SOCIAL MEDIA

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Men and Wedding Flowers

May 31, 2012

Today's guest post is brought to you and written by Patricia Hall of Serenata Flowers UK. 

Men and Wedding Flowers

One of the most important details to a wedding is found in the wedding flowers. While many people assume that the wedding flowers are a decision that should be made by the bride alone, there are many grooms that want to be involved in this part of the decision making process and should be more concerned with the wedding flowers. Grooms would learn a lot by taking a more active role in choosing bridal flowers and in deciding on the flower decorations for a wedding. In addition, they will be able to look back on pictures of the wedding day and remember why they chose certain flowers and be reminded of the happy wedding day.



While there are many options for flowers, the first step that a groom should take in the search for wedding flowers is to consult a florist. A florist is trained to know about all the different flowers available. If price is a question then the groom is able to tell the florist the price constraints and find suitable flowers in the right price range. In addition if the groom doesn't know a lot about flowers, the florist is the best person to teach him about the many choices he will have to choose from and narrow down his decisions. After speaking to a florist, the groom is then able to look at flowers online and form ideas of the flowers that appeal to him and decide if they will work with the wedding decor. Flowers have a variety of meaning and the groom would benefit by understanding the significance of certain color of flowers or types of flowers to make sure that he is sending an important message to his bride. For example a red chrysanthemum signifies love while a petunia represents resentment and anger. It makes sense for a groom to choose flowers that reflect how he feels about his bride and hopefully convey his love.



At a wedding, flowers are usually used for decorations, for the bride's bouquet and also on the boutonnieres that the groom, groomsmen and the other male members of the wedding party will wear. The main focus should be placed on the bridal bouquet. But after the bridal bouquet flowers are chosen, the groom should help select the boutonniere options. The boutonniere has a major role in the wedding flowers for the men because each different display can signify closeness to the groom. For example, the best man might wear a slightly larger boutonniere than the rest of the groomsmen to show that he has a larger role in the wedding. Most boutonnieres for a wedding are chosen to either match the bride’s bouquet or to go with the colors that have been chosen for the wedding. The groom should help select an option that coordinates with the bridal bouquet and his should stand out more than the other boutonnieres that are in the wedding party. In addition the same type of flowers should be done on both the boutonnieres and the bridal bouquet, like if one is done with artificial flowers then the other should be done in artificial flowers as well.



Helping get the flowers to the wedding is another area that a groom may be able to help with and take a worry away from the bride. There is always the flower delivery uk option or the groom can arrange to handle the pick-up of the wedding flowers himself and eliminate the delivery fee. This will require that the groom have a large cargo area in his vehicle since the flowers can't be smashed or damaged in anyway on the way to the wedding.



As one can see, there are countless ways for a groom to be more involved in the choosing of wedding flowers for his wedding. It will most likely involve some learning if he doesn't know much about flowers but will help his bride and allow him to feel more involved in an important part of the wedding.

About the Author

Patricia Hall works part-time for Serenata Flowers UK an online florist and loves to surround herself with flowers at any given point of time. Even in her free time she loves to involve herself with everything flora and fauna.
'To me there is nothing more beautiful and global as the language of flowers - it is the easiest to understand all around the world in the same way. That is one reason why I truly admire flowers for what they represent in some ways - unity of all mankind!'

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7 questions

May 30, 2012

My funny pic...this was taken by Katie at Two Suez Photography. We were doing a newborn session for my nephew and she caught a few of us...in our true form.




1. If you were to start your own business, what would it be?
Can I blog? Well other than that a gym. I love to workout, but cost of actual membership during grad school times is outweighed by cost of books. So these days I have to workout however and whenever I can...i.e. with the guys at church in a make shift gym with dumbbells. So I so need my own gym. 


2. You wake up on the wrong side of the bed, do you embrace your grumpiness or try to fight it?
 I stay on the wrong side. Sometimes I come out, but it takes a funny situation to make me forget. 


3. What's the very first memory you have?
Farthest back is going to my great-grandmother Granny Rose's house in Newellton. I can still describe the entire layout of the house, and that she was in the kitchen when we came in. She was a horrible cook, but she was in the kitchen none the less. I had to be 3 or under because she was in the nursing home when I was 4 and died when I was 4 as well. 


4. the world is ending, what do you do? Allow yourself to die? Fight? Hide? Etc.
This depends. I would probably raid a store for camping equipment and drive out to Pike County, Mississippi. I am about 100% positive I could survive at the Bogue Chito camping grounds by the river. So I would fight for camping stuff, then hide.


5. What is your favorite meal of the day?
Depends on my mood. I love breakfast and lunch food. I could eat a good deli sandwich daily. Then again I love banana bread or German pancakes. 


6. How do you best learn? Visual? Listening? Hands on?
Depends on the teacher and subject. History, English, Psychology - I can take notes and survive fine. I like those classes. Any Science - hands on and massive note taking. I like it but I can't remember it. You couldn't put math in my head if you cut it open and wrote on it with a Sharpie. 


7. What is your favorite joke? 
I grew up with a grandfather whose life goal is to tell you every corny joke on earth. I've spent more time rolling my eyes at Pop than anything else. So with that said I love comedians and jokes. I can't remember the comedian who told a joke recently that I loved, but here is one that created an "infomercial" that is hilarious. 

Photobucket
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[happy 3 years to us]

Happy Anniversary Jeremy! 3 years of putting up with me should get you an award. 

Needless to say we had originally planned to do something today, but when I got accepted to teach summer school we moved it to Friday. No problem though, now that I am out of it we are just hanging out at my parent's house for the week. Friday night we are going to stay at the plantation home we were married at and go out to dinner. Best part is breakfast at The Castle. 

But until then here is the wedding picture video from our lovely photog Jennifer Lizenby. 
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Pinteresting Thoughts

May 29, 2012



That would be great, except for one small thing. 


My dogs think I am up to something. 


If I am overly happy to hand out treats they think I am giving them flea pills. It took two pieces of lunch meat and a piece of bread to get Ellie to swallow a pill Sunday.


If I have on shoes they won't go outside, because they think I am leaving. 


If I pick up my purse and the dog gate Ellie hides under the bed. The more dressed up I am the longer she stays under, she can apparently gauge how long I will be gone based on my outfits these days. 


If I pick up the spray conditioner and a towel they hide. We all know that means bath time. 


Last but not least, if I say it's time for bed they start salivating and licking their lips...because apparently they deserve a cookie for going to bed without a fuss. 


So do I want to be the person my dog thinks I am? I already am apparently. They know I'm sneaky.Do they do any of that crazy with Jeremy, nope. They think he can do no wrong. 


There is something wrong with this picture. 
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Emily Want a Cracker?

May 27, 2012

If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram you may have seen me joking complaining about doing a juice fast. A few people have asked why. Well that is the easy part. There are usually two reasons people fast, spiritual and health based. This one happens to be health based. Here is a little about how fasting works: 



The principle of fasting is simple. When the intake of food is temporarily stopped, many systems of the body are given a break from the hard work of digestion. The extra energy gives the body a chance to heal and restore itself, burning stored calories to rid stored toxic substances. During fasting, the liver and immune system are essentially freed to detoxify and heal other parts of the body.  Many healers claim that fasting is a particularly useful therapy for the American lifestyle, of heavy diet, overeating, and constant exposure to food additives and chemicals. Some alternative practitioners have gone so far as to estimate that the average American is carrying 5-10 pounds of toxic substances in their bodies, for which fasting is the quickest and most effective means of removal. [source]
Several years ago I tried the Hollywood Diet cleanse, than last year I attempted the Master Cleanse. Both massive fails. Last summer we did the Look Better Naked Diet's 2 Day Cleanse and it went over much better. I would suggest doing that diet leading into a cleanse. With juicing and the green smoothie thing becoming popular I decided to give it another go, after J mentioned fasting a few weeks ago. We tend to do it once a year. Needless to say the only weekend we could was this weekend, because let's face it fasting during the work week just wouldn't work for either of us. Expelling high energy at a time when you have little to give just isn't easy and quickly leads to massive fatigue, and in my case my blood sugar drops and I get dizzy. So Memorial Day weekend it was. One of the fattest summer weekends around and we are running full speed in the other direction, genius. 
So far I am mostly done with day 2. We started yesterday. Great start, but by night fall I was wanting a cracker big time. I eventually decided my best bet was to just go to sleep, with the aid of Benadryl (allergies are still killing me), and I slept great. I actually had a dream about eating food at a pub in England, I had a British accent to boot. Great dream. when I woke up I wasn't hungry and felt great. We headed to band practice and about 9am I got super tired. Since then I haven't exactly recovered. We got home, napped, and are essentially waiting for tomorrow morning. I want a boiled egg and whole wheat toast so bad! 
Don't let that juice fast documentary fool you, it sucks. I would love to chew even a piece of gum and it's just day 2. But gum would be very, very bad. It actually sends signals to your digestive parts telling them you are eating, which you are giving your body a break from doing. Totally counter productive. I am guilty though, I had one single piece of gum yesterday. 
Jeremy is doing much better on this than I am, and we have deduced it to how we eat on a normal day. Jeremy tends to eat whenever, where my day is very planned and I eat at the same time every day. Half type A, half teacher work schedule. And yes I even stick to the same eating routine during the summer, with a little variation. 
For this juicing routine I have decided to drink 8oz of juice (of your choosing, but real juice. Tang is not juice.) every two hours until I go to sleep. That turns into 8am, 10am, 12pm, 2pm, 4pm, 6pm, 8pm, and maybe 9pm depending on my mood. Yesterday I stuck to that hardcore, but in a hurry today I left for church without my juice and have spent the whole afternoon attempting to catch my calories back up. I haven't gone over 1000 calories a day so that I am still cutting back from caloric intake in some way. It is real easy to drink up 1200 or more calories. 
If your a Coke drinker completely cut it out one week. You will see major changes in your weight just from giving up drinking your calories in a single week. 
With all that said, I don't profess to know a ton about juice fasting. But I do know that some sort of fast helps me get back into super clean eating real easy(and let's face it I have fallen off my clean eating wagon). You appreciate those under appreciated veggies much more after not eating a day or two. 
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Looks or personality - What matters in the long haul

May 26, 2012

Talking to some single girls the other day about cute guys had me thinking back to when Jeremy an I began dating. Initially the conversation was about The Bachelor and what make body types we prefer. I was initially discredited due to the fact that I'm married, but hey I'm married not dead!

I left the conversation realizing that y "type" is not at all my husband. I've always said I like a certain type of look in a man. I dated a lot of guys on that thought...and did I marry any of them? Nope.

I married for an entirely different reason, who he was as a person. I've heard my Mom say for years that personality is what attracted her to my dad and in the end that is what mattered most. They had fun together.

Initially when I began dating Jeremy I described him as the goofy tall guy. He really is a goofy tall guy when you get to know him. Looks wise I was not at all focused on it. I barely saw it. Instead I knew I enjoyed being with him and I liked his values.

Eventually it grew to love. I was different in this relationship than I was in others. I attribute it to the trust factor, I feel the crazy clinger need to monitor his every move. Don't act like I'm alone on this, we've all dated that guy. The one who needs constant supervision.

Point being, as time went on, even after marriage, I grew more attracted to him and loved him more. The lusty honeymoon phase wore away quick and I was left knowing just what I had signed up for. At times I want to kill him, and I'm sure he'd take a hit out on me too. But at the end of the day I'm more attracted to him than any other man, and I love pushing his buttons more than anyone else's.

But that's what marriage is right? A mutual harassment agreement until the day you die.

We may not be the most lovey couple in public, but I've loved being married to my tall goofy husband for 3 years now. And I can't imagine getting this much enjoyment out of harassing anyone else.

Happy Anniversary J. Hopefully you actually read this post and didn't shrug it off as another random rant. I'd never know though cause you sure don't comment:)
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[fill in the blank friday]

May 25, 2012




1.  The best surprise ever would be,  Jeremy telling me we were moving to Europe. Preferably somewhere in the UK    .

2.      Going to the pool and getting snow cones with Mom and Laura as a kid   is my most favorite memory .

3.  The hardest, but most worthwhile thing I've ever done was    getting married and teaching.

4.  The best part of my day is    3:00pm when work ends. It is probably the happiest time ever. I love my job but I love coming home .

5. Something I like that most people don't is       malt vinegar on anything I can put it on. I just like vinegar .

6. Something I am willing to fight for is     marriage and family  .

7.  Something you might not know about me is   I have to sleep with a pillow between my knees when I sleep. If my knees touch I wake up  .

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Death from the Ankles Down

Growing up we only had big dogs, my dad was never a fan of the tiny dogs. So as expected I dreamed of having my own small dog for years. About 6 years ago I got Ellie. It wasn't clear at the time she was a dachshund, except the breeder swore she was. She just looked like a black ball of fur with an attitude. 
[Ellie chewing my notes while I studied the first week I had her.]

She made it very clear early on that Ellie lived by her own rules. Her first Christmas she ate the ornaments off the bottom of the tree...
....and taking a massive poo while running because she was so excited after her bath. Literally, she never stopped...she just ran and pooped. 
The two of us have gone through a lot together. She lived with me in my first apartment, a townhouse, our house on Duval, and now she has moved to south LA. She rode in the front seat with her head out of the window and went everywhere I went. 

That is...until Jeremy came along. She didn't take well to Jeremy at first. She spent the first night he was at my apartment sitting on the arm of the couch in between us growling at him. But not her vicious growl, because she doesn't have one, but her "I don't like the looks of this" growl. She then growled at him from the center consol the first time she was booted to the back seat, and to this day I still think she is wondering when we are taking him back home. 

But then, not to long into her relationship with Jeremy a few critter arrived. She liked this idea even less than Jeremy.
While appearing to be cute and cuddly Maddie was the holy terror no one was expecting. Ellie saw right through this facade from the beginning. In the first year we had her she ate two dog beds, an unknown amount of toys, a huge hole of drywall, several stairs of carpet, attempted to eat Ellie, and destroyed everything in her radius. Jeremy wanted to get ditch her, but somehow she stayed around. She was the worst puppy ever. 

With Ellie turning 6 in just a few short months I thought it would be fun to look back at pics and do a little "what you should know before buying a dachshund" list. This is a serious list people, you should be fully warned before stepping into this mess.

Things you are not told when "adopting" a dachshund:
- While cute as she may seem, Ellie is Hitler reincarnated. Seriously, he came back as a German dog living in my house. This is the bossiest animal on the planet. If you do anything out of line she lets you know real quick like. Maddie is her little ditzy Nazi minion. 
 -Never leave long sleeve shirts unattended. Curious weenies will try to walk through them. 
 - Mockery is big. They are very much like children. If you don't want them to do it, then don't do it. 
 - In the event you have a frog problem this is the breed for you. Ellie has made it her life goal to rid the world of frogs. If she thinks she hears one you won't be able to convince her to come back in the house for hours. Your neighbors won't appreciate her loud method of yelling obscenities at said frog. 
 -These dogs have endurance. You don't want to share your food? No big deal, they will just wear you down until you give in. Or they will fall asleep trying. Notice Ellie has better stamina than the young blood. 
 -Bed rest is essential for good health. The can sense a pregnant girl on bed rest from miles away. 
 - Cable is a must in the dachshund household. Dachshunds love trashy reality shows. 
 - As you would guess snow is not something a dog this short enjoys. In the event it snows, be prepared to deal with high maintenance whiny dogs all day. 
 - Just to show you how much they hate snow...they are known for destroying tiny snowmen. They really don't take your feelings into consideration. 
 -Although they were initially a hunting breed, they have since evolved way past that. They love outside still, but prefer to observe the neighborhood from the safety of their living rooms with their favorite toys. 
 -Music is good, the louder the better.
 - Forethought is not something they are good at. After a crime has occurred they fully understand what they did. In this instance Maddie destroyed a basket of pine cones, I didn't even have to fuss at her, she just sat really still looking really sad. She knew what she did. 
 - Window seals and window seats are prime dachshund real estate. They are known for climbing up the couch to get to higher less easy to reach window seals to sun bathe from the comfort of their living rooms. Like I said, they don't believe they are outside dogs. 
 - Swimming and bath time go hand in hand. They aren't fans of either. 
 - Tummy time is just as helpful for weenie dogs as it is for babies. They will kick your baby off a mat if it is "their" tummy time. 
 - Like I said, cable is a must. 
 -Dachshunds love fruit. Always keep seasonal fruit in your home, they prefer organic. But save your money, they can't read so they won't know if it isn't organic or not. Ellie just likes to be bossy and organic is another may to assert her Hitler skills. 
 - Like parrots they enjoy being higher up than you are. Don't let them higher up than you are, they get bossier. [little known fact, parrots think they are on your level when they are eye to eye with you, higher they are more dominant, and lower they think you are more dominant]
 - Have plenty of toys, they don't share well. For some reason they alway fall in love with the same toys, this creates tension. 
 - You aren't going anywhere without your weenie dogs. Understand it and accept it. They know what luggage looks like and refuse to let you leave with it and without them.
 - A proper bedtime routine is essential for a good nights sleep. Read them a story and tuck them in, if not they will try to get in bed with you. 
 - Dachshunds prefer to be underground, if this is not an option they will make due with pillows and blankets. 
-When trying to catch a weenie dog a good saying to remember is "when it doubt, bring the cookies out." They don't trust anything you do, but their good sense will soon be forgotten at the sight of Beggin' Strips. Beggin' Strips slogan should be changed to "Dogs don't know it's not bath time." Trust me you could catch a mouse with a hammer faster than you can coax these two out from under the bed. 
Well, I hope everyone learned something here today. Think before you get a weenie dog. They live a long time and are a total pain in the butt. Luckily I enjoy that. 

So tell me, what is something silly your pet does? 
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no more teacher's dirty looks

May 24, 2012

Source: google.com via Emily on Pinterest



Summer break has officially started, I got cut from summer school this year! 


Positive: Longer summer
Negative: No summer school pay
Positive: No alarm clock, makeup, or khakis. 
Negative: No other negatives exist. 


That cartoon is so true, I am absolutely over learning. We have been beat senseless with Common Core and at this point I know less than when I started. I think my brain is shrinking. 


The only downside to summer is A) more Common Core trainings B) Ethics training C) SmartBoard Cohort


Which if I am understanding C well it seems as though I have a 2 day training that will in turn have me training other people.


 Let the panic attacks begin!


I hate speaking to my peers, I prefer a room of kids any day of the week over peers. Plus it doesn't help that I have the memory of a goldfish and can barely retain Jeremy's school schedule. Oh yes, let's put the clueless one in charge of learning...bet she won't play with her phone and daydream now. It will be interesting to see how this pans out. 


But until then...



And yes I am willing to admit I sang this all day the last student day. 

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[7 questions]

It's Thursday, I think, and as usual I am late for linking up for 7 Questions. But here goes:


My funny photo: I use to be some kind of hardcore Guitar Hero fanatic. This was in my 1st townhouse in Monroe in 2007. Got to love that face I'm making.  




1. What's your favorite style for home decor? (eclectic, modern, shabby chic, etc.)
Shabby Chic all the way. I love anything from Country Living and Southern Living. Now if I only had the money to create that style in my little apartment these days.


2. What is the best trip you have EVER been on?
That is a hard one, but considering I threw up every day I was in England I will have to go with the most recent Italy. But the best part of Italy was by far being in Pompeii. [crazy muggers in Napoli]

3. If you could have an exotic pet, what would it be and why?
A monkey. Birds creep me out. Monkeys seem much smarter than dogs, at least Maddie. Although I fear their anger issues. 

4. Do you snore? (you can be honest, we're all friends here.)
No, but I do talk in my sleep. Like have a conversation with you talk in my sleep. It scares me though because I am afraid of questions I will likely answer. Jeremy once came in the room and I was doing that and he started talking back to me and I woke my self up yelling "I'm not talking to you" at him. Weird, right? I use to sleep walk, so glad that ended. 

5. Your car breaks down on the side of the road, what do you do?
Well, that depends on what it is. I know how to fix a few things. My Dad wouldn't let me drive until I knew how to change a tire, I've also replaced an alternator, can put refrigerant in, and look cute on the side of the road until someone shows up. 

6. What's one item that has been on your wishlist lately?
Well I don't have a lot of cute fun jewelry and I am a Reading & English teacher so:

Source: etsy.com via Emily on Pinterest


7. It's almost Summer (or winter if you live in the Southern Hemisphere), what are you looking forward to most? 
Less responsibilities. Plus our anniversary.
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Lessons Learned in Cajun Country - 1 year in.

May 23, 2012

Let's face it, the first year in Cajun Country is winding down. I feel like I've learned a lot, then again I still miss a lot of things about Monroe. Never thought I'd say that, right? Monroe and I have a love/hate relationship. I do miss the first house Jeremy and I lived in together, living across the street from the best ice cream ever, and our days working together at Restaurant Sage while we were engaged. Life has changed a lot in 3 years, and not at all in a single way I had planned. 


Had you asked me 5 years ago where I would be this would not be it at all. Jeremy wasn't on my radar, teaching wasn't on my radar. It was just Ellie. Ellie, and a whole lot of "what on earth do I plan to do after graduating". And well, since yesterday was the last teacher day of school (let's forget about summer school tomorrow) let's review just what all has happened in the past year. 


Somehow in our relationship we have morphed from two Psychology undergrad students, I myself living some crazy days in my cute little one bedroom townhouse with my dog & Jeremy off in a far closet of the BCM driving his Honda Shadow, to a teacher and a Psychology student working on a Specialist degree. It retrospective it has been an interesting ride. But 7 years in Fun-roe, a few boyfriends, and a dog later here I am married and living the graduate wife life in south Louisiana. 


The 1 year anniversary of us living in our downsized apartment and stuffing the life out of that 3rd bedroom with extra furnishing from our house in Monroe is fast approaching. Just so happens that our 3 year wedding anniversary is the anniversary of us moving here. 


Last May Jeremy moved back to Monroe to help me pack up, shoved everything we owned into a UHaul, and with him and the help of my parents we drug our lives down here. I am not going to lie, it was much harder than I expected. It wasn't until recently that I have been more at ease being here...just the being here part, this tiny oddly shaped apartment is going to make me insane. [how do you decorate a place with no kitchen? honestly I still need to do a show you my tiny apartment post.] So after some time here, here are a few lessons I have learned:


1. A fear of lizards and snakes is not something you should bring to swamp land. I am daily screaming at the top of my lungs and running for my life. The guys living next door have gotten a huge kick out of this, I have to give them props though because they tend to save me from lizards often. 


2. I apparently have a Yankee accent. I like to think of it as more of a back-woods-North-Louisiana accent, but no. Here it is "up north". At least one a week someone here tells me how cute my accent is. [secret: I never want to pick up this cajun accent]


3. Where North Louisiana is the Southern Baptist Belt, South Louisiana is Catholic land. Don't come here looking for a huge Southern Baptist church, you will never find it. 


4. It is hot. Very hot. Winter does not exist here. Invest in some of those reflective window things for your car. 


5. Shrimp trolling is done at night. News to me, my kids thought I was living under a rock not know that information. 


6. Swamp People is filmed in the town I work in. Still very funny to me. (that first sentence sounds so grammatically incorrect)


7. When your husband is in a "hard" graduate program...meaning not at all like my easy peasy Education Masters program, you will never see him. Get use to eating dinner alone. 


8. Although it was impossible to keep that carpeted house clean, it is also impossible to keep this tiled apartment clean too. Thanks dogs. 


9. Community is big with real Cajuns. They honestly value their good friends like they are family. I was lucky enough to be placed in a school that acts as a huge family. My crazy Cajun raised partner teacher has become one of my best friends. She lets me whine and moan and I let her do the same. She is such a great support and really encourages me to work my butt off. This girl is seriously organized and creative, she loves teaching and inspires me to love my kids and job. After last year I really needed this school year and kids. We were talking this week about how much we complain about stupid stuff, but hands down God has really blessed us with a great year. The community I experienced really made me learn to care again. As anti-sappy as I am I get teary eyed thinking about how much I love my kids and partner teacher. I would love to be able to retire after teaching 30 years with Lauren and all the other great teachers I have become friends with this year.


10. Little things count. With finances being guarded like graduate school has forced them to be these days you really have to appreciate every little thing. Going and doing is not as free as it was in the days of us both working and pulling in a nice chunk of the money together in Monroe. Luckily neither of us are super gift-y. My love language is obviously frozen yogurt dates or a clean house that I didn't clean. Although there are some things I won't speak of, I am convinced Jeremy's love language is coffee and eating anything not deemed healthy. Poor thing requested I make the "good fries" last night, he must have lost this mind thinking I would fry food on a weeknight. One of the best things we did this year was the "I love you because..." board I found on Pinterest. It is nice to leave words of affirmation when you rarely have time together during school. 


11. I have too much clothing. I didn't know this until I moved into the tiny little apartment. Where my life fit in one closet, one dresser...plus one drawer in Jeremy's dresser back in the old house I have taken over two closets in this house, thrown shoes a foot deep in one closet and stored bulky things under the bed, and stuffed sweaters in any nook or cranny I can find. You wouldn't know this seeing me during anything other than work hours...I immediately scrape off the day's makeup and ease into workout clothes upon the clock striking 3:30. It is sort of a carriage to pumpkin situation. 


And one last one:
12. Murphy's Law is mean. We moved here with the finances "perfectly" laid out, so laid out that we felt we could go to Italy with what we had saved. We sold our motorcycle, because it was the "responsible" thing to do. Bought Jeremy a car, because who wants to drive a bike in the rain when your wife lives 5 hours away; then move here only to have Jeremy's "new to us" car show it's true lemon side, have the air conditioner break in my paid off Mustang....and literally 7 hours from home and $500 after that was fixed [and two weeks after paying our non-refundable money for Italy] someone plowed into the back of my Mustang at a red light completely totaling it. We decided to bite the bullet and sell the horrible no good very bad lemon of a car only to discover we had been sold a lemon that had frame damage that wasn't reported to us, money lost there. So in the span of all this mess we had to put down money to buy 2 new cars at once, take on two car notes essentially doubling what we were paying before [remember my car was paid off], and take on insurance that was through the roof. I thought we were going to financially fall apart. Somehow we haven't though, not for lack of Murphy trying, God has provided; and I've managed to convince myself that it wasn't all punishment for going to Italy. Just goes to show how the best laid plans can go wrong. 

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the results are in...

May 18, 2012

There is a reason school is out for two months every year, you are burned slap out and can't stand to look at another text book. Not just the teachers either, kids are worn out. 


I've been so physically and mentally exhausted lately and haven't been able to place my finger on it. I think I figured it out today...I am just tired and need a change of pace. Teaching 4th grade (and 8th I imagine) is insanely stressful. 5th grade was nothing like this, and I had enough behavior issues to send the most sane person ever into a cursing fit. I blame it all on state testing. 


So why is state testing more stressful for these two grades and not the ones in between? Well the short version of it, our scores count twice for the school. Schools have to reach and maintain a certain growth target or they end up in big trouble to say the least. 


You can have the most well trained and highly qualified teachers on Earth, but without receptive students you don't have jack. 


It's a gamble, one big gamble. One I have become very numb to. 


I got the news today that not a single kid in the two classes I teach failed the test...our whole grade did amazing. The common teacher reaction was total freak out. I realized I didn't react appropriately when I was met with confused stares from the administration as they came in my room to give me the news. I just kind of looked at them, smiled, and said "oh that's great." 


Umm, wrong reaction. 


I tend to do this in stressful situations though, when I can't control past a certain point I enact a "who cares" attitude to keep myself worry free. But seriously, what else can I do? I taught everything I could, I can't take the test for them. There is no need to worry, just face the music when D-Day appears. Luckily for me there was no fearful music to face. However, I've taken my fair share of standardized tests and I know what it feels like. 


I tell every group of kids I teach that I was in the first group to take the LEAP in 8th grade where it counted as pass or fail for the year. I passed, but the feeling of walking to the Jr. High during the summer to find that out is something I will never forget. It was sheer torture. 


So where was I going with this? 
A break.
I need a break. 


Will I get a break?
Not completely.


Next week marks the beginning of summer school training, then the real summer school deal. What will I teach? ELA. Do I know much else...not one bit. Hopefully different kids and a different setting with help me out of this lesson plan induced funk. (I had great kids, I am just exhausted!) The only downside to summer school is the fact that we have to give that dandy test again at the end of the month, whoop de doo. 


Hopefully I can muster up some genuine excitement over the next week for these new kids. Because let's face it, I suck at faking it. 
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