This week has been long. I never thought I could be as tired as I am, but with 26 students, it's easy to get exhausted by 4 o'clock. Even though it has been draining, this week has been really good. My kids are so enthusiastic about my class, something I love seeing. It is so refreshing to see their zest for life. I have also already been blessed by their generous hearts. I have a "Book Wish List" on the class website, and one of my students had her grandma order 3 of the best books on the list. How awesome is this?! I've never felt so adored before, and I've only known this sweet girl for 3 days.

Russell starts teaching this upcoming Tuesday, and I am so excited for him. He is nervous, but I know he will do a great job and that the boys will especially look up to him as a role-model. He has a whole lot to offer!

Not much else is going on. I'm beginning my second semester of speech pathology classes on Monday, so please keep us in your prayers as we go through a lot of changes next week. I'm excited about the classes, but a little concerned about all that is on my plate right now. Right now I'm struggling to stay awake. Until next time...

Teaching supplies!

Okay, so I just posted an ad on craigslist requesting donations/budget-friendly items for mine and Russell's classroom. We will both be teaching English this year, and for some reason (maybe the summer vacation) we have not been thinking about supplies! We've requested posters, paper, crayons, etc. to help decorate both of our classrooms. I have a few items from last year, but now we need double the items since we are both teaching. I think next week I will be doing a lot of arts-and-craft style posters if we don't get any responses. Maybe one of my few readers will have something in the back of their closets/attics/garage that would be useful for a classroom? *wink, wink* I'll have to post if any fellow San Antonian Craigslist users offer their donations.

Cleaning woes

So my husband is currently sleeping. He caved and the pugs are now in my spot in the bed. Good grief, they are spoiled! :-)

Today I was thinking about my 2 final exams, how much I have to do, the fact that school begins very soon, and how I feel behind! I feel behind mainly in the fact that I want my house to be a little more organized. This probably sounds like something ridiculous to blog about, and mom, if you're reading this, I am merely confessing this to gain some form of help ;-)

I need a system! I tried setting up a "daily chore" list to keep the house consistently clean, but that didn't work. It still seemed like the bulk of my free time went to cleaning. I want to be able to do minor cleaning gradually to keep a consistently clean home. Now, I know, am I in my own world? :-) I understand that this is perfect world I am picturing, but any tips from my dear blogging friends would be of great benefit. Now, I don't live in mess, but I would like to develop a schedule that I can balance with being a grad student and a teacher. Any suggestions? What type of system do you use in your home? :-)

It's almost time!!

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings." - Lewis Carroll, The Walrus and the Carpenter

I wish it were time to talk of those things! But, alas, it is time (almost) for school to start again! Today is August 1st. The Back to School month. Part of me cringes at this, while another part of me gets excited about decorating my classroom, planning lessons, and allowing my students to feel like family. Oh, and being called Mrs. Dot :) I have this weird thing about wanting the kids to call me Mrs. Dot, but I think DotSON is easy enough to not have to shorten it. So, in honor of this soon-to-be crazy month, I am writing out a list of things I am thankful for from this amazing summer, and things I have to do really soon!

Things I am Thankful For:

• Of course this is #1 on my list- GETTING MARRIED! I got to marry my favorite person in the world and get to spend the rest of my life with him. Our wedding was perfect and beautiful and I couldn't have asked for a better day. I love Russell :)
• Spending precious time with my husband. We are very lucky in that we didn't have jobs to rush back to after our honeymoon, and instead got a 2 1/2 month honeymoon. I've loved getting to know him better and enjoying everyday with him.
• Our home. We have done so much to our home it's incredible. I'm excited to be making it ours and adding special touches to it. I know it'll be really nice coming home to it everyday after work!
• Our family. Our family has been so supportive of us this summer as we have gone through the process of getting more on our feet as a couple. Plus, they are just all around cool people. Thank you!
• Friends :-) I have a lot of friends that don't live near SA, but it has been fun to keep in touch with them and have dinner with the friends we have here.

Things I Need to Do....

• Finish final exams for Audiology and A&P by the 10th
• Get supplies neat and orderly for school (I kind of "dumped" hem in the garage on the last day of school since it was, well, 2 days before the wedding.
• Buy some cute outfits for teaching and finding Russell some dress pants and shirts for school... we're working on a budget, so this will be a task.
• Keep a food & exercise diary starting tomorrow... I've committed to a race in October and need to get my rear in gear! I've started eating Greek yogurt for breakfast and need to work on making lunch and dinner healthy, yet tolerable, meals. I also need to make use of my gym membership... starting tomorrow morning!
• Organize various areas of the house... not.as.fun.
• Revamp my school website to fit the 2010-2011 school year: livelaughlearn dot us
• Buy textbooks for next semester

This is a lot to do! But not overwhelming. Maybe just whelming. ;-) If you've read this far, thank you! If not, I understand :-) Here's to the new month!!

Fun Wall Art

So I love home decor websites, but one thing I love MORE than those are home decor sites that emphasize being thrifty and saving some money! So of course I enjoy Thrifty Decor Chick. Something I read about and have been wanting to do for a LONG time was the wall art project she did with a sheet of MDF and some scrapbook paper. You can find tutorials on her blog post.

Russell's office was looking kind of plain, so this is what we did together today:

I LOVE it! I absolutely love it. Total cost of this art: $18!!!

We were going to buy MDF, but a sheet of MDF at our Lowe's is $30! So we decided to browse through the aisles and found 4 ft. sheets of particle board for about $2 each, so we bought 3. $6 for the "wood"!! So happy about that. I spent quite a long time at Hobby Lobby picking the exact sheets of scrapbook paper that I wanted, but it was worth it.

I think I may just be becoming a tad bit addicted to fun art projects like this! Be prepared to see more :-)