Back to School!

Well friends, it's that time of year again....back to school time. I went back to work this last week, and the kids come tomorrow! It's really hard going back to work after a 10 week break. Now, that's not to say that I didn't do any "work related" things while I was on said 10 week break, but it's just different. Gone are the nights staying up till midnight or later. Gone are the mornings of sleeping in till 9 or later. Gone are my reading marathons where my bottom becomes infused into our recliner. Gone are running errands in the middle of the week. Gone are the Hurricane Harbor adventures. Gone are the empty laundry baskets (since I wore the same thing most of the week...). I can't even stay up late enough to watch The Tonight Show:( I must record it and watch it the next day. Mr. Hubby doesn't particularly like my back to school schedule either. That means that more than likely he will get up with me earlier than he would normally if I was home. He also can't stay up as late as he normally would because I insist upon us going to bed together every night. I just think that it is important for married couples to go to bed together. I always go up to school a couple of weeks before I go back to work and get my room done. I like to enjoy my last week of summer vacation with no work related items to do. When I do return to work, it's all professional development. I like to use my 2 work days to add any finishing touches to my room and my plans. Here is a look at my room before I did any tweaks these past couple of days. Sorry, no updated pics were taken. You'll just have to use your imagination!

Friday night we had our "sneak a peek" where the kids could come and see their teacher and their room. Out of 19 kids on my list, only 8 showed up. I guess I'll have to wait in anticipation until tomorrow to see who else I have coming. The few that did show up seemed sweet. I have a love/hate relationship with the first of the year. I'm excited/nervous about what students I'll have. I'm sad that SOME of my previous students are leaving me, yet happy they moved on to second grade. I don't like starting over and having to teach the routines. Being a person who loves routine, I just function much better after the first few weeks when the kids finally have the routines down. I feel like a more effective teacher when the routines are learned and performed accordingly.

There are a few changes I'm going to TRY to make. And by try, I mean try to be more intentional about doing. Usually, I wake up at 6:30 and am out the door by 7:00. This year my goal is to be up at 6:00 and out the door by 7:00. I want to allow myself some time to have a cup of coffee, some yogurt, make my lunch, and do some reading. At the first of the  month I started reading daily devotionals from this free book I got. While some days they are good, other days just don't make much sense to me. They are also very short. I felt I needed more "meat" to my daily Bible reading. Our church puts out a weekly bulletin with daily Bible readings for Monday-Friday. They've been there all year long. I should have been putting it to use much sooner. Better late than never I suppose. I've added those readings to my daily devotionals. I've really enjoyed starting my day off with The Word. When you start your day with God's Word, you start off with something positive. It's a great building block for your day. This morning's sermon was titled "God is Calling." One of the points made was God is calling us to prioritize our lives correctly. This point is exactly what I've been trying to accomplish most recently. Instead of opening up email and Facebook as soon as I wake up, I need to be opening up the Bible and growing and prioritizing my life. So far, it's been surprisingly easy. When I catch myself opening that Facebook or email app first thing, I stop and remind myself that there is something else more important that I need to start my day. 

I've had a great and busy summer full of experiences and events that have shaped me for the better. Some things have caused me to re-evaluate how I am acting towards others and reflect on the person I am. I'd like to think that I'm a self-reflective person. Realizing my errors in behavior and way of thinking about certain aspects of how my life is going can be a daunting task; however, if one wants to grow, one must be willing to examine one's self and be willing to accept their faults and figure out a way to change for the better. So, as I enter this new school year, I enter with a sense of optimism and excitement for the lives that I hope to shape for the better. I'm shaping the future, people! For some of you reading this, that may be a comfort. For others, I understand your worries and concerns. LOL!

Stay tuned. Next week I hope to have many adventures to share with you!