i feel doggone good

I did it. I adopted Popeye! I get to pick him up tomorrow after 4pm, and I'm so excited! The whole time we were at the SPCA I was trying to talk myself out of getting a dog, rationalizing why now isn't the right time, but as soon as they let me play with him in the "get acquainted room", it was over. I love that dog! Look how sweet he is...

I think the missing eye gives him character :)

I feel like a kid on Christmas (apparently Popeye did too, because this picture had to be censored!)

Sean, the cat lover who didn't even want a dog, is excited about Popeye!

Brian pretty much convinced me I had to get Popeye. Apparently he's going to teach Popeye tricks... (we'll see about that).

My mom thinks I'm crazy for getting a dog, and mean for making him live in an apartment, but I'm still so excited! I think summer will be a great time to have him, since I'll be home a lot more and able to spend lots of time with him! (And yes, this is the third post in one day which seems excessive, but I just had to show off pictures..)

art project gone wrong

I love Jon & Kate Plus 8, and this week, there was a marathon on leading up to the season 5 premier, so of course I set the DVR to record it! On one of the episodes, the kids went to an art studio and made some really cool paintings by layering. It looked like they were making a giant mess (a lot like we do every day in my classroom), but in the end the paintings came out way neat. My roommate and I had just been talking about needing something for the walls in our living room, and when I showed him the show, we decided that we were going to make some ourselves. All I can say is thank goodness we tried on small canvases first. Because our "art" came out looking like this...


Apparently we're less talented than 5-year-olds! They came out abstract looking alright, just not anywhere near "cool". Looks like we need a new decorating plan...

to dog or not to dog

I might be getting a dog today. Which for me would be a very, very impulsive move. I've been wanting a dog for a while, but I keep telling myself that I want to wait until I live in a house with a yard, until I have more time, until I live somewhere that doesn't require a giant pet deposit and charge pet rent. And in all honesty, I've always liked playing with other people's pets, but I've never been one of those super pet-lovers. Until yesterday, when I met Popeye. Brian and I convinced Sean that going to the SPCA would be fun, just to look. And I was totally convinced that all I was going to do was look, I definitely wasn't going to bring anything home. But how can you resist a doggie as cute as this?

I mean really, just look at him! (The picture doesn't even show his true cuteness). Popeye is a terrier mix, he's 8 months old, is white with brown spots, and he only has one eye. Now most people probably wouldn't want a dog with one eye, but I think it makes Popeye even cuter and more special. (It's probably the special education teacher in me, because my other favorite dog at the shelters was the one who only has three legs.) He looked so sad and lonely in the cage, and he was sticking his little nose out to smell my hands... I think I'm in love!

So we're sitting here eating breakfast, and afterward we're going to head over to the SPCA to go visit Popeye and play with him for a little bit. And if he's as fun out of the cage as he is in the cage, I think I'm officially going to become a dog-owner. Sean's laughing, saying he totally called it that I was going to fall in love and take one home, even though I claimed to be "just looking". Brian's totally on board and want's Popeye just as much as I do, so much so he's even willing to pay half of the expenses. It's a huge, crazy decision... but everbody's got to act out of character once and a while. Right?

trash to treasure

Since I started teaching in August, I've started collecting things that, to anyone else, would either be trash or recyclables. I've got boxes and bags of bottles, boxes, paper towel and toilet paper rolls, milk jugs, meat trays, you get the idea. Why? Because these things are great for art projects and other fun adventures we have in the classroom! If you're a teacher, you understand. If not, you're probably thinking I'm weird right about now, but it only gets weirder..

Tonight I went to take my trash down the hall to the trash chute like any other night, expecting to hold my breath, dump, and run. But, instead I hit the jackpot! Someone had just moved in, and in the trash room were two large, very clean, wardrobe boxes. (You know... the big tall kind). My kiddos at school LOVE to play in boxes (as evidenced by the beat up one we painted and turned into a house on fire), so I dumped my trash and then scoped out the boxes. They looked clean and just had a few random shirts thrown in the bottom, so I decided to take them.

I dragged them down the hall as fast as I could because let's be honest... a person taking boxes out of the trash looks pretty darn weird! Anyway, I got them into my apartment and started taking the stuff out of the bottom. There were a few random papers, but also quite a few nice items of clothing, and since I was always taught that you should donate your clothes to goodwill/the women's shelter, I packed them into a bag. BUT, in addition to all of the clothes, there was a gently worn Coach purse. I couldn't believe it! So your purse is a little loved, you're just going to throw it away? A little antimicrobial febreeze and it's all clean.

What started out as salvaging some boxes for my friends at school ended up with me getting a new purse as well! Looks like my habit of saving junk paid off today... :)

happy week

I'm almost scared to say it because I might jinx it, but this has really been a great week so far! I love surprises almost as much as I love surprising people, and since there has been some of both already, I'm a happy girl!

Since it's teacher appreciation week and we've been doing some fun things at school, and I got some super cute presents from PPCD in my box! It's also nurse's appreciation week, and since my class is so close with the nurse, and this is her last year at our school, I decided to do something fun. So every morning, on my way to the cafeteria, I drop off a present on the bench outside of her office with a note from her "secret pals". Hearing her talk about how happy the surprises make her and how it's the first time anybody has recognized nurse's appreciation in the 5 years she's been at GVE makes me SO glad I decided to do something. I can't wait for the next surprises to come, they're pretty fun. :) (Thanks Kristi, for reminding me that doing something for my general ed teachers would be awesome as well!)

On the topic of teachers, I was chatting with one of the kindergarten teachers this afternoon and asking her when kindergarten graduation was, because I wanted to get the information out early to the parents of my two friends who are graduating too. She looked at me a little crazy... and then said "oh... we've never had PPCD kids graduate with us before.. but um... I guess it'd be ok." Good thing friend, otherwise we would've been having a not so nice chat. So yay, my friends are going to be part of the kindergarten graduation! It's so hard to believe this year is almost over... wow.

On a completely unrelated note, we made homemade salsa last night (a little early for cinco de mayo, I know) , and mmm it was good! I know this post was way random but hey, it's what was on my mind.

rude awakenings of post-college life

Lots of things change after you graduate college, and apparently one of those is that you can't party like you're in college anymore. Sean and I went out with some college friends last night and had a great time, but boy oh boy I'm paying for it today. Lucky me, I have the sweetest boyfriend who's taken care of me all day, and hasn't even laughed at my expense!

My roommate on the other hand, has been giving me an extra hard time and trying to convince me that rather than having a hangover, I have the swine flu. He just wants the district to cancel school! Sorry friend, Emily already tried to convince her dad. No luck.

So yeah, it's an extra lazy Sunday. Just what the doctor (er...margaritas) ordered.

retraction

**Long post warning: This post is VERY long. But also funny.**

If you know me at all, you know I'm prone to embarrassing moments. You might even know that prior to today, my most embarrassing moment was when my top fell down during a drill team performance and I exposed myself to a ton of students and parents, my dad caught it on video, and then half the school knew about it the next day. That was of course, until today tied that...

Today was a crazy Friday (as usual) in my classroom! One of my friends was way more off the wall than usual, which in turn had all of my other friends acting super silly too. My aide had to leave unexpectedly because her mom was sick, and we borrowed an aide from next door. So things were wild. We had made our blue jello already (speed set method so we could eat the rainbows today of course), and were sitting down on the carpet to read a story. We had just gotten settled when I looked up to see Cyndi and Christy at my door (my special ed "bosses"). What a nice surprise!

So Cyndi and Christy come in and they've got flowers and a balloon and presents, and I'm thinking "what in the world?....". And they proceed to congratulate me on being rookie of the year and tell me how proud they are. So I'm smiling, and thanking them, all the while thinking to myself "I'm still not sure what's happening"... because I won rookie of the year at my campus before spring break, and my super wonderful PPCD team had already given me a present... Anyways, we chat a little more and they they had to head out to congratulate a middle school rookie of the year. A few minutes later I took one of my friends to the nurse, and when I walked in, she and another teacher said "congratulations, winning district rookie of the year is so awesome!". At this point I was REAL confused. I thought Cyndi and Christy were congratulating me on being campus rookie of the year... and that the district one would probably be announced at the awards banquet later.

But then more people started congratulating me. And then the announcements came on, and our assistant principal proceeded to announce to the whole school that I had won district rookie of the year. So I started thinking "Um... I guess I did win.. but it's super strange that Cyndi and Christy didn't say that explicitly. Weird" I went back to my room, emailed a thank you to the lovely special ed admin folks for the flowers and gifts, then went to lunch.

Well when we got back from lunch Cyndi called and our conversation went something like this:
Cyndi: I hope we didn't get our wires crossed, the things we brought you were to congratulate you on being GVE's rookie of the year.
Me: Oh ok, that's what I thought. But then I got really confused, because people started congratulating me on winning district.
Cyndi: No, they don't announce the district awards until the banquet. But we're totally rooting for you
Me: Oh ok, awesome. I was just so excited to be chosen at GVE. BUT... um... they announced that I won district on the intercom at school...
Cyndi: Oh...no...I'm so sorry for the confusion

Then we get off the phone. And all I can think is OH.MY.GOSH.I'M.SO.EMBARRASSED. Because the whole school has been congratulating me on something I didn't even win. And then I'm thinking "how do I fix this?". I ended up emailing the assistant principal, telling her that somehow there was a miscommunication, and asked her if there was a way we could clarify... Which lead to the retraction. On the afternoon announcements, she got on and made a statement to the effect of: we know Ms. Horner is the GVE rookie of the year, and we hope she wins district rookie of the year at the awards ceremony." AWKWARD.

Now I'm just hoping everyone forgets about it by Monday.

Poor Sean had bought me flowers today just because (yet another reason why I love him!), and then when I brought home the flowers from school he felt one upped. I say they're both beautiful. Happy Weekend!