Dreaming of Wishing Wells

Yes, it's sad but true. Summer is coming to a close. A lot of schools around here started today. We are Urban Promise, thankfully, are not quite that on the ball. We don't start till September 8th, and I'm looking forward to the extra time without kids around. We start inservice a week from tomorrow. I am not looking forward to setting up my classroom. It takes soooo long. I think kindergarten and Pre-K are extra tedious because there are so many little toys to disinfect and organize and just lots and lots of stuff. I am glad I have a car this year, so that means I can go as early and stay as late as I want, so if I'm on a roll one day, I'll just keep working. That should be nice. I plan to blast my music, bring snacks, and just plow through. Last year while I set up my classroom, I listened to Pandora over 40 hours, and then I couldn't listen any more for the rest of the month. Today I successfully navigated the crazy Delaware DMV and got my Delaware license. I...

Hi, blog. Sorry I've neglected you again. Since my last post, I spent a lovely and relaxing week in Chincoteague on vacation. I ate some very, very delicious ice cream (Java Jolt and Snickers Cheesecake), went for lots of walks and jogs around different parts of the island, improved my crossword-puzzling skills, and started reading a good book. I go through phases where I read a lot, but this past year I haven't read much at all. Hopefully, reading on vacation will kick-start a lot more reading. I made a "no eating in front of the computer" rule for myself that has only been in effect for 5 days so far, and I'm hoping it sticks. I think it'll force me to 1) read a lot more and 2) not mindlessly snack so much. But a lot of times my rules for myself don't stick for too long. That doesn't stop me from making them though. I am an enneagram type 1 , so I guess it fits. (Sidetrack..."Ones are conscientious and ethical, with a strong sense of ...

So the fleas in my apartment have been getting me down lately. July has not quite been the fun-filled party I was hoping, and the fleas are mostly to blame. Plus to make matters worse we are still baffled about how they are getting in or why they're here in the first place, since we don't have pets. I could rant about the fleas for a long time, but I will spare you. I'll just give you the flea story in a nutshell and then move on... When I got back from Chicago, my roommate showed me a collection of awful looking bug bites on her feet and legs. After some Google research, we concluded fleas were probably the culprit. Then she started seeing them in her bedroom. I bought flea spray and sprayed all the carpets and furniture. I read that they don't like the smell of Pine-Sol, so I Pine-Sol-ed our whole apartment over the course of an afternoon. It still smelled a few days later. But still the fleas were biting poor Bethany. Then they moved into my room. Before the extermin...

I was going to post sooner, but I've been somewhat preoccupied by an infestation of fleas here in my apartment. But that's another story. So for now, let me tell you about my trip to Chicago... (and a flea just bit me) I was blessed to have the opportunity to travel to Chicago with Pine Street Presbyterian Church's youth group. Pine Street has been my church since I was about 8 years old and until only recently when I joined a church in Delaware. I have a lot of memories from conferences and camps I attended through the church when I was in high school; they were definitely influential in my life. I never got to go on a mission trip though. This was their first mission trip for youth, and I thought it was really special that I was able to go and be part of it, even though I'm not longer a student and not around the church much anymore. When I was in high school, the youth group (which didn't start till my senior year) was very, very small...like 3 or 4 people on an ...

It is summer! I made it! I've only been out of school for a week and a half, but it really feels like longer, maybe because lots has happened. Kaitlin moved out. Bethany moved in. I bought a car. I successfully got car insurance, which was an ordeal. I had my birthday. I chilled at home then came back here. Carrie came to visit. I started tutoring a boy from my class. I went to Read Aloud Delaware volunteer training. I went to a new members' picnic at church (not very fun), and I sang with the choir. The last day of school was a half day. It was really nice. I invited all the parents to come at 9:00 for a class program/awards ceremony/kind-of graduation (minus the caps and gowns, although that's a goal for next year). Almost everyone came, and some brought aunts, uncles, and grandparents. The kids sang a bunch of cute songs and mostly did a great job, even though we hadn't rehearsed nearly as much as I'd hoped, and every time we did practice it ended in me yelling ...

I just finished my lesson plans through the end of the year!! Also, I just worked on making a class book for over an hour and then accidentally saved over it. But let's focus on the positive. Happy Memorial Day, everyone. No cookouts for me this year...just lesson planning, quilting, and working out. And I'm about to go for a walk in the park. I think if every weekend were a three-day weekend, I would be a really relaxed and happy person. So just 6.5 more days of school. I'll get zero breaks from my students (art, music, and gym are done; so is Friday lunch where the interns eat with our classes), so I'll just have to take a deep breath and dive in to this last week and a half. Ready...go. See you when it's summer.

I haven't been too faithful about writing in my blog lately. Some of my excuses include crazy kindergartners sucking away my energy, an exhausting field trip to the Philadelphia Zoo, visitors at our apartment this weekend, the stressful search for a car, Kaitlin's bachelorette party, the fun but emotionally exhausting end of the year party for Urban Promise staff at Rob's, and the finale of Lost. Yes, it is the busy time of year. This week I have my last 3 days of Reading Assist training. Tomorrow is field day at school, and I'll miss it. At first I was kind of excited, because last year the kids were cranky and bad sports, but now I'm kind of sad. It's our last field trip of the year, and I'll miss seeing them play games and taking pictures. But it's supposed to be 93 degrees, so I'm happy to be missing 4 hours in the sun. But I would probably get a nice start to a summer tan...as you can see, I am conflicted. Our field trip to the zoo went pretty w...