hello readers- remember me?

I know you are all thinking that I fell off of the face of the earth. Guess what-- I haven't! I have been getting back into the swing of things and now I am promising to be better about keeping you informed. Hmmm- let's see what I haven't told you (or if I have, enjoy the repeat news).

1) We have a third teacher now in the Blue Class. It is my Friend Kate. We are all having a BLAST to say the least. It totally rocks!! Here is a picture of super fun Kate at the Dollar Tree.

2) In my class this year, we have a million little boys and a handful of little girls. Everyone is adjusting nicely.

3) My school had the staff pool party which I helped to organize. It was so much fun and most everyone came. It was a great time to connect with the other faculty and their families. Here is a picture of me and my coteacher Leah's baby Elliot.

4) I made cinnamon rolls from the bread starter. I was practicing and tweaking the recipe for the cinnamon rolls I am making for Mr. D.'s family at the mountain house this weekend. The rolls were yummy. I hope they like them.

5) I had a birthday! Guess what Mr. D. surprised me with...

It is the Canon SD (my initials) 1100. So blue, so cute! I have vowed to read every word in the owner's manual and really know how to use it. It is so exciting. Maybe one day I will even be able to put a video on the blog. So far I have taken a hand full of photos. I will have to post some soon. I can't wait to take some this weekend on vacation!

6) Brady-- sweet Brady! Mr. D. and I are tired of Brady having so many blankets. The conversation went something like this on Saturday.

Mr. D.: Does he need all of the blankets?

Me: I don't know, I think he likes them

Mr. D.: I never see him use them.

Me: Well, then get rid of one or two

Mr. D.: which one??

Then we devised a plan that we would line the blankets up on the wall and then see which ones he dragged to his bed. The deadline for the blankets was today (trash day). As of when I went to work, there were no blankets on his bed. I got this pic texted from Mr. D. after I got to work.

The subject line was I guess we need more time. So, none of the blankets went out with the trash today. I guess we are keeping them... for now.

7) My class is HARD! I am hoping to take some time and really focus on it and to try not to feel as lost as I do. I have SO many things going on right now. I feel like a juggler trying to keep all of the balls in the air.

8) The aquarium is going along. We have lost a few friends. We have gained some more. I will post the pics of the new fish later on. Stay tuned!!

I've decided

This new aquarium hobby of mine is just a series of returns. I hate making returns to start with, much less when you are dragging a dead fish in a zip lock bag across town. AAARRRRRGGGG!!

Thursday 13: thirteen people I talked to today

1) Mr. D.
2) Meghan
3) Julie
4) Camille
5) Kate
6) Leah C.
7) Kelly
8) Roz
9) Angelica
10) Ms. Betty
11) Cookie (some people call her Courtney)
12) the cashier at walmart
13) the cashier at the salsa store

update

So much has happened since I last blogged.

*I went to a Pampered Chef party at a co-workers. I truly LOVE the products of the Pampered Chef.

*I went "home" with Meghan and saw her parents- ate 1 incredible grape, bought 3 shirts and helped her babysit.

*I ate lunch with Tiffani~ who I am ashamed to say I never see anymore.

*I bought and tried the entire Pantene line of Volume Products. I must say it really works!! Here is a picture of me with the insanely crazy volume I achieved. This is just with the shampoo, mousse and root lifter. Luckily I was able to tame it down to something more normal. This is me on the 1st day of school. I have a class of boys this year- 17 to be exact, with 5 sweet girls sprinkled in for good measure. Things are going great!

*I had to take the dead guppy back to the store-- and sort of bought a whole bunch of fish while I was there. Here is the text pic I sent to let Mr. D. know that we had new arrivals. We now have 2 red wag platys - which are Meghan's (she gave me the guppies back).

She named one Phelps, but hasn't named the other one yet.

We have a yellow guppy to replace the dead guppy, plus 2 blue guppies (one for Parker and one for Caleb. Also, the boys haven't named them yet).

Then we have Memzie~~ I fully expect that by the time most of you read this, Memzie will be in that great ziplock bag in the freezer waiting to be returned. And last but not least, this fish without a name. I can not go into it here, as I know I have young readers- but here she is anyway. ~On another fish related topic, Meghan and I had sushi for dinner. It was so so so so so yummy!!

~ After the sushi- I made 28 of the cutest pool party reminders ever. I can't wait to give them to my coworkers!!! Pool-A-Palooza is our staff social to "dive" into the new school year!
~Oh- and I start my class tomorrow-- YEAH!

50 days...

I have waited 50 days for this moment-- packing my new back to school teacher tote. My mother in law, Linda bought it for me when she was visiting in June and let me go ahead and have it for my birthday (this week). I have waited very patiently and tonight I will be packing it for school tomorrow. YEAH!!

the teacher becomes the student

I FINALLY registered for my class. Starting on Wednesday I am enrolled in a 6 week course on learning to write grants. I am actually very excited- if for no other reason than that I get to go shopping for a new notebook today!!

scenes from my classroom

These last 3 days have been insanely busy but here are the picture of our classroom taken last night before the back to school bash. I think it looks great. This picture is in the main room. From far left to right you can see math,

cultural, science, our paper sorter and pre-language.And on the other side from left to right you can see art, sensorial and math.
This is showing off my favorite new area in our class- the book nook. You can't really see but there is the cutest little shag rug under the chair. You also see in this picture the handwriting table and the language shelf. This is in the back of the main room. You can see math and that big chart is my new graphing question of the day. I am very excited about this!!
My oh-so-cute apple cubbie tags.
This is the front room. We now have practical life and music in here. On the back wall you can see our little extra clothes bags. My class room is actually "L" shaped.

A lot of hard work and effort went into this transformation. We are so excited about MONDAY!!

the count

The count is minus one. The orange tailed guppy has moved on to bigger tanks. He was laid to rest in an ziplock bag and put in the freezer~~ as this is part of the 14 day return policy. I teased Meghan that she didn't name him- therefore he died. She named the yellow tale one ernie after a guy she has a crush on.

Mr. D. said he was naming his fish Bruschi and Maroney (Patriots players) if they live but if the die thier names were A-rod and Mets. They are both still alive this morning.

now starring...

in our aquarium

The 2 beauties here are Mr. D's fish. He hasn't named them yet. There aren't the actual fish of course, just pictures of similar fish I found on the internet. The top one in a powder blue Gourami and the bottom one is a dwarf Gourami. While his doesn't like to play favorites- I think Mr. D. has most enjoyed the powder blue fish. These will each grow to be about 4 inches. Next we have Meghan's Fish. Meghan has been helping us with a lot of the aspects of the aquarium so it only seemed right to let her choose a fish or two. She choose 2 guppies-- MALE guppies. They are pretty and very active. These will only grow to be about an inch and a half each.

These are my two babies. Madelyn and Dylan. Dylan is the black fish and Madelyn is the polka dotted fish. They should grow to be about 3 inches long.
The lady at the fish shop said to only add 6 fish at the time. So, here are the first 6. We put them in last night- and much to my surprise, these are still alive this morning. YEAH!!

Thursday 13: thirteen random things to share

1) My life is spiraling out of control! My friend was describing to me about her sister going off ADD medication and how she felt and I could relate- as that I how I feel, and I don't even have ADD.
2) I think I always feel this way the week before school. Tomorrow at 4:30- our classroom HAS to be done... completed, company coming ready.
3) I made a new friend this week, and I have TERRIBLY neglected an old friend this week- sorry.
4) We actually have FISH in the tank. Meghan and I took the water sample tonight and the girl said we could get fish. YEAH!!! We bought 6.
5) I have fallen asleep before my head hits the pillow every night this week.
6) I want to actually go to bed- but instead I am waiting on the laundry to be done.
7) I am so tired that I left the house and went somewhere in my pajamas tonight without even realizing it. Thank goodness I didn't have to leave the car- thanks to Meghan doing it for me.
8) Mr. D. is packing to leave for another trip across the country.
9) I have too many projects going on and not enough notebooks to keep track of it all.
10) I am supposed to start a class next week- and I haven't even registered for it.
11) I am going to be getting my act together--- someday.
12) I am excited about school starting on Monday!
13) Good night!!

teacher work days-- day 1

We have 3 days to perform an EXTREME classroom makeover. Today we hit the ground running. In addition to all of the fabulous things I have been buying for the classroom, we have added a fabulous new teacher. Today, we cleaned a lot and moved a lot of stuff around. It was great to see all of my coworker again. Mr. D. even made a guest appearance and installed 30 coat hooks, a large coat rack for the teachers, a mirror and help to begin to demolish a shelving unit we are calling big blue. The room looks great after the first day. I came home completely exhausted so I just plopped on the couch and watched a movie. I cook dinner and Mr. D. and I hung out. Then around 9 we decided to drain the fish tank and add store bought water--- but that is another adventure to report on another time. I think the tank looks a lot clearer. The chemical test will tell all tomorrow!!!

still no fish

Last night, we took out water sample to the pet store and learned that our PH level was too high. So, we came home with even more chemicals.... and no fish.

piggie piggie

I certainly made a pig of myself over this little cutie!!

starter

Tonight, I started my bread starter. I am making something very special for Mr. D's family when we go on vacation. I have to stir it for 5 days and feed it and then stir it for 5 more and feed it and so on and so forth. I am excited about this adventure in baking.

this lady made my day

I don't know who she is, but this lady made my day. I was shopping with Kelly at the Old Time Pottery and we were looking at the glass canisters. I opened one and she came up to me with her son and asked if the thing I was looking at was glass or plastic. I answered her and she asked if I was looking for stuff for my dorm room too. I thought I could cry to be mistaken for a person needing to shop for a college dorm. So - heres to you, random talking to strangers lady. You TOTALLY made the day of the girl turning 34 next week.

funny things from my day

Here are a few noteworthy funny things from my day that I thought might give you a chuckle.

At school I greeted a little 6 year old in my class by telling her that I love her outfit. She replied by saying "Mrs. Dang** I dedicate this entire outfit to you."

Another incident was when I had a certain 3 year old in my class 'taking a break' and he keeps crying/screaming "this is just so lame." It was funny.

While on the playground today, a squirrel fell off the roof- and started running towards me and another teacher. We were screaming our fool heads off. It came running towards us and then darted to the right at the last minute. It was CRAZY!!!

Today Kelly and I went shopping and this was the conversation.
Kelly (looking at the mops): "I really need something to clean my floors"
Me: "you mean like a house keeper?"

our new hobby

This weekend, Mr. D. bought an aquarium and stand. I helped to pick it out, but he was the one who dreamed it up. So, we are now the proud owners for a 37 gallon aquarium with no fish. We still have some things to do before the fish can move in. The shopping for the actual aquarium and stand was not fun. But, once we did finally made a decision- the rest has been. Yesterday, we met in another part of town to pick out this piece of Malaysian driftwood for the aquarium. I have never loved a piece of wood more (nor have I ever spent so much on a piece of wood). Then we went to pick out the plants. I only got a few because I wasn't sure which kinds I really wanted. I need to research this further before buying any more. Our aquarium is going to be filled with freshwater tropical fish. We had kicked around the saltwater idea for a while, but the freshwater is actualy a better fit for us. I will keep you all posted on this work/hobby in progress.

*** update.. I put a mirrored back on the tank today so now you can't see all of those cords.

fun Friday-- 19 totally RANDOM pictures from my camera phone

This is a picture I like to text my friends to entice them into meeting me at Cozumel.
It usually works!

This is a picture of me sending Karen a package.

It should be waiting for her when she returns from the beach.

This is a picture of some giraffes from Meghan's room. One day I was trying to slyly take 13 pics for giraffes in Meghan's room for a Thursday 13... but Meghan made me leave her room... haha.

This is a Porsche sign. I took it to send to Mr. D. so he could see how

far from home I was. I never sent it.

Me giving Brady a kiss on the nose.

Brady saying "hey"

I took this picture at the Hobby Lobby this week.
I am shocked that the Christmas stuff is already out!!

This is a picture I sent to Kelly of African bulletin board boarder.

Brady- passed out- as usual

This is a picture of Karen. I sent it to my phone with week because I have been asking her to send me one for when she calls. She didn't, so this is the funny pic I have. I have this and Slow Ride by Foghat playing when she calls.
This is a picture of a kid in my class anally organizing coloring pencils. I am so proud!

Parker- up close and personal. He was sitting in my lap playing a game on the laptop and wanted his picture taken.
Parker and Caleb (covered in beans) at the Cozumel.
This is the picture I sent to Meghan to show her that instead of taking a nap this afternoon-

I cleaned my laundry room.

Brady- chilling while I blog
This is a picture I sent to Tiffani of my rash-which I thought were hives when I blogged about it. I have later discovered it is an allergic reaction to bug spray.

Thank goodness my Mom came and helped me find a cure.
This is a purse I texted to Meghan to see if she wanted it.

Tiffani and I saw these at World Market--- who is eating this stuff??

I took this in a store so I could go to the website..