Normally I don’t participate in this particular meme, but I got this hilarious email today and thought I would post it here. Here goes …

Phase 1

You are listening to jazz — Your first day at work is great. Your fellow teachers are wonderful, your classroom is cute, you love your students, and your principal is the best!

Phase 2

You are listening to pop music — After a while you are so busy that you are not sure if you’re coming or going anymore.

Phase 3

You are listening to heavy metal — This is what you feel like after ONE month.

Phase 4

You are listening to hip hop — You become bloated due to stress, you’re gaining weight due to lack of exercise because you are so tired and have so much school work to do and, when you do get home, you feel sluggish and suffer from constipation. Your fellow teachers are too cheerful for your liking and the walls of your classroom are closing in.

Phase 5

You are listening to GANGSTA RAP — After more time passes, your eyes start to twitch and you forget what a ‘good hair day’ feels like as you just fall out of bed and load up on caffeine.

Phase 6

You are listening to the voices in your head — You have locked your classroom door to keep people out. You wonder WHY you are even here in the first place and WHY you became a teacher!

Gee, I don’t know ANY teachers who feel this way … do you?

I’m finally back to regular internet access – woo hoo! Life in Florida has been hectic so far, to say the least – but it rocks!

My job is both good and bad, but whose job isn’t? Right now it’s just a major stressor trying to adjust to a completely different schedule than what I’ve had in the past. More time teaching, less time planning. Yay!!! Not.

Anyway, we’re all moved in, and we’re lovin’ the new digs. There’s still a lot of unpacking to do, of course, but we’re on it. I swear. We’ve been learning to share our environment with all of Florida’s creepy crawlies, but also spraying like crazy to keep them out of the house. Here is one example of our back yard neighbors:

We’ve seen several of them in the yard. This one likes to live on the side of our grill – good thing for him we don’t eat frog legs, I suppose. He can also be found hanging out on the wall by our sliding doors:

I think, Steph, that you should be VERY proud of me for not freaking out too badly, not even when one of these little buggers managed to jump into the house when the door was open.

I will take many more pics of the house and its natural neighbors, but for now that’s all I’ve got.

We took the kids to our school’s home football game on Friday. Here’s Jilly, all ready to go:

One of the students painted her face in school colors (navy, yellow, white/silver):

She kept walking up and down the stands screaming, “Woo!!! Go Bolts!” every few seconds. The cheerleaders thought she was a-DOR-able. People who haven’t met her usually do. Anyhoo, we stayed through the halftime show, at which point Jilly’s antsy-ness was getting a little irritating. Will refused to pose for pictures, but was highly entertained by the game and annoyed that we couldn’t stay for the whole thing due to his lame sister. Ugh.

Life goes on, but in a much more pleasant climate. Stay tuned for book reviews soon. I’m reading my way through the Florida Teens Read List this quarter, as I’m forcing my students to read them, too.

In crocheting news, I’m working on:
- finishing Amy’s shawl (just a round and a half left on the border)
- making a hat and headband for an Etsy friend
- finishing my sister’s friend’s baby martini blanket (one square and a border left)
- starting my sister’s friend’s Bengals baby sweater (not started yet, but yarn and hook ready)
- then I really really really want to make myself a bag before I start on the Crochet by Numbers blanket for my in-laws and the scarves inspired by Twilight characters (all in my head, no yarn or hook ready right now).

So much crocheting, so little time! If only summer were endless …

Okay, seriously, you knitters out there must be insane.

I used to knit, and I don’t remember it being this hard. But I’m trying to knit a baby blanket for my sister’s friend, because I wanted to use a particular pattern that’s only do-able in knit. Now, I’ve cast on four times, ripped out four times, my fingers are numb and my seed stitch looks crooked as hell.

Ack! I hate knitting! I’m off to brainstorm some way of making this pattern in crochet.

My friend and colleague, John, is tired of being left out of the shower game. He has gracefully attended many a baby and bridal shower for his female coworkers and friends, and feels that it is unfair that no one throws man-showers. So, when he recently brought home a new puppy, Madison, we threw him a puppy shower. Here is the blankie I made (in JMU colors, in honor of Madison) for John’s new baby:

I used a washable acrylic yarn and a shell-stitch pattern, with a solid sc border. Very cute. I also included some pig snouts with my gift; every canine baby’s favorite gift, of course.

So, I had two wonderful students who helped me out a lot this year in my Spanish I class (one of them) and in my GP Lit class as well (the other one). They were the best aides any teacher could ask for, believe me! So, I made them these cute little coin purses:

Here’s the pink one:

And here’s the green one:

So, after I made them I put Target gift cards in them and sent the girls on their way to college. I’m gonna miss those girls, but I’m way excited about my new coin purses. Look for them to appear in my Etsy Shop soon!