SPRING BREAK! FINALLY!

So I finally finished my last Parent-Teacher conference at 8:15 tonight. Whew! I'm glad that's all over. I'm tired of talking and smiling. Most of the parents I see are the parents of the students who are A+ students. "Your child is great. Your child is perfect. Your child is amazing." It gets old. But they need to hear it, I guess.

Now on to my spring break. Not much planned, and I like it that way. Hubby and I would have liked to go somewhere tropical again this year, and since, as I look out the window right now, it's SNOWING AGAIN, it would have been nice to go somewhere warm. Oh well. New house needs our love and attention and money. I'll be spending some quality time with Stinky.

Meow.

Remembering Last Year's Avon Walk

Here's the Teachers For Ta Tas Avon Walk team from last year. We looked so happy and cheerful here - I think that's because we hadn't actually started walking yet!

That was (from left to right) Tamara, Molly, Elizabeth, Zella, Amy, Megan, and Shannon. What a bunch of cute gals in pink.


I just wanted to post this pic here to remind myself of what a good time we had and how much
good we were doing by participating in the walk.

Here are some other good pics from last year...

Avon Walk Time!

Well, it's that time of year again. When I start hitting everyone up for money. Beware: The begging for money emails will start soon!

I am a bit perturbed, however. I went to register on the Avon site and discovered that my team name for two years running, "Teachers for Ta Tas" was STOLEN! There's another team that has been started for the Chicago Avon Walk with the name "Teachers for Ta-Tas". The only difference is the hyphen. What the HECK! How is that ethical?

I have a mind to email a piece of my mind to that team! But then I have to take a deep breath and remember that it's all for a good cause and I shouldn't get worked up about it. (but it's still irritating!)

We'll be kicking off our fundraising efforts for the team with a bake sale at our school tonight. The students are putting on a performance tonight and tomorrow night and I thought it would be the perfect time to start collecting money. So last night I baked 5 boxes of brownies and made two dozen cupcakes. Kristie will be helping as well as LKK.

LKK is a student of mine who seems to never go home at a decent hour. So the nickname LKK came out of calling him my "Latch-Key Kid". He would stay in my classroom until 7pm if I let him (and he has on more than one occasion). He always gets schoolwork done while he's there, so I can't complain. Some of the work wouldn't get done otherwise. Last year he did his entire science fair project in two days staying in my room until I left for dinner and kicked him out.

Makes me wonder what's at home for him - or perhaps it's what's NOT at home - that makes him want to stay so long after school. I dunno.

I've got to go set up for the bake sale now. Mike the Monkey is going to be our mascot tonight, so hopefully he won't scare anyone away!

I love my sewing machine!

I'm so SO happy to have my sewing machine! I had been whining and complaining about not having one for so long. When I lived alone, I always seemed to have a roommate with one, so I always borrowed theirs. I even said, that when hubby & I moved into the new house, the first thing I would purchase was a sewing machine.

Luckily, I have a fabulous friend named Marta who donated her old machine to me for free! Hooray! I guess she was tired of hearing me whine? She's so nice! Thanks, Marta!

I got started right away trying to make stuff on it. The first real project I attempted (out of necessity) was a homemade pin cushion.

I found a fun tutorial online and tried it out. It's rather big for a pin cushion, but it works great. It inspired me to go for bigger and better things... like a set of coasters for the coffee table!

My work-friend Kristie and I are going to start a beginning sewing class in a few weeks, so I can learn the ins and outs of a sewing machine and putting something together using a pattern.

Mom would be proud of me - since the last time I think she saw me sew something for real was in Jr. high or high school when I tried to make a pair of shorts and sewed the pockets in backwards and promptly gave up sewing for a while. I think we have to learn to make a skirt in this class. My most recent attempts at sewing have been all pattern-free, which is liberating in a way, but I feel that I really need to learn the basics. Wish me luck!

I am a Horrible Mother

So I was giving Stinky a trim - she tends to get dreadlocks in her fur since she doesn't groom herself regularly. I was working on some of the dingleberries around her butt area and accidentally snipped off a piece of her butt skin! OUCH! I was stupidly using my super-sharp Gingher sewing scissors and didn't realize I had cut her until she yelped and ran for the door.

I feel SO TERRIBLE! She actually seems no worse for the wear. I put some antibacterial ointment on it and she has seemed fine ever since, but boy, do I feel bad. How could I do that to my little kitty baby!!! :(

Here's a recent photo of her exploring in the snow outside our house. We've been getting lots of it lately and she's been dying to go out and sniff around.

You can tell she's a true Yankee Kitty - she seems to LOVE the snow! It doesn't phase her one bit. Good thing she's got extra fuzzy fur growing between her toes!

Cat Person at Dog Show

Yes folks, I - a self-proclaimed cat person - went to the AKC Dog show down at McCormick Place last weekend. The entire building smelled of wet dog and poo, but there were some really cute dogs there and it was fun to see the pure breeds as they should look.

The highlight of my day was meeting the NUMBER ONE PUG in the country! He was super cute and friendly, although I can't say that about his handler.

I asked if I could hold him for a picture and was scoffed at by the handler. Little did I know that he was worth thousands of dollars... how much did that poo he just made cost?

I also saw some of those funny dreadlock-y dogs and the ones with fur all in their eyes.

Here's some of my favorites. I hope you can see the photos this time!