Everything is Changing!

This weekend is almost over and I am not ready to go back to work tomorrow. I have a bunch of administrative work to do before school tomorrow and I really would rather blog! Thursday morning I tried to drive to work and my car started billowing smoke. I was pretty close to home so I turned around and parked in front of my house. That is where the car has sat since then. RIP Alero : ( We spent the day Thursday at the car dealership, and with J's name on the home loan and the closing date later this month he couldn't put his name on the car loan, so the car loan is in my name! We bought a 2010 Ford Escape XLT. It is the car I always dreamed, but never actually believed, I would have. I love it. I park it in the driveway and drive any chance I get- it's great1111

Because of the mortgage payments and the car payments we are pretty tightly budgeted out for the next few months. This means less eating out and more eating in. Friday night I made baked potato soup, recipe from a friend of mine, and it was excellent. Saturday I made chicken pot pie and tonight I made beef stroganoff. Tomorrow we are going to go for a leftover/potato soup combination when J gets home from class. I like making food, cooking is fun!

Saturday I went shopping at the outlets with two of my bridesmaids and a friend from college. It was good to get out and see the girls. I found a great pair of jeans and bought some grapefruit spoons. So good to see my friends, and made me so much more excited about the wedding and how much fun it will be!

Today J and I went to church and then met with the priest to start our marriage prep. I have to call tomorrow and make reservations for a class (hopefully sooner than later). When we got home we decided to address Save-The-Dates. My address list is *almost* complete, I am missing a handful of addresses. We addressed 58 envelopes (only 2 oopses) and I need to go to Staples tomorrow to buy 40 more envelopes. I don't know what happened to my small guest list...but I guess it is great that so many people will be able to share our special day. Then we started packing up some boxes of books (I think we are up to 15 boxes) and labeling them with contents and intended room. We need to order more boxes because we ran out and there are still MORE books. We are going to spend over $1000 simply on bookshelves....I can feel it. This stuff will make the trip with us over February break when we close on the house.

Tomorrow will be an interesting day at work. Mondays always are. We start off the day with science class at 8 a.m. which could be a good thing or a bad thing. Hopefully the kids are in positive space!

Where did the weekend go?? So I didn't post last week because things at school are CRAZY! I am trying so hard to remain patient but the kids are really pushing their luck. Most of my students dropped from our highest behavior level and weren't able to participate in an incentive which sent the whole week spinning.

Saturday J and I went and looked at tuxes. I never realized how expensive it would be to rent a tux. I have this horrible guilt every time I ask someone in our wedding party to spend money. But we picked out the tuxes that everyone will wear and J got measured for his. Saturday night we got together with friends of ours. It was good to get together with grown ups, and since the guy is J's best man, it's nice to spend time with him. After a nice evening of dinner and conversation I didn't even complain about not getting to bed until almost 1 a.m.!

So we have big news that I have been keeping to myself for fear of it falling through, but I think we are at a point now where it is ok to say it- we are buying a house! I am very excited about the idea of owning our own house, having our own space and calling it "ours". The house is in Ohio, which many of my family, friends and co-workers are still digesting. It is a time in our lives right now where J and I feel like we are flexible and that change might be the best thing. He has been here for almost 9 years and it will be nice for him to spend some time with his mom, dad, grandparents, brother and niece. I am so excited about being an auntie. When we were in Ohio for Christmas J and I took Miss P to the mall and out for lunch. She is 19 months old, and the most adorable thing ever. I am really looking forward to trips to the zoo, mall, aquarium, park and sleepovers when she is a bit older. I want to spoil her rotten!!!

I want to put up pictures of the house. It's beautiful, and moreover it's ours, but there is some dreadful wallpaper that needs to come down. J and I talked and we decided that after all my years of community service and rebuilding together I am going to attempt to take the wallpaper down in the bathroom. That way if it goes terribly wrong, it isn't a big room that I've ruined. Pictures will definitely come later, for now I have to get back to the children. The bell is about to ring, one more period stands between me and a night of quarterly report editing and the gym!

Happy Day Off!

This weekend was great. J and I spend a bunch of time just enjoying each others company. We went to the movies Friday and saw The Lovely Bones. It was a really great movie. It had me captivated and on the edge of my seat. It could have been a little quicker at times, it seemed like they were really dragging pieces out, but all in all it was a really good movie! Saturday was a lazy day, we sat around listening to music, watching movies and playing video games. Yesterday was by far the best day of the weekend. We went to Providence for a little Fire & Ice and then we went to the Roger Williams Zoo. I love the zoo, and the zoo in the winter is great! There were so few people there, at times it was like my own personal zoo. It was such a great day! Today was a cleaning, getting work done kind of day, a great three day weekend by any standard!

The third quarter starts tomorrow. Things are going to be crazy at work, I can just feel it. There are so many things that are up in the air, changing and new this quarter. I keep telling myself that we are halfway through the year! Hopefully this week goes well...keep your fingers crossed!!

Starting Off the Week

I can't believe that the weekend went so quickly. We kept ourselves very busy this weekend, which was good because looking back we did a lot, but it made the weekend fly by and now Monday is here again. Saturday J and I went to Natick and spent some time at the mall. There are good sales after Christmas, so we picked up a few things from our favorite stores. Then we went to The Container Store which is such a fun store to walk around and plan for "someday". We stopped by Bed, Bath & Beyond and did a few updates to the registry. Finally we ended up at The Melting Pot. If you've never been, you should go, but save your pennies because it isn't cheap! We had such a nice time, I'm so glad we went.

Sunday we went and picked up envelopes and pens to start addressing envelopes for Save The Dates. Then we met up with a friend and had lunch at P.F. Chang's. We tried to go bowling but I was carded (apparently you have to be 21 to bowl on Sunday afternoon) and then there was going to be a long wait for a lane so we walked around and window shopped. J got bored so we went to Toys R Us and got a present for Peyton and then went to the Museum of Bad Art. It was a pretty productive day, and a pretty productive weekend overall. The gym was not in our plans, and we didn't end up going at all.

This week should be busy. Things at work will be hectic because it is then end of the second quarter and quarterly reports and grades are due by the middle of next week. Another teacher and I are starting a poetry class during lunch tomorrow. I actually have more students interested than I thought I would. I hope it goes well, I like working with this particular teacher, so I am planning on this being a success! I just found out one of my students has bacterial pneumonia, which is highly contagious. Cross your fingers that she didn't leave her contagions behind!

Week Wrap Up

Yikes! Where has the week gone? I have wanted to write nearly every day, and I just haven't had the opportunity. Let's update the goals of the week- Save The Dates came in on Wednesday. I'm excited about having them, they didn't come out exactly like I wanted them to, but what's done is done. J gave two of them to people at work and I almost died. I understand he was excited, but I didn't even see them before they were distributed!!! After all the anticipation of finally having them I can say I definitely overreacted, but we've moved on and now the scramble is on for those addresses! The gym has been my best friend this week. J and I have gone every night so far, and a friend even joined us last night. 35 minutes on the elliptical machine goes by so much faster when Snookie and Pauly D. are there to entertain me! I really enjoy going to the gym and I hope it continues. I've even played around with the idea of going before work...we'll see!

This is my free block at the end of Friday, finally some time to breathe! I missed 3 classes today because a school district decided yesterday to call an IEP meeting today. The look on the school administrator's face when we actually produced a *nearly* complete IEP in less than 24 hours was priceless. The student's parents were present at the meeting and the father grasped my hand and thanked me graciously for all of the wonderful work that I do with his daughter. It was a great meeting- makes me feel good, and makes me feel like I should work even harder!

This weekend should be good. No major plans, just relaxation! I absolutely NEED to set up a meeting with the priest because we are almost 6 months (Oh My Gosh!) away from the wedding! J and I beat our Mario game last night, so it won't be used as an excuse not to do things this weekend. Overall, I am just going to enjoy sleeping late and relaxing with J. Sounds like the perfect weekend to me!

Another Day In Paradise!

One more class stands between me and the end of the school day. The first day back wasn't as bad as expected. Most of the kids seem to be rather subdued today. A lot of bragging is going on between a few students about who got what for Christmas. It is sad to see the look in my "poorer" students faces when they try to compare their new sweatshirt to the iPod touches and dirt bikes. The worst part is that there may not be an iPod touch, a dirt bike or a paintball gun...but the other kid will never know that. High point of my day- a newer staff member tried to sign off on a student's homework sheet. The student got upset and called for me stating, "I want Cass to do it! She's with us 24/7." I hope I am with them 24/7. When their parents call them retarded or leave them home alone during the holidays I hope they know that someone cares. Along the same lines...everyone should see The Blind Side. I want to be that woman, that inspires and gives comfort to kids who everyone else forgot or pushed aside.

There is so much to do this week. J e-mailed and said that the Save the Dates are going to be in on Wednesday. I better get that mailing list started! I have some extra work (meaning extra pay) to do this week as well, so I should get that going tonight. The server was down over the break, otherwise I would have done it then. We are totally on for the gym tonight. I think I am making ham for dinner...or maybe the chicken that I didn't cook last night. The gym is going to factor in later this evening because I can only imagine how many people will be there trying to work off the holiday pounds from this year, or last year, or the year before....you get the idea. Thank goodness the gym is open until 11! The elliptical machine is calling me...Cass....Cassss!!

The bell is about to ring, so my 45 minutes of quiet time is ending. Last period is always the most difficult. (It's the end of the day, why should I do work?) Hopefully the students will enjoy thinking of their own New Year's Resolutions, and that will ease the pain of writing an essay about it!

Oh, just so everyone knows, it is FREEZING COLD in my classroom today. The one day that I don't bring a sweater....BRRRRRRR!

New Year, New You!

Welcome to 2010 and welcome to my new blog. I am in my 20s and I am getting married in July. My fiance and I live and work in the Boston area, but are looking at possibly moving elsewhere in the near future. My grandmother suggested that I chronicle this new chapter in my life, and considering the large amount of time I spend on the computer this seems to be the best way.

I didn't make a New Year's Resolution this year. I make one every year, and I never stick to them. At Christmas Mass this year the priest said that most people break their resolutions within a few weeks of making them. Rather than setting myself up for failure I decided to just try to enjoy life.

I am excited about wedding plans. Everything seems to be falling in place. I recently bought my dress and the Save The Dates should be in sometime this week. My challenge right now is getting addresses for all of the people on my guest list. Mom and Dad Tracy and Mom and Dad Freeman are going to have to help in this process!

My other challenge is the holiday pounds I've been vowing to get rid of since last year. The day I got engaged I promised I would start eating right and exercising daily, that hasn't happened. J and I have a gym membership, and we really should use it more that we do. Sickness and holidays have been our most recent excuses. Tomorrow we are supposed to go after work...let's see how it goes!

Winter vacation is over. It was all too short. Just about time to start lesson planning for the week. Good news- Lord of The Rings is on in 30 minutes and it will keep me company as I plan for the week.