It's that time of the year.

And...I'm back to work.

It's Saturday. That being said, I spent about six hours in my classroom and all I really feel I accomplished is making a big mess.

After my final day of math training, I went to my new school to get my keys.  I stayed about two hours because I had my final day of tutoring before the family heads back to Europe.  I managed to get my technology all set up and decided where I wanted my furniture.  I only had to move the filing cabinets and wardrobe twice before being happy with the placement!  I set up my desks in Kagan groups, unpacked the few boxes I had, then headed home.

Last night I finished The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee while packing more.

This morning I woke up around six, typed up the rest of my teacher notes on the novel, wrote a grant for books on donorschoose, then headed over a little before nine am.  I worked until noon, came home to load up again, met up with the boyfriend and bestie, grabbed lunch (my treat...err bribe. Let's be real, it was a sub bribe) and headed over.   We only got to work for about an hour and a half before it was too hot and we had to leave.  (They shut the air off at one and it was close to three.)

Today we accomplished moving about a hundred outdated text books to a storage cabinet, putting math books in all the desks, partially hanging two bulletin boards, and beginning to unpack boxes and organize my library.  We didn't finish hanging the bulletin boards because I use sheets and they had to flatten out.  I staple up the top part of the board, then use anti-wrinkle spray and let them air out over night before stapling the rest.

I think there is a small pile on every desk.  I've taken over about 70% (of the materials I've gone through) so I think this is progress.  I'm just overwhelmed because so many other teachers' classrooms are done.  I need to keep reminding myself that it's okay to not be done. I'll go in tomorrow for a few hours (when the building has AC).  I'll go in for most of the day Monday and Tuesday. I have Wednesday after training, all day Thursday, and next weekend.  My room has to look presentable for open house...which is in 6 days. Yikes!  At least it's a short commute and I have awesome friends who can help.  Plus everyone at my new school seems super friendly and helpful.  It's such a positive, refreshing change.  I can honestly say I'm excited to go to work again.  

However, once it's all done, I will treat myself to a mani & pedi :)

Sigh...one major project accomplished!

I'm finally feeling the sense of relief that accompanies summer.  With the exception of a guest bedroom where I dumped my classroom (specifically several thousand books), my new home is decorated and unpacked.  Over the course of my summer break, I painstakingly painted thirty seven cabinet doors to give my kitchen a complete makeover.  We also painted our master bedroom and bathroom because olive green wasn't my preferred shade.  We patched the doggie door so our kittens won't try to be adventurous and explore outside and patched several dozen wall nicks from picture frames.  We had our friends and family over for our house warming and I can now finally relax.

By relax, I mean spend a few hours on pinterest finding ideas for next year and tackle the pile of books I've been dying to read!  My boyfriend asked what my plans for tomorrow are and was a bit shocked when my response was simply to read.  I've got The Throne of Fire and Mark of Athena just waiting to be devoured!

I also need to start figuring out my classroom theme for next year.  What I love about my new school is the fact that every classroom is cute and organized.  It makes me feel accepted and not like a strange person for wanting my classroom to be organized with coordinating colors.

One of my former neighbors is moving to teaching sixth grade science and gave me her entire cube collection that she used for her classroom library.  I'm excited to get to actually organize my books by AR levels and author rather than just throwing them all on the shelf and crossing my fingers that students find ones they like.  Granted, the first few weeks in August will be spent organizing my new classroom but it's a great thing that my new school is only 8 minutes away!

Now that my home is done, I can leisurely enjoy my summer and catch up on reading!