As if you can't tell...

I've been so, so busy.

Some evenings I don't even get on the computer. Yep, that busy.

I'm not in love with this school year so far. There's lots of stuff I probably shouldn't talk about on here (teaching "stuff" that really has nothing to do with teaching). Sometimes I feel like teaching has become about 30% of my job, and the rest is ridiculous nonsense.

I'm sort of in a crappy mood about it, but you couldn't tell that, could you?

I hope to post about happier things soon, but right now I have to make up a test on Early American Literature. Rock on.

The First Week Back

School started this week. Teachers went back Monday, and the students joined us Thursday.

I don't know enough yet to get a feel for how the year is going to go. I have a completely new crop of students this year (last year I taught many students for the second year in a row), and I hope it is an enjoyable year. I don't know what it is about that first week back, though, that is so completely draining. I feel completely and utterly worn out.

On Tuesday--because we were at school all day and had Open House that evening--The Varsity truck came to serve us lunch. I totally enjoyed my chili dogs and onion rings, and that evening, Amelia enjoyed this hat:

Amelia's Big Girl Room

Last Thursday (not two days ago, but the Thursday before that), we made Amelia's room into a "Big Girl Room" complete with the "Big Girl Bed." When we bought Amelia's bedding and decor for her nursery, I wanted something that could transition well into a room for when she got a little bigger. We kept the same "theme" (daisies) that we used for her nursery, and I absolutely love the result.

Let's take a trip down memory lane, shall we? Here is her nursery. This photo was taken a little before Amelia made her appearance in the world, and the only thing missing is her name on the shelf (because we were keeping the name a secret...and somehow Tim got us into the practice of calling her Coretta):



And here is the Big Girl Room:
I think the glider will eventually be replaced with a pink bean bag for Amelia to sit and read her books. On the adjacent wall to the far right is Amelia's changing table, which is actually a "real" dresser that now has its mirror attached to it. It wasn't really exciting enough to take a photo of yet, but I plan to put a couple of things on that wall, so when I find what I'm looking for and get it up there, I'll take a photo of that, too.

The only snafu we had is that the place where we bought our crib gave us the wrong rails to convert to the full-sized bed. After a VERY heated phone call with the store (Georgia Baby, by the way...I'm totally going to call them out), Darryl finally managed to convince them that they should exchange our rails for the right ones, but they had to order them. (They wanted us to produce our receipt from three years ago to get the rails. I could understand that if we were wanting to exchange the whole crib, but seriously? For the rails? Are you kidding me? They also said WE should have caught the mistake three years ago...when we were getting the bed ready for an infant. Whatever.) So anyway...the boxsprings and mattress are just sitting on the floor right now. There will be a footboard when the rails come in.

Amelia has done really well with the transition, though. She was a little hesitant at first to get in the bed, and I could tell that she thought I was going to share the bed with her. (We shared a bed at the beach, so I think that is where that idea came from.) But she has stayed in her bed each night, so I think she really was ready for the change. She had been crawling out of her crib herself for the past two months, anyway.

So my goal this summer was to get Amelia off the paci completely (check, done!), get her transitioned to a big girl bed (check, done), and get her potty trained (um....). In the words of Meatloaf--and I suspect this will be the ONLY time I will quote Meatloaf, "Two out of three ain't bad..."

The Last Week of Summer, Part 2...A Little Late

A couple of posts ago, I detailed what we did the last week of summer, and I really dropped the ball on finishing up that week. I know...you have waited anxiously for the conclusion.

Thursday, Amelia and I went to the pool that morning and had a big time. Of course, I always seem to make it there just in time for the lifeguards to take a break, so about as soon as we got in the water, we had to get out. It's fun explaining to a two-year-old why she can't get in the water when it is only three feet away, but she handled it pretty well.

That evening, we picked up Amelia's big girl bed and rearranged her room so that it is a big girl room. That deserves a separate post, so I'll wait and discuss those details there.

Friday, Amelia and I rode the carousel at the mall once again. She absolutely loves it. Then we had lunch with Darryl and came home. We ended up going to the indoor "jump and bounce" for one last summer hurrah.

I also did a little shopping Friday night for some school clothes for me. I really need to lose about five pounds (yet again) for my pants to feel "right," but I typically do shave off a few when school starts back because I don't have round-the-clock access to yummy food. I did buy a few shirts, however, and have attempted to break out of my comfort zone by buying some more colorful shirts. I tend to go the black/gray route, but I think I need to change it up a bit.

See...wasn't that conclusion of the last week of summer riveting? I thought so!!

As you can probably tell...

School started back for teachers yesterday, and the weekend before school starts is always ridiculously busy. It's like I suddenly realize all I need to get accomplished before I go back and work, work, work to get it all done.

Anyway...all that to say that I realize I left you hanging on the events of The Last Week of Summer. I know you haven't been able to sleep because of the anticipation.

I hope to fill you in soon. Very soon. Maybe even tonight, if a full day of work (including meetings--yuck) and Open House doesn't get the best of me.

Until then...