DIY Christmas Decorations

I'm not particularly creative, but when I saw this idea on Pinterest, I thought, heck, I can do that! I love it so much, that I figured I'd blog it in case anyone else wants to do it. Also, and more likely, so that I can remind myself how easy it was for Christmases in the future!

First, you need to gather your supplies: 

Literally, just ribbon (mine is from Sam's club, and is wired and covered in Glitter), scissors, and tape.  Here's an interesting note here: if you don't mind glitter all over your kitchen, glitter ribbon is great. If you're a clean freak: steer clear of the glitter. My counters, stovetop, and floor are covered in glitter!

Next, use the ribbon to determine how long you need it. I just had enough to wrap maybe 2 inches along the back of the cabinet at the top and bottom. 

Cut to size, then tape, yes, tape, the ribbon to the cabinet. That's it. Another note here: I'm one of the least OCD people you'll meet, and I also have a terrible time deciding if things are straight or centered. If you are a little more OCD, the project may take a longer time, or you may want to just not do it. 

Another note, please be more intelligent than I am. In the process of cutting my first ribbon, I also cut the skin between my thumb and first finger (you know, that really skinny part?). I had to rush to the bathroom to stop the bleeding and grab a band-aid. I'm a klutz, so I'm sure that won't happen to you. 

Next step: gather your cards and something to attach them. Right now, I have all of 3 Christmas cards. So I picked them up and used paper clips. The pin I found had super cute clothespins, which is great also, but I had paperclips, so that's what I used. 

Attach the cards and you're done!! Here's my final project;

I love it! The husband: "mmmhmmm. Lovely." Drenched in sarcasm of course, as he is a grinch in regards to decorations. He's also a bit on the OCD side, so we'll see how many times I am asked to adjust the ribbon!

Happy decorating! 

Overheard at Christmas

My neice O had written a letter to Santa. It was short, in that she is not yet 3 and can't actually write. All it said was love and her name:

Me: "what does your letter say?"

O: "it says (and points to her name) I A"

Me: "No, that says O L"

O: "No, it says I"

Me: "No, that's an O"

O: "nuh uh. That's an I"

Me: "which one of us can read?"

O: "What?"

Me: "which one of us can read? Can you read or can I read?"

O: "You can. You can read"

Me: "Okay, so I'm telling you, because I can read, that says O."

When we were putting the presents from D & I under the tree, my nephew B saw one labeled to Daddy. He got very excited about his Daddy's present. 

Me: "no, that's not Daddy's. Who is my daddy?"

B: "ummm. D?"

Me: "No, who is my daddy?"

B: "D!"

Me: "My Daddy?"

B: "I haven't met your daddy yet."

Insert hysterical laughter. 

Me: "Papo. B, Papo is my daddy."

B: "Oh yeah! I forgot!"

Then, as we were unwrapping gifts, I glanced over at my brother in time to see him opening the book I bought my dad. The very present that led to the above conversation.  

Me: "Oh, um, that's not yours"

T: "What?"

Me: "I must have put...oh...I put To Daddy on it. You should have gotten a card"

T: "seriously? Oh man. Well...thanks for the card."

Random Ramblings

Hey everyone! I'm going to apologize in advance for the complete lack of a general theme for this post. I basically have a handful of random thoughts, and about 30 min to kill, so here goes.

- I feel like my life has taken a weird circle backwards. Currently, I'm sitting at a hotel about 30 min from my parents' house waiting for a conference to begin. Sometime in the early 2000s, I attended a different conference (or the appropriate word is probably convention) in this. Exact. Hotel. The difference: that one was for Beta, this one is for my state education association. Also, I'm choosing to stay at home tonight rather than at the hotel, and in high school I certainly chose to stay at the hotel. (My friend S & I may or may not have attempted to make coffee, then ice it down, then add the hard peppermint candies to make it taste better. It was disgusting.)

- I've hit an invisible wall of sorts where my students are driving me insane at no fault of their own. They're done with this semester; I am done with this semester; we have 12 more class periods before our state SOL and another 5 more before Christmas Break. 

- You know what I'm hoping cures that? The fact that I left work today after 2nd block. I took a gorgeous backroads drive to my parents house on a 70+ degree day. I then got to swing and ride bikes and play with a plastic toolbox and a matchbox car for a few hours. I also got to be greeted by 3 running children, grinning & shouting my name. That's true therapy. 

- I hate that my baby boy is growing up. My oldest nephew is in 1st grade. He has adult conversations. He has lost teeth. And today, I had to actually pedal quickly to keep up with him. What happened to my little mini me? The one that exhausted me by chasing me with the plastic popper all through the house? I definitely want to freeze time. Today though, as we put the bicycles up, he pulled on my hand, and when I looked down his little lips were puckered up for a kiss. Heart melting. 

- I have been riveted by the JFK coverage recently. I find it so fascinating and so saddening at the same time. Thankfully, I teach high schoolers, so I can do things like show actual assassination footage and discuss the implications on current security. And they ate it up. Standardized testing can be on hold. My freshman learned today; it didn't have anything to do with Renaissance Europe. It did, however, have 20 14 year olds riveted. Some went googling more information on their phones. Some of my sophomores have on their own watched Kennedy footage that I suggested in class. That changes lives. That infuses a lifetime love of learning. Not a forced discussion of economic interdependence, regardless of it's relevance. 

- I am a born and bred don't decorate until after Thanksgiving girl. It angers me to see commercials and decorations, and especially hear Christmas music before Thanksgiving. I will fully embrace Christmas the minute I wake up on Black Friday (though, I will not attend shopping events. I have a horrible crushing panic in that environment). I just want people to appreciate Thanksgiving. You know that picture of the Turkey yelling at Santa to back off? I am on Team Turkey. 

- I have a piercing and crippling fear of stingrays. It's bizarre. It came up in class this week as we were discussing global food supply and a student said he wanted to move to Australia so he could eat kangaroo and those horrible sea creatures. I cringed involuntarily. I was then called out on it as a 15 year old asked if I was aware that the fear was irrational. I'm now that teacher who is afraid of something my students thing is stupid. Yep. Yay me. 

That's all for now, my conference will start in a few minutes. If you are still reading this, thanks for sticking around so long!

School Shootings

Today, I got a text message from my mom. "Scary time to be a teacher. Love you"

Being the way uninformed history teacher I currently am, I had to ask her what was going on.

She directed me to the news, where my CNN app alerted me to not one but 2 teacher deaths at the hands of students. In two different states. In two days. 

While you, by all means, can and should go read about the incidents, I want to reflect on my own personal feelings. This post is really an emotional outlet for me right now, so feel free to just stop reading if you're hoping for anything lighthearted or well constructed. I promise to not be offended. 

When I read both articles, I first thought about how horrible it is for the family of the teachers who lost their life. Never did I ever think that I was entering a profession where my life was in jeapordy. Despite Columbine and Virginia Tech, school is a safe place to me. The family members of slain teachers probably felt the same way. Until this week. 

My next thought, was how do you expect a math class to move on when their teacher was murdered? In the land of high stakes testing, those kids are being dealt a tragic hand. I only hope they are able to heal their hearts, because only then will the begin to grasp the concepts the state says they have to have. It also occurred to me that we must live in a bizarre world when my thought was not, "how do these kids ever feel safe?" 

I then reflected on my own day. Today, in 1st block, I fussed at my freshmen for not listening. I fussed again at them for talking to much. In 2nd block, I marked 4 tardy for standing in the doorway. I gave them a harshly phrased talking to about how I'm tired of warning them about being in their seats when the bell rings. In 4th block, I fussed at a student for looking at his phone, and then for lying about it. All in front of his peers. After school, a student came to me in tears, upset about what a classmate had said about her. That one I hope I handled well, and then sent it down to guidance also. I will not have a child be called stupid and not have guidance aware that she's being bullied. 

Suffice it to say, today has not been my finest teaching day. Any one of my students could have left today feeling angry and upset. Do I think that they're angry enough to bring a gun to school? No. Do I think for a second anyone thought these young men would? No. 

So you know what my last thought was? I want to hug each and every single one of my kids tomorrow. Even if they are high schoolers. Even if they are big, burly, teenage boys. I want all of them to know that I value them. I fight for them. I want them to succeed. 

I want them to know that I love them. And I will tell them tomorrow. 

If you're still reading, thank you. I love you for that, even if you're a stranger. Change a life tomorrow, even if it's just by smiling. 

Midweek Confessions

These are going to be short, so be sure to go check out E's page for extra entertainment!



 - My uncle is coming to visit on Friday, stay the night, and participate in this cool competitive pistol shooting thing (very technical name, I know).  Great right?  Except that there are 2 cycles worth of laundry on the guest bed, and my hamper has overflowed to the ground.  And there are dishes in the sink from 2 days ago.  And I didn't vacuum at all this weekend.  And some people think that I should have my students actually learning in my classroom.

- Speaking of learning, I had my first informal evaluation of the year.  In my previous teaching roles I either (a) never turned in lesson plans because they weren't required, or (b) was always late or forgot to turn them in, facing reprimand from administration.  Here, I only need them completed when I get observed.  Today, we started a new unit in WHI and I hadn't planned out the unit yet (on paper).  Fabulous.  Granted, I did give over all my lessons, including WHII, which were done, so maybe she'll be sort of okay with it.  Yeah...probably not...

- I am not happy about this cold weather.  At all.  Except one thing, my usually sweltering classroom was finally comfortable.  Well, it was comfortable, and then in 2nd block the students opened the windows, so by the end of the block I was freezing.  I'm usually cold though, so I can deal with that.

How's your week going?

Midweek Confessions

It's that time again y'all.  And as, always, definitely go check out E at www.emyselfandi.com, because she's adorable and there's a whole link to other Midweek Confessors for your viewing pleasure.

1. I hate doing laundry.  Hate hate hate it.  Always have.  I tend to either (a) put it off until I have no more suitable options or (b) wash it, wait 2 days, fold it, wait until I need to do laundry again, put it away.  It drives my husband crazy. It drove him so crazy that instead of doing our laundry, I do mine, and he does his.  It drove my parents crazy.  It's something I just can't seem to change.  For example, 2 weekends ago, I started doing laundry, and ran out of time.  I left the dirty whites in a pile in our bedroom.  They are still there

2. I misplaced my glasses on today.  The ones I can't legally drive without.  I dug up an old pair that I keep in the bottom of my glove box.  I, in my frustration, worried that maybe my husband accidentally threw them away when he was taking out the trash.  I still haven't found them

3. I am ready for a snow day.  Not in the, I can't wait for winter way, because I hate the cold.  In the, I really need a break from my kids and work way.  We have a 2 hr early dismissal on Friday, which is great except that we have staff development.  We don't get to go home early.

How's your week going?

Midweek Confessions

For those of you who don't know, E over at emyselfandi does this hilarious midweek confessions series. I'm linking up with her to dish out some self-deprication. (And, E, I'll add one of your cute buttons tomorrow...)

1. I did not cook a meal once last week. We ate out every. Single. Day. Granted, one night I was out with D's mom & Nama. But still. We ate a lot of fast food. 

2. I also didn't do any dishes or unload the dishwasher all week. It took a long time on Saturday to go through a week's worth of breakfast, lunch, & water bottles. 

3. I left my laptop at home yesterday. As in, omgwhatamigoingtodo all my notes and prep stuff is on my laptop, which is 45 minutes away and class starts in 3 minutes. Luckily, only one student knew. She happened to be standing in front of me when I reached down into my bag and panicked. Today, she didn't bring in her homework. Guess who didn't collect homework today, largely as a result? Also luckily, my freshman class had a search through the book assignment that took them 30 minutes, so I had time to remake my French Revolution notes, which were more boring, but at least they existed!

4. I'm typing this in bed. At 9:45. Because I just can't stay staring at my computer working on grades or the next unit any longer. 

5. I cuss myself every time I give a project. Really, the technology challenged of the high school seem to land in my class every semester. 

6. My flower bed is a garden of grass calf-high. And I'm cool with that. My new goal: save enough money to totally rip it out and start over. Maybe pour concrete down to keep the wire grass out next time. I really just don't remember to weed anything. Or water it. Oops. 

Have some funny things to share: Confess away below!!!!