Whew!!!

Well, it's been an insanely busy week, and all I can say is that I'm very excited and relieved that it's officially spring break. The last week was CRAZY with students and work and just stuff... I'm seriously burnt out and hoping this week will recharge me enough to make it through the end of summer school. I teach summer school each year, mostly because I only work about 4 and 1/2 hours a day for 3 weeks, but I get paid double time... so it makes a nice extra check. But it sure isn't easy when you've got 40 kids (that's right, I said 40 kids... all of them working on different subjects trying to make up classes they've previously failed so they don't have to take them over again in the fall... with just little ole me to facilitate), and it's especially not easy when you're not thrilled to be there. At least this year they're talking about giving me an assistant to help; but I don't know if that will happen. We'll see!

Here are some new pictures of my house... the only room I haven't posted is the other guest bedroom, and that's because I want to redecorate it but I have no idea how yet. Eventually it will be a nursery, so maybe I should just wait for that little life changing event to roll around. Anyway, here we go!

This is our bedroom. Sheri (my mother-in-law) got us the bedroom suite for Christmas and I LOVE it!

Our bedroom from another angle... and we keep our elliptical machine in there because of the TV. I love the elliptical... it's how I managed to lose 20 pounds and Chris lost 40 pounds in the last year (we both chubbed up quite a bit after we got married ;) It's a little crowded but totally worth it!
This is Chris' pride and joy... our wall mounted LCD TV. We got it last year in lieu of going on a spring break vacation. This is also where we keep the Play Station 3 (that's the cord you see hanging) so we can watch Blue Ray movies. It faces the bed.
The guest bathroom... it's kinda of a weird grouping of things people have given us since we moved in... pineapples... palm trees... and a monkey hand towel and soap holder because it makes me laugh!

The master bath... Okay, when I picked this color... it wasn't this color if you know what I mean. It's one of those scenarios where the color on the little swatch looked pastel and more blue than what is on the walls. I like this color, but it's definitely a little louder than I anticipated!

We actually have his and her sinks, but what you're seeing is mine... thus all the bottles and clutter!

Since the color was more than I anticipated, I decided to do a Hawaii theme... especially since we had lots of stuff and pictures from our honeymoon. You can't see it in this picture, but around the top is a border of hibuscus flowers and surf boards!

So that's pretty much it! This week we're going to Connersville for a few days to see all of Chris' family, and that's always fun. I'll be sure to take pictures since we're spending the night at Chris' parent's house, and when Claire found out her Uncle Chris is coming she insisted on staying with us! So that's bound to be an adventure!

End of the Rainbow

Given all this rain and generally yucky weather, I thought it was amazing that someone managed to photo that legendary pot at the end of the rainbow. Here it is...

Someone from work forwarded that to me and I thought it was hilarious! Wouldn't you know the pot at the end of the rainbow isn't full of gold after all..

Rain, Rain, Go Away

With all this rain, it's starting to look like most of the streets of Shelbyville are well on their way to being flooded! Plus, the rain means that Chris has to have baseball practice in the gym, but since they're having cheerleading tryouts in there right after school, he has to wait to start practice at 5. It definitely makes for a long day for him.

This has been a relatively boring week so far, but really that's a good thing. I have Friday off work because it's a snow make up day. I'm definitely looking forward to that! I would love for it to stop raining and warm up so I can go outside and get some flowers planted and general yard stuff done, but I don't think that's happening anytime soon. Have a great week, everyone!

More Kid Comments

Let me preface all this with saying I'm really glad it's Friday. The weeks leading up to spring break (just two weeks away) are always rough going. Working with kids.... especially at-risk kids... well, you just never know what they are going to say. Today, for instance, I had a senior boy working on his US History class. The question he got stuck on was, "What is the name of war in which America fought for independence?". Now, this should be a no-brainer, seeing as it was the tenth question on the quiz and every single question of the previous 9 used the term"American Revolutionary War". It was a multiple choice question, with the choices being A. American Revolution B. World War II C. Industrial Revolution, and D. Civil War. I asked the student what he thought the answer should be, and he said (as seriously as possible) that he thought it was World WarII. So I told him that the war he's looking for was in the 1700's, and since World War II was in the 1940's, that couldn't be right. And the poor kid says, oh, I know the right answer now, I just got confused earlier. It's the Industrial Revolution, right?

I didn't have the heart to correct him again. So I just told him that it was his test and he should go with his gut.

Poor guy got a o%... I guess he must have put the Civil War on some of the other questions!

And speaking of goofball kids, this week was the ISTEP retest. Chris was proctoring the test for a group of students, and the writing prompt asked the kids to write an essay about the most important event in their lives. One kid decided to write about the first time he saw a diesel truck... which isn't all that funny in and of itself. Except the kid spelled diesel "deeeesel".

In other news, we went to dinner tonight with my mom, dad, and Heidi. Heidi was stopping through on her way back to Evansville (she was in D.C. for vacation). I think she had a fun time visiting all the monuments and museums... she said it was really neat. I'm looking forward to seeing all her pictures.

Chris is now watching Purdue play in the Big Ten Tournament... and I really hope they win. He'll be in an awful mood otherwise!!! So Boiler Up!!! Have a great weekend!

Daylight Savings Time

This is a totally trivial thing to hate... but I hate daylight savings time! I know Indiana has always been an odd duck by not having it, and maybe I'd feel differently if it has always been in place. But every time we have to fall back or spring forward I pretty much just feel off for about a week. And it messes up my sleeping, which makes me tired, which makes me... cranky. Not to mention that it does the same for my students, which is irritating. For example, in my morning class I should have 15 students (we keep small numbers because it's an alternative program). Want to guess how many showed up today? Seven. Seven lonely students... and of those seven, three were one hour late to class. Unbelievable.

Other than that, not much new to discuss. Baseball practice started today for Chris, and he's truthfully not that excited about his team. In his words, all of the decent players are either academically ineligible or a girl... and since he comes from Connersville, which has a very strong program (he, and all of his friends, seriously started playing at age 5 and played all the way through high school... and his friend Brian even pitched on the minor league farm team for the Colorado Rockies before he got married and started having kids), it's a little frustrating for him. So we'll see how it goes, I guess. Maybe he'll get lucky and some soft hearted teachers will have pity on those ineligible kids this grading period.

Let it Snow!

The weather people were actually right for once! They said we were going to get 6 inches of snow, and I'd say we actually got around 8 inches. At least, it seemed like 8 inches when I was shoveling off the sidewalk! It was my turn, though, so I had to get it done!

Other than that, this week has been long and tiring, especially since I haven't been feeling well. I know the flu's been going around, and I don't necessarily think that's what I've had, but I definitely had something. Mostly I just felt really tired... maybe I'm not sick but just ready for spring break and a week off work! Especially since grades are due this week and that like quadruples my work load!

Heidi was supposed to come up this weekend on her way to Washington D.C. for vacation, but with the snow she didn't even try today. So I guess she'll try to make it tomorrow. Maybe.

And speaking of vacations, Chris and I are trying to think of a place to go this summer for vacation. We'd like to go somewhere new, but we can't really agree on a common list of locations. He wants to go to Vegas, but since I get bored in casinos relatively quickly, and he's already said he wouldn't want to see any shows, that doesn't seem like a good option. So if any of you have any suggestions, let me know. I teach summer school, so I'm still working until the last week of June, which means it will be right in the middle of summer when we can go. I'm kind of leaning towards Key West, but I don't know... We're also considering going somewhere with Adam and Grace (Adam's Chris's best friend, and he and Grace live in South Carolina). But who knows at this point?

My House, Part 1

Okay, so here are some pictures of my house, with more to come.

The front door entry way...

Entry Way Picture...

Kitchen and Breakfast Nook...

Living Room...

And finally, Chris's Room (the computer room)...

As you can see, Chris is kind of obsessed with the Cincinatti Bengals and Purdue. More pictures to come of the master and guest bedrooms, the bathrooms, and outside (although I think I may wait until it's a little warmer for that)!