Another very busy day at school.  Lots of paperwork to go over before Spring Break!!  ONE MORE DAY!!!  I'm going to go in at 7:00 a.m., in the morning, to see if I can get everything completed before I walk out of the school building at 3:15 p.m. tomorrow!!!  Looking forward to NINE days off!!  :)  My kiddos were extremely good today and I was able to go through all of my Confidential folders in order to see what still needs to be done before ending the year in May.  Too bad I don't own stock in Post-it notes!!  I used a ton of them today!!  The shredder is also my best friend. 

I was really excited a couple of days ago to find out that since we didn't use ANY of our snow days this year, we will get Good Friday off, then, every Friday in May!!!  Four day work week!!  Yes!!  Not too shabby.   If I had my druthers though, I'd love it if they put all those days together and just let us out a week early!!  Oh, well, beggars can't be chosers, eh?  I'll take a few three day weekends!!  I think I can find something to keep myself amused and or busy.

Oh, my, I really need to hit the hay.  Early day tomorrow, and one last IEP meeting squeezed in before Spring Break!!

Success!! I've been trying to do the mobile blogging from my phone, but, for some reason, it just wouldn't work. I FINALLY figured it out!! Woo-hoo!!

Testing...1, 2, 3...

TWO MORE DAYS!!!  Spring Break, here we come!!!  Absolutely cannot wait!!!  Fourteen more class periods.  Less than 48 hours.  No, I'm not anxious!!!  Of course, I will miss my babies!!!  Those precious little pre-teens, gotta love 'em.  No, really, I'm not being sarcastic, I promise.  :)  This year has just flown by.  Testing, lots of testing after Spring Break... the remainder of the year will both fly by and drag by at the same time.  Only a middle school teacher, principal, counselor, or staff member could possibly understand that concept.  God Bless 'em. 

My Dad has had two really good days this week.  He called me yesterday after I got home, and told me all about his day!!  It was so good to hear him being able to convey his thoughts without struggling with his words.  I went to see him and ate a little supper with him while I was there.  He's losing so much weight.  I'm startled at the weight loss each time I see him.  It just breaks my heart.  Dear Lord, please protect him from any pain he might experience from the chemo.  Praying for more good days.  Praying for a miracle.  Praying for time.   He still calls me "baby" and still tells me he loves me several times while I'm there.  I don't want to think what it will be like if I lose him. 

We had another beautiful day today!!  Oh, how hard it is to stay inside the classroom when it's this gorgeous outside.  The day started out cloudy and I thought we'd get some more much needed rain, but, it turned out to be a sunny day later on in the afternoon.  Either way, I'm good.  I just love the many faces of Spring!

I sat on my front porch for a little while this evening and enjoyed the cool breezes and the jibber jabber of little Jakob, my twenty-one month old perfect grandbaby, who just happens to live right next door.  :)  I watched Miss Kitty, our outdoor grey cat, (who is at least ten years old) dodge the quick moves of  little Jakob, who doesn't yet understand the importance of an "easy pat" vs. "a rough pat".  Miss Kitty is very understanding and gentle with Jakob, but also thought my lap might be a safe choice for protection.  I'm going to miss Jakob when he and his parents move thirty miles down the road, but, I'm extremely happy that they are getting to build a new house.  This big, old house will be lonely this summer.   

Super busy day at school.  So much paper work.  I'm talking monumental piles.  Ugh.  Not my favorite thing to do, but, I tackled a huge portion of it, and am making steady progress.  I'm trying to get as much done before Spring Break as I possibly can AND still teach my kiddos a thing or two.  Ha!  ;)  No, seriously, I really am trying to teach them something important and vital to their future.  What, you say? 

The skill of Reading and all things associated with it!  Motivation?  "You must pass your eighth grade reading test, in order to obtain your driver's license."  Really?  Yes, REALLY!! 

For the first time, in a long time, I got into my truck when I left school today and it was actually HOT inside my truck.  The weather is just absolutely beautiful.  This weather makes me want to be outside.  Hmmmm....maybe my class needs to read outside tomorrow????  :)

I'm ready to break out the lawnmower!  There's not quite enough grass to cut, but, I can see green tufts here and there.  Maybe by the weekend there will be enough to mow.  I love the smell of fresh cut grass.  Isn't it funny how certain smells like that can bring back childhood memories?  I even like the sound of a lawnmower.  Something about it says springtime, summer, barefoot weather, watermelons and raspberry iced tea goodness.

A high of 78 degrees today!  I love my rain, but, I equally love 70s and 80s degree type weather.  Makes me want to get out and dig in my flower bed.  It's getting so close to Spring and I love the cozy sweater weather that comes with it!!  The trees are budding out, and my forsythia bushes that I planted last fall have a few beautiful, bright yellow blooms on them!!!!  I'm so excited!!  I didn't think they had actually even survived.  The rain this past weekend did the trick I'm sure. 

Can't wait to go pick out the plants for my flower bed.  Hoping that we don't receive any freezing temps from here on out.  I'm going to wait at least another week or two before I start planting, to be on the safe side.  Since my Spring Break is next week, it will be very tempting to go ahead and do some planting.  We shall see what the weather does. 

I'm also very excited to go help a friend paint her new home this coming Saturday.  She was the lucky recipient of a Habitat for Humanity home.  I'm so happy for her and her little boy.  I wanted to help with the building process, but something has come up each and every Saturday preventing me from helping with that.  I have cleared the books for this Saturday though.  I am bound and determined to help her at least get the painting done.  Call me weird, but, I LOVE to paint!!

Four more school days until SPRING BREAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Ya....HOO!!!!  Can't wait!! 

I never sleep in.  Rarely take naps.  Rarely.  Until today.  I slept to the tune of the falling rain.  Quite awhile, in fact.  It was nice.  It felt good.  A good, long nap.  I needed that.  I guess I REALLY needed that.  Good sleep.  Rainy day sleep.  The best kind.  The only time I ever slept better was on a cruise ship.  BEST. SLEEP. EVER.  Period. 

Now, it's almost midnight, and guess what?  I'm WIDE awake!  Wishing I were just a tiny bit sleepy, especially since I have a meeting bright and early first thing in the morning.  Arrgggghhhh....hope I am able to get up on time.

So much to do, get done, finish.  So little time.  There are never enough hours in the day. 

I have a good friend who often says, "It's either feast or famine."  Boy, did she get that right.  Why is it always that way?  Hmmmmmm.... 

Time will tell.  Patience.  Trust in the Lord, always.

LOVE, love, love the rain. 

Remember the rain?  Remember?  Think about it.  One of my favorite things to hear, feel, smell.

I slept so good last night.  Fell asleep listening to the rain hit the window next to my bed.  What a peaceful sound.  Slept like a baby.

Walked through the puddles on my way to feed the horses.  The puddles.  I remember riding through them on my bicycle as a child.  The bigger the splash, the better.  Oh, the memories associated with rain.

Life-giving rain. 

Memory making rain...

Promises...

One massage given.

One pedicure received.

Horses fed.

Visited with Dad.

Saturday night. 

Waiting for the rain.

Missing you.

Went to Tulsa this evening with a couple of teacher friends to hear Temple Grandin speak.  She was very much as the movie portrayed her.  It was amazing, to say the least.  I respect and admire her, and was surprised to learn she has a great sense of humor.  I am going to have to get my movie about her out and watch it again.  I loved the movie.  What an extremely intelligent, unique individual.  I will add one of my pictures of her later.