another old friend is back

The day before school I decided to try one more thing. Coffee! I'm not a huge coffee person, but getting a cup of coffee every once in awhile is nice. I'm only posting this now because I wanted to try it another time just to make sure. I know coffee hurts normal people's stomachs sometimes, so I thought better safe than sorry. Also coconut milk creamer is pretty awesome in case you were wondering.

it's the most wonderful time of the year

It's portrait time again! I somehow always seem to get the non-artistic kids which make portraits even better! However, I finally got some artistic kids! This would normally be a good thing! (I know I will love it once we do more art projects) However, artistic kids are too good at drawing people, and it makes portrait drawing less fun. Here are some of the gems. 

His poor mouth. I didn't realize I had a student with black gums.

I also didn't realize I had a 30 year old in my class.

Ms. Swan, is that you?

The next two are the best of the bunch.

I still laugh every time I see that poor girls hair. It's just as thin as mine! I hope Ingrid never sees her. Who knows what she will say about her hair!

dear second grade teacher

At the end of the year we have our students write something that we share with their upcoming teachers. It is used primarily so we can see where each of our students were writing-wise at the end of school. First grade has their kids write letters to their second grade teachers. They can write about what they hope second grade will be like, things they want us to know about them, etc. Here are 4 of the best ones I got. 

Sorry kid. You already had time out this year.

Oh man. He sure does need help not talking.

No way are we having a class pet. But we will have computers. I hope that helps your hopes and dreams come true.

This one is my favorite. I had her older sister, and she is just as funny as her! I love that she needed to tell me that she is so small, and "tine" and that she was just born that way. This is going to be an interesting year.

dating tips

Some of you may remember Claire's conversation with me about the different types of dates. Well not long after that Heather invited me over to dinner where Claire asked me, at the dinner table, if I had gone on any kissing dates. Before I could answer she looked at me and said, have you been on any lover dates? Richie, her dad, just about choked on his food while Ben was giggling with his hand over his mouth. I look at Heather who looks nervous and I can't stop laughing. 

I ask her what a lover date is, and she said it's a kissing date, except your're naked. Oh man. She did go on to say I shouldn't go on lover dates until I'm married. I told her she and Ben should write me a book with all of her dating tips. After a week of hard work (Heather said she was freaking out because she didn't think she would finish it in time, and because she forgot one of the dates.) I got the most amazing book of all time. Enjoy!

Even a table of contents! Very fancy.

My favorite is the things boys could do together. I love "walking around and checking out ladies."

I'm on it Claire.

Ben drew this picture to go with the lover date page.

I had to zoom in on tip number 2B. Please check out her spelling of boobs. Also Please note tip 3. Wait, really? That's something I need to worry about?

I was laughing so hard reading this! I immediately ran down and showed Sara, who teaches 3rd grade. I would have shown more people, but it was pretty late and most people had left school. I hope you enjoy the tips as much as I did! And feel free to use any of the tips, even though they are meant for me.

why, you look beautiful!

I went back to work this week. Boo. There are a lot of teachers at my school, so I really haven't had a chance to talk with everyone. Well today I had a great first conversation with one of the third grade teachers. Now let me say that she is so sweet (sickeningly so when you're in a bad mood) and I know she didn't mean any harm by what she said. Here was the first conversation we've had since being back in school.

Her: What happened to your hair?

Me: What do you mean? What's wrong with it? (It is in a ponytail)

Her: (She grabs the ponytail) There's nothing there!

Me: What are you talking about?

Her: I thought my hair was thin, but man, yours is crazy! It's like you have no hair to your name!

Me:....Yeah....

What does that even mean? I don't have any hair to my name? Whatever. It's just another reminder that I am, in fact, balding.

madame olisha knows all

Friday night was packed full of interesting happenings. Let's start with dinner with the Heleniak's. I got their family hooked on Harry Potter, and they wanted me to see their pictures from Disneyworld (Disneyland? whichever is in Florida) and their visit to the world of Harry Potter. At dinner Claire started asking me if I had gone on any dates lately. Before I could even answer she said, have you gone on any lover dates? I looked to Heather who looked nervous and mortified, and asked what lover dates were. She ran through the different types of dates there are, adding in different gender friend dates. Then she said, lover dates are kissing dates except you're naked. Oh man.

I start laughing hysterically and look at Heather who is officially mortified, and something else I couldn't put my finger on. I'm sure Heather was glad to hear that Claire said lover dates are only allowed when you're married, so I shouldn't be going on them. Poor Ben, I don't think he knew what he was getting into at dinner. He just looked on with wide eyes and giggled. Through my laughter I said they should give me dating advice with pictures and words. Heather emailed me that night and said they were already working on the cover for my dating advice book. Check back for their book once it's finished.

After my dinner with them I met Pat and Angie who were on their way to get their palms read. I of course drove as fast as I could to meet them at Madame Olisha's.

They were not accepting credit cards that night so we could only get one palm read which was $10. For a card reading you had to shell out $50! Once we were about to get ready I was so excited! Especially because I was hoping for something out of Pee Wee's Big Adventure when he stumbles upon a psychic. Crystal ball and everything. That is not quite what happened. She told us to sit down on the couch in the front of the building and grabbed Angie's hand. After about 20 seconds of information we were allowed to ask one question. It all happened so fast we had to regroup in Angie's car before going anywhere else. She said Angie was closed off and not very trusting and her career would change in 6-9 months, Pat was searching for something and has not found her soul mate, and then it was my turn. 

I don't know how much I believe in this stuff, but she was right on for me! She said I hadn't been sleeping well in the past 2 weeks (I've only had 1 or 2 good nights of sleep lately), I needed to stop living in the past and thinking negatively because I'm not a negative person (I have been thinking about different things from my past lately), and then I got to ask my one question. I asked a similar question like Pat and asked when I'd meet my soul mate. She said I would meet him in the next year or two. So get ready for a wedding in the next 1-2 years!

be your own runner

This summer a group of teachers at my school and some friends have met on Wednesday mornings at a track to do speed work. (drills, sprints, hill drills, intervals, etc.) Each of us took a week to plan and that made things fun and interesting because it was always different and you never knew what to expect. Well this morning was our last official summer speed work and we had guest coaches. When Amy told me we were having guest coaches I was excited, then when I realized who they would be, I starting shaking in my boots. I texted my friend Alli telling her this and that I was scared. (She's a friend of Paige's, one of the guest coaches) Her response? "You should be." Oh great.

The two guest coaches, Paige and Kristin (I mentioned Kristin in another post about resolutions after reading her blog.), are parents at our school. They are amazing runners, and have a long list of marathons, half marathons, and even ultras under their belts. They are for real runners, where I still feel like a....beginner? faker? Not sure yet. I'm always the slowest of our pack which I don't mind because they have all been running way longer than me, but it's different when new people come in to coach us. I feel like over the summer we have bonded as runners, and we all know each others strengths and weaknesses and help each other push through. With our guest coaches I all of a sudden started feeling like my effort wouldn't be good enough, that I would be letting them down or something.

Well, we did our usual warm up, including the usual drills but with the real names. Larry calls all the drills we do something different so it was funny to hear Paige say we're doing...whatever and none of us knew what she was talking about because of Larry. After that we learned of our fate for the morning, doing the ladder, I think is what she called it. We ran a 200, 400, 600, then an 800, and went back down from there to the 200. In between each one we had a 1-2 minute rest. But, like I said before, I didn't want to look stupid in front of them so I pushed myself way to hard in the beginning. Not only that, but because I'm naturally slower than the rest of the group, I had less rest time in between because I finished after them even with me going more all out that I should have. My head started feeling a little fuzzy after the 800 even with me slowing down some. Because of this I didn't finish the second 400. I hated that. 

At the end of the workout I was drenched, with legs like jello. I was really appreciative of them for taking time out of their morning to coach us, and for Paige for cheering me on. I was also disappointed in myself. But then on the ride back I started thinking and realized I needed to stop. Stop comparing myself to other runners, stop worrying about what other people think of me and my speed, stop worrying that I will let others down when I know I'm putting in everything that I can. As long as I know I'm pushing myself, and I'm working my butt off (literally) that is enough. My effort is enough no matter what it looks like compared to other runners. Sometimes at a hard part in my run I'll say to myself, "Run strong, be courageous." Maybe I need to add in, "Be your own runner." 

dessert for dinner

Dessert for dinner? Yes please! Monday we met for the last summer Talking Club, which is turning into a Talking Wine Club. We have yet to decide how we will continue being for real friends during the school year. Of course I already started a blog for us, and am thinking about how we can continue the fun. 

So for the very last summer Talking Wine Club meeting we decided to go out with a bang and have dessert for dinner including dessert wines. I made the most delicious gluten, and dairy free (of course) strawberry coconut cake. I am not kidding when I say it was amazing! Everyone else was in love with it as well. When I make it next time I will probably leave out the coconut extract so I can taste more of the strawberry since it already was coconutty. It looked so pretty when you cut into it too!

I also made GF, DF chocolate chip cookies, which eaten after my cake was a huge disappointment. With 7 girls, there were more than enough desserts.

This was the first time I was actually glad I had a reason why I couldn't eat all of those desserts. But of course that didn't stop me from cutting myself a huge slice of cake. I justified it because I couldn't eat anything else. I now have half of a cake staring at me as I write this post. If I run extra fast tomorrow at my speed workout, I can eat a big slice...right?

emily's outta here

Yesterday Pat, Angie and I went to Houston for a going away party for Emily and Mickey. (They're moving to Wyoming for his job.) We will get back to their going away party in a minute. 

My dad is awesome and made food for the three of us while we were there since he and my mom were out of town. Yes, I'm aware I'm spoiled, and yes, I'm fine with that. I made sure to tell my dad we would only be there for dinner and breakfast the next day. I don't think he was listening when I said that. There was a note on the table explaining the food. When I opened the fridge and freezer, I started laughing.

In case you can't tell, we found a bag of each of the following: sesame chicken wings, buffalo wings, spicy ribs, sweet ribs, and balsamic marinated steaks.

10 bagels (I can't eat them so Angie and Pat both got 5 bagels), granola, drinks, and a huge bowl of fruit.

I'm not complaining, but that was a lot of food! Since dad wasn't there to BBQ like usual I was excited to see who would show up and therefore who my true friends were. It was nice to see everyone still showed up! Since we had so much food we heated up a few plates of food and still fed everyone that was there. Karam and Diane even brought extra stuff to snack on which was awesome. 

While we were at Emily and Mickey's going away party Angie, Pat, Michelle and I decided we needed to have a photo shoot like the old days. Obviously. Here are the best ones:

Haunted mirror

Hiding behind chairs

Can you find me?

See ya Mickey and Emily!

seriously?

I was in Hobby Lobby (I think I've spent more time there this summer than I have my in my entire life) last week getting my shadow box and came across this display, which was only 1 of several, including multiple aisles:

Seriously? It's July. And as of today we've had 49 consecutive days with 100+ degree weather. The past 2 days we reached 107, and today is supposed to be even hotter. Looking at snowmen doesn't make me excited about the holidays and weather in 4 months, it makes me pissed it's 107 degrees and I'm forced to look at snowmen. 

key holder

I don't know if I've said this yet, but I love Pinterest! I can't get enough! I don't know what I will do once school starts and I won't be able to pin things constantly. Maybe I can find ways to keep my students busy while I pin things. I probably wouldn't get in trouble right? Especially if I explain to my principal?

Anyways, I saw a cool thing where you use skeleton keys and make necklaces with them. So I went antiquing and found some awesome keys at this crazy store on Congress. I know I made fun of that guy I met at that one antique store, but I am officially in LOVE with skeleton keys. I think I will continue to buy them because they are just so cool! I'm not as crazy as him talking about the day of yore, but I do have a serious love for these keys now. After looking through pinterest more, thinking about other crafts I want to do I decided I also wanted to make some sort of hey holder to hang on the wall. When I saw this key holder (scroll to almost the end of her post), I started thinking about ways I could use the keys in a similar way instead of making necklaces with them.

Then it hit me, shadow box! So I went and bought more keys (I talked myself out of buying this amazing key that was $40), a shadow box, and got to work. My supplies:

Since some of the keys were dark, I was afraid some of them would not look as great with the black felt. So I got some of the fabric I had left over from another pinterest find, and used that to back the keys. I used sewing pins to hold everything down, including the fabric. After arranging the keys, all I had to do at that point was screw in the hooks and hang it!

Finished product.

I love my latest craft! Especially since this was the first craft I've made totally from my own idea (well...with some inspiration from others).

Sidenote: One of the blogs I read, Young House Love did a Pinterest challenge, and I happened to already be in the midst of this project when it was posted! Check out their blog for all the cool things their other readers have created.