or bad!). I will have my first summer off since junior high school and I will hopefully land a teaching job this fall!

What a year to look forward to!

Relax... It's Christmas

I got exactly what I wanted from Santa this year ~ a relaxing Christmas.

M & M got up at around seven and opened their gifts. They were very happy with the presents that Santa brought. They each got iPods and cool accessories. Their favorite is the iDog that connects to the iPod and acts like a speaker, a cute little speaker that moves and lights to the beat of the music.

Later, we had Christmas dinner with family and went to the movies to see The Chronicles of Narnia. This is an excellent movie. The kids, the teenagers, and the adults all loved it.

It was the most relaxing day I’ve had in several months and just what I wished for!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Merry Christmas to all my friends and family.

Where's Your Holiday Spirit?

I’m exhausted.

I have stayed up late every night wrapping presents, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, and decorating the house. Even though I finished my shopping over a month ago, I’m still falling behind! Christmas will be here in two days and I have no holiday spirit.

This whole month has been nothing but work. We didn’t go to any holiday concerts or plays. We didn’t go visit Santa and sit on his lap. We didn’t even take a drive and look at all the Christmas lights. Nothing feels Christmas-y to me.

Ok, so I’m being Bah Humbug, but I really need a boost of Christmas spirit.

Quick!

What an experience!

Now I can’t wait for January! I will be student teaching first grade and the teacher is awesome!

I visited the classroom on Monday. I met the students, some of the other 1st grade teachers, and the principal. The atmosphere at the school is very inviting; there are student-made decorations everywhere, parent volunteers, and tons of staff.

The best part, though, was my class. I learned all of the students’ names, read a couple of holiday stories, and helped with a holiday craft project. I left the school with 5 notebook pages full of great ideas that I had seen all over the classroom! I am definitely going to learn a lot.

Wish Me Luck

Tomorrow is my visitation day at the school where I will be student teaching in January. I’m a little excited and a little apprehensive. I substitute teach and I have kids of my own, so talking in front of a classroom to 20 six year-olds doesn’t bother me. The fact that I have to spend sixteen weeks with them makes me nervous!

I have never stayed in one job for too long (most of my jobs were summer jobs, I live in a resort town) and I don’t usually like the monotony of M-F, 9-5. I guess like any college student, this will be a test of whether or not I’m ready for the real world.

Well, wish me luck and if anyone has any advice I’d appreciate it!