Let's! Go! Fly! A kite!

Every month, we do a reading incentive for our first graders. Their homework throughout the month is to read and record 15 books in their reading logs. Students who turn in all their reading logs by the end of the month get to participate in a special party. Past reading incentive parties have included: the "tailgating party" in the fall, the "hot chocolate party" in the winter, and of course this month's party was the "kite-flying party".

Today was said kite-flying party and let me just say...short of a thunderstorm, we could not have picked a worse day. I've been checking the forecast all week. Today was supposed to be mid-70s. Perfect, right? Yeah, only the forecast also called for 20-30 mph winds, with gusts up to over 40 mph. My teaching partner (Lisa) and I decided regardless of the wind, we were going to do it today no matter what. Try telling a bunch of 7-year-olds that it's "too windy" to fly kites. It would not be pretty.

So we did it...and we survived. But just barely. Noteworthy events included:

• One of my little girls (we'll call her "V") is tiny and simply adorable. She is seriously the cutest little girl you'll ever see. Anyway, I was talking to her asking her if she was having fun. All of a sudden a heavy gust of wind came and literally blew her over. She was knocked to her feet. I didn't know things like that actually happened.
• I was in the process of untangled yet another kite when I heard one of my girls, "G", screaming bloody murder. "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!" I run over to her and ask her what's wrong. She just points to the sky with a look of horror on her face. Her kite was high in the sky....blocks away....just floating away past the neighborhoods. Apparently the string broke and the wind was blowing so hard it just kept going. The funniest part was that there were roofers on one of the houses it went by and just watched as it passed by. Luckily, it didn't hit any one (that I know of).
• "G" had a pretty rough day. In addition to her losing her kite miles away, she also got sliced in the face with a kite string.

This is dangerous business, people!

American Family Insurance

I recently did some "shopping around" for homeowners insurance. Being the nerd that I am, I made a spreadsheet that compared the rates and coverages of the 11 companies I looked into. Since many companies offer a reduced rate if you combine your homeowners and auto insurance, I looked at auto rates too. We are currently insured with Progressive. However, we found that we'd save a ton of money if we switched to American Family.

I'm honestly baffled at the difference in cost. If we were to stay with Progressive for both auto and homeowners, we would pay $984.40 MORE per year.

The moral of the story? Do your research. It may have taken a lot of time for me to figure the numbers and find out which company was best...but I'm thinking the extra $1000/yr in my pocket will make it worth my while.

Garage Sale Madness

Yesterday, James and I got up at 6:35 (yes, on a Saturday), had some breakfast and coffee, and then ventured out for some garage sales. We had a list we compiled from craiglists and basically just made our way around town. We ended up garage saling from 7:30 to 11:30. Pretty impressive, huh? I got a couple sets of Legos for a summer school class that I'm teaching. We also got a set of pots and pans.

But best of all, we found the garage sale of a chef! I was in heaven. The girl was a former owner of Taste, a restaurant in Overland Park. She was moving to Florida and wanted to get rid of everything. She had tons of nice white platters and plates...the types you find in nice restaurants. She was asking for $2/piece. We bought everything (14 pieces) for $20. I'm so excited. They will be perfect for entertaining!

http://www.taste-kc.com/gallery.html

We now have pretty much everything you see in those pictures (and more)...including the super cute paint-palette appetizer platter. Fun!

Housewarming Gift

In the middle of a super stressful week, one of my parent volunteers came into my room carrying this:

It was a housewarming basket full of a myriad of paint supplies (a roller, paint mixers, paint tape, plastic drop cloth), picture hanging hooks, a Better Homes & Gardens Kitchen & Bath magazine, a basil plant, a $25 Home Depot gift card, and some Reese's Pieces (just because she knew I love them). It was SO THOUGHTFUL and seriously made my day. I can't wait to start making our new house "home"!

I'm SERIOUSLY losing my mind!

I don't know what's been wrong with me lately. I'm always somewhat forgetful when it comes to where I left my phone in the house or something like that. But the past couple days...it's just been scary.

Yesterday after work I decided to go to Barnes and Noble to buy the next couple books for our Book Club. I've had a gift card for a while and that was really the main reason for going. Plus, they're currently having their 25% off discount week for educators. So anyway, I went to B&N, found the books I needed, and then checked out. As I was walking out, I thought to myself "Wow, I spent a lot more than I was planning." The whole walk to the car I was trying to figure out why my total was so much. I looked over my receipt and it looked right but still it seemed I just paid more than I should have. I got in the car and after driving for a good 5 minutes or so, I finally realized that I never used my gift card. I'm stupid.

So then, on my way home, I decided to stop at Target to pick up some Pepto for James. I also had a Target gift card, so I figured I could browse around while there. I walk into Target and suddenly couldn't remember why I was there. I started looking around and (of course) got distracted for about an hour then finally realized it was 6:20 and I was supposed to be at my house and ready to be picked up for a birthday dinner by 6:45. So I turn around and nearly walked out of the store without the Pepto. Luckily I remembered right before I left and was able to get it. Oh wait, there's more.

I ended up getting home at like 6:40 and had to change, throw up my hair, and freshen up my make up in 5 minutes. So I was all rushed when Lisa showed up to come get me. We went to dinner at Cheesecake Factory and had a great dinner. I got home around 9:30 and had to make a dessert for my Bunco night. So I started on the recipe only to realize I never put my Cool Whip in the refrigerator to thaw. So I basically made half the recipe and then got up early this morning to finish it with the thawed Cool Whip.

I was so proud of myself this morning when I was ready to walk out the door and for once I wasn't running late. And then I realized I had NO idea where my keys were. I looked for 10 minutes....in my purse (100 times), couch cushions, pretty much everywhere. I finally decided I was going to be way late if I didn't just grab my spare key and go. So I look to the key box on our dining room wall (where I usually keep my spare) and realize it's already been packed away. So now I'm like totally late for work and I'm ripping tape off boxes trying to find my spare. I found the key box but it was empty. Of course. Turns out my spare was on the desk upstairs. I had taken it out of the key box when I packed it up. You know, in case I needed it. In all my rush to find my keys, I ended up leaving my sunglasses there and was without them all day today.

So, needless to say, I had a rough morning and I was really looking forward to our counselor lesson this afternoon because it was time that I could sit at my desk and get some work done (or just relax for a minute). So after specials I took my kids back to the room. We typically teach science right after specials. So when I got back to the room, I started freaking out a bit because I had no plans for what I was going to teach in science. So I had the kids sit down on the carpet and I started to wing it. I get about 2 minutes into my science lesson and it dawns on me....we don't have science today. It's a counselor day! Seriously...LOSING MY MIND!

Then at our PLC meeting after school, I realized that the two personal days I took off for moving into the new house conflict with our field trip to the zoo. So now I have to get that all figured out.

Think that's all the forgetfulness that can possibly happen in one 24-hr period? Think again.

As I was leaving work, I looked for the MILLIONTH time in my purse for my missing keys. Sure enough, they were in there....hiding in some secret pocket I've never used in my life. I went home and told James all about the craziness that is my brain and even made a joke about losing my keys again. Then it was time for me to go to Bunco and.......surprise, surprise....my keys were gone again! I didn't have time to even look for them, so I grabbed the spare and left.

Just now got home from Bunco. James told me to look in my purse for my keys. Low and behold...secret pocket.

Somebody needs to just put me out of my misery.

Must be growing up...

Last night was one of my good friend's birthday. It was a beautiful night so we decided to spend it on the roof of The Well in Waldo. Since I hadn't done it in a while, I offered to drive.

And I'm pleased to say that (for the first time ever), instead of getting drunk and having to get a cab home, I actually stayed sober and was able to drive everyone home at the end of the night. Despite not really drinking, I still had a good time! AND I didn't spend much money nor am I hungover today. Crazy, huh?

More new furniture....

Our new house has a finished basement so we've been keeping our eyes open for some used furniture to put down there. Yesterday I was perusing craigslist and found a nice looking 4 piece set (couch, love seat, chair, and ottoman). It was a neutral color and was priced well. We went and looked at it and decided to buy it. So James got ahold of our friend Nate, who has a truck, and the two of them went and picked it up.

Of course, we don't move for another month so it's currently all crammed in our dining room. It actually takes up a ton of space, so I'm thinking it may end up being our regular living room furniture and the black leather couch and loveseat we have now will end up in the basement.

Anyway, it was exciting to make yet another purchase for our new home.

The Latest House News

In my last post about the house, I mentioned that we had our inspection done and that it went well. That following Monday, our realtor sent a list of things we wanted fix to the sellers. On Thursday we heard back from our realtor. She informed us that the sellers had agreed to fix everything we asked them too. Good news! The even better news was that the sellers have found a house and want to close about a month earlier than we previously agreed on. We originally needed a June closing because of our current lease. We didn't want to have to pay rent and mortgage at the same time. The sellers have offered to pay a month of our rent in order to closer earlier.

This is pretty much the best case scenario for us. We get to move in earlier at no extra cost to us. So we're excited...just hoping everything works out. We'll hopefully find out more tomorrow.

April Fools!

I'm not usually one to get into the pranking that goes with April Fools Day. I guess it just seems like too much effort to come up with something good. Well, this year, I wasn't planning on doing anything...but my students were driving me crazy yesterday. They were all wired and wouldn't listen or follow directions. So I randomly, at last minute, decided to pull one on them. It was at the end of the day. They were in their desks and I sat down on my stool at the front of the room and said: "Boys and girls, I have something I need to tell you. I'm not sure how to say this. You know how Mr. Asher and I bought a house? Well, the people who own that house decided they don't want to sell it to us. So we're not going to be able to buy that house. We were both really sad at first, but it's actually okay because we found a different house and it's even better! There's just one thing...it's in Texas. We're going to be moving next week and today is my last day." I have one of my little girls raise her hand and say, "Will you be able to come back and visit us?" I respond with, "No, I don't think I'll ever be able to come back. You guys will have a sub for the rest of the year. I'm hoping she's not a mean one." At this point I look around the room and I have 22 sets of 7-year-old eyes welling up and I realize I'm a horrible person. "Oh, there's one more thing....April Fools!"