As I wallow at the fact that winter break is quickly coming to a close, I must pause to reflect on all that I've accomplished in these two weeks off.
1. I started and finished a novel (The Only Thing Worse than Witches).
It's one of the novels for this year's Battle of the Books competition and was a cute, if somewhat predictable story. I made a novel guide, chronological order sort, and bundle (both products) for purchase on TpT, which you can snag {here}.
I even started a second novel, The Hammer of Thor. My goal for this novel is the end of January.
2. I dealt with adult matters. I changed my name with the DMV, bank, and insurance. I got new credit cards and a new driver's license. I started an address book and sent out Christmas cards (and letters) in a timely manner. I paid HOA dues and the mortgage payment ahead of schedule. I went to the vet with the furballs several times.
3. I started planning a baby shower. One of my dear friends and bridesmaids is due in early April. It's her first and a boy, so there's a lot of excitement. We had lunch to discuss games, themes, invites, etc. We had a second meal with another friend to continue discussing logistics and planning the event (for early March). Some days I have more fun party planning and crafting than I do teaching...but oh well.
4. I shopped and saved like a pro! With six baby showers between now and June, plus five weddings in the upcoming year, we've got a lot of expenses. Luckily I was able to find some great deals so I can not only be fiscally responsible, but spoil friends in the mean time! I'm quite fortunate that my grade level splits the cost of work shower gifts, so it's only $5(ish) a person. I've got a gift wrapped and ready for January's baby shower and another bridal shower in April.
5. I enjoyed family time. B and I celebrated Christmas early with his parents and grandma on the 19th. His mom loved her ornaments. One I made from filling a plastic (unbreakable) ornament with flower petals from my wedding bouquet. The other I purchased from {Etsy} with all the family members' names on the outside.
(Image from seller's shop, not my actual purchase)
His dad got a balls themed golf gift (naturally) and we got his grandma a Starbucks gift card. We also got his brother and sister in law a restaurant gift card. Our niece and nephews each got a stuffed toy, a nonfiction book (the teacher in me couldn't resist!) and a craft project to do together.
We then snuck down to Arizona for a few days to celebrate with my mom, brother, and brother's girlfriend. I got to have some best friend time because her trip overlapped with mine, spent time in pajamas, bought new tires (yay unexpected adulting!), enjoyed a new restaurant, and went on a day trip to Goldfield Ghost Town.
6. I got caught up on grading and ahead on lesson plans. This wasn't done in one sitting and was most definitely aided by Panera. But still, I'll go back to work on Tuesday feeling mostly prepared for the week ahead.
7. I attended a funeral. A former coworker unexpectedly lost her son and an entire group of us went to be supportive. 2016 certainly claimed a lot of good people. This wasn't a pleasant or enjoyable task, but it was necessary (and heartbreaking).
8. I cleaned. I took down Christmas decorations, moved furniture around to make space for our new bedroom set, cleaned out teaching materials, went through craft stuff, went through clothes, made donations of unwanted items, and did lots of laundry. My loving husband hung our new Batman shelf so I could display our wedding cake topper, toasting flutes, and some of the flowers.
(As an added bonus, that shelf came painted black and was on sale!)
9. I set new years resolutions and began to type about each one. I'm trying to get back into the habit of blogging, but no promises on it being an every day situation.
10. I enjoyed some down time. I had shopping time and breakfast dates with friends. I fought this one for couch space on a daily basis.
I watched Netflix, snuggled the pets, did a puzzle with the hubby, watched movies, took bubble baths, enjoyed scented candles, admired our Christmas tree, and napped. I often neglect to prioritize self-care, which is something I vow to work on in 2017.
While I'm not quite ready to return to work (because really, who is?), I am proud of my winter break accomplishments. There was a healthy balance of work and play.
Up next? Four days of three dozen ten year olds, then an eagerly awaited weekend.
One of my aunts had a milestone birthday this year and was going to celebrate in Michigan with my other aunt. My mom flew back to surprise the birthday girl and those three are off on a week adventure of shenanigans.
I was proud of my mom for keeping a secret from her sister, but what she didn't know is I kept one too.
I sent a check to go treat all my aunts (and a cousin) to a fun night out. While I was hoping they'd get a little silly on wine, they went out to a fabulous lunch instead and used the left over money for shopping.
I'm fortunate enough that I was able to spoil my mom and aunts. They don't get together often enough and when they do, trouble ensues!
Since my father is not in the picture, my mother got double spoiled!
I got lots of happy selfies today. I'm glad my family is having fun!
As much as I love class dojo as a communication tool with families, sometimes I see when the dojo symbol pop up on my phone after hours, I get worried. I've gotten messages as late as ten pm and as early as five am. Granted, my phone is on vibrate and I rarely hear it during the middle of the night.
Friday night, around ten pm, my phone dinged with the class dojo message.
Hesitantly, I peeked at the message. My mind raced with which parent was going to bring up an issue. I worried that I missed something crucial and my night would be spent frantically texting my principal, making sure bully reports were appropriately filled out.
That wasn't the message.
It simply said:
Thank you for today. You're awesome :)
It was from a parent who is having some behavior struggles with her child. Friday was lunch with someone you love and she wasn't able to make it on time because of her job. The office called when we got back to lunch and asked what I'd like to do. I know the "correct" response would be to keep him in the classroom for learning instruction, but that wasn't what I chose to do.
Instead, I quietly told the office that he'd be having a second lunch with his mom because he needed to feel loved. He's one of six children and understandably, sometimes feels lost in the shuffle. He needed this one on one time with his momma, and that's what mattered. I quietly pulled him into the hallway and explained he was headed to the office to see a special visitor. He had the biggest smile on his face as he skipped (yes, skipped) off to see her.
He was gone about fifteen minutes, didn't miss anything urgent in the classroom, and I know it meant the world to him and his mom.
I don't expect to be reprimanded for this choice, but sometimes meeting a student's emotional needs must come before the educational ones.
Last weekend was a blur of finalizing report card comments and a family photo shoot. My friend Chelsea organized a hair cutting fundraiser a few months ago and I won a photo shoot from an awesome local photographer. Instead of using this for pictures of me, B, and Waffles, I decided to gift it to his mom as part of her Christmas gift. She doesn't have any nice, formal pictures of the whole family and I thought she'd appreciate it. (I was right).
I worked with the photographer and the rest of the family on coordinating dates, location, and a color scheme. Since we had a relatively large group, I did end up having to pay a bit out of pocket for the shoot. There were nine of us, so that made sense. We went with an afternoon shoot at Calico Basin, in Red Rock, on the outskirts of Las Vegas.
The whole process took a little over an hour and the photographer had an amazingly fast turn around time. B and I will probably be back to that location to shoot our one year anniversary pictures because it was gorgeous.
We'll be using shutterfly to order some gallery wrapped prints for his parents after his mom finalizes her choice. I'll also be ordering a 5x7 print of this one:
(Photo credit: Kelsey Correa)
I was a little bummed that she didn't take more of just me and B, but then I realized this was about his mom, her mom, her two sons, the wives (or wifey to be in my case), and the grandkids. We'll have our "just us" photo shoot in a few months at a super secret location. We'll use those pictures in our save the dates, which should go out around Easter. Our formal invitations will go out around Labor Day for our November wedding.
The photographer was also able to capture some sweet moments of my niece and nephew, as well as a four generation picture.
This was my first experience doing a family photo shoot, period. It was such a great experience and I can't wait to do this again with our future kids and family.
Despite being sick, it was a weekend of firsts for me.
It was my first Thanksgiving not with my mom. It was my first one with B and his family. It was a little strange, not being with my mom, but his parents and extended family are incredibly welcoming. I realize this is part of growing up and that holidays are about compromise. We just saw my mom a few weeks ago and will see her again right after the holidays, so it'll be okay. Plus I talked with her a good half a dozen times this weekend (sorry mom!).
We arrived early and I helped in the kitchen (this is big for me people!). We brought a variety of bread, wine, and flowers for the table. His cousin made the whole duck-chicken-turkey situation which I was not brave enough to try.
Food was delish and I felt a bit like this:
Afterward, my allergies got the best of me and I napped. To be fair, I had a full stomach, a warm blanket, and my football team wasn't on television.
Friday was the first time that I did not go Black Friday shopping. We ventured out of the house around one pm to visit the post office (bestie's birthday is next week), pick up Chinese food, and some medicine from the grocery store. I know, I live an exciting life people! The rest of the day revolved around trying to grade, napping, and decorating for the holidays.
Saturday we did a Small Business Saturday vendor event at my house. I had {Jamberry}, Amy (my upline) had {Younique}, Lisa had {31} and Janel had {Origami Owl}. We split the set up, which worked out way better for everyone's budgets.
We had a great time and started brainstorming our next big Saturday event. We'd love to rent out our school's multipurpose room and have a Saturday shopping event...when things calm down. So, March?
Our set up is getting better and better each time!
Sunday I tried a flash sale for Jamberry online with a VIP group.
It went okay, but I have ideas how to make it better for next time. I'm thinking of doing a make up and Jamberry flash sale in the middle of December for those procrastinating gifters.
I did decorate and wrap gifts! (3 for my mom, 1 for his mom, 1 for my bestie, and 1 for Leah, my brother's girlfriend and one of my bridesmaids). Obviously solid progress.
The rest of the weekend involved napping, attempting to finish up this grading pile, snuggling with fur babies, watching television, yelling during football, and doing the minimum amount of school work that's required for Monday.
This week brings extra paperwork (student withdrew and we've got to get ready for parent-teacher conferences, which means sending out conference notes. I've learned my lesson, mine will be pink to clearly identify that they get returned to me.). I've also got Battle of the Books tomorrow (we're trying paper slide videos), a Discovery Ed meeting, and the possibility of visitors just popping in on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (no pressure there!). I'm already ready for next weekend.
