grey clouds...

I live in Washington {for those of you who didn't know that}.

And while we may be famous for our rain and clouds.... well, that is just what we use as a 'cover' to keep too many people from settling down here.

Granted, it does rain a lot.  And we have a lot of grey days.  And a good portion of them involve some sort of precipitation: rain, sleet, mist, hail, snow....

Today is one of those days. 

After our first few B.E.A.Utiful days of the year this past weekend... Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday have been...icky. 

Rain.

Mist.

Grey clouds.

This morning as I was getting ready, I was listening to our local Christian radio station on my phone {LOVE the new app!}.  The great thing is that they don't have the normal commercials, and instead have these great little mini sermons.

This morning the speaker was talking about being {joyful}.  How our attitude reflects our joy.  And how we are all witnesses to the joy of the Lord.

Ouch. 

I realized that my attitude, was not reflecting the joy the Lord brings...and in turn my attitude was not bringing the joy of the Lord to others.  I love those moments when you have read a verse a hundred times...but it sticks out to you in a different way.  

So this morning, opened my bible, and read about joy...here is what I found. 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ~ Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Romans 12:12 ~ Be joyful in hope, patient in trouble, and persistent in prayer.

James 1:2 ~ Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.

Philippians 4:4 ~ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, Rejoice!

1 Chronicles 16:27 ~ Honor and majesty are in His presence; strength and joy are in His sanctuary.

Psalm 118: 24 ~ This is the day which the Lord has brought about; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

I wish I would always remember to go to the Word when I am feeling down... it really does bring me JOY!

blessed...

This morning was a particularly rough morning at school. 

This past weekend was beautiful and gorgeous weather.  So was Monday. 

Tuesday?  Woke up to rain and dark clouds. 

And that is kind of how my heart has felt this morning. 

{Dark and cloudy.}

Honestly, I was grumpy with my kids this morning.  Not displaying the patience I should have.

But in the midst of all of that... I feel so blessed to have people in my life who truly care.

My dear sweet friend Nicole hand delivered a hot white mocha to my classroom this morning.  In the crazyiness of her day, she took the time to write me a little note and share some of her love. 

I cried in front of my kids. 

On the bottom she write this verse: Ephesians 3:14-21 which says ~

"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

Thank you dear friend for a much needed 'pick-me-up' and encouragment. 

     

task cards...

After discovering an amazing collection of task cards on ProTeacher (a free site, but you have to create a log-in!), I hopped on the 'task card' bandwagon...and wanted to make as many as I could!

I quickly realized there were THOUSANDS available...and they matched up EXACTLY what I wanted to review!

After a quick e-mail to my student's parents... 6 of them volunteers to spend their evening cutting and gluing. :)

So in what would have taken me forever...is now almost done!

Here is one collection of them... each color represents a 'topic'.  They are currently in the laminator, and when I get them back I will hole puch the corner, put them on a ring, and the kids can flip through and answer each card!

I even discovered an answer sheet!  All the kids have to do is put their answer in a box, and it will correspond with each topic covered on the card!  I am REALLY hoping this will help in covering all those 'last minute' things, as well as all the things we covered in the beginning of the year!

My students test May 7th, 8th, and 9th... only two more weeks to go!

7PM...

Tonight I stayed at school until 7PM.

The kids left at 3:25.

My 'paid day' ended at 3:40.  That's 3 hours and 20 minutes of unpaid overtime.

Started the day at 7:30...but started PAY at 8:20.  Again, that is 50 minutes of unpaid overtime. 

Not that anyone is counting...but that is 4 hours and 10 minutes of unpaid work today.  

If we also count the time I spent at HOME working on my project...which was about an hour...I'm up to 5 hours and 10 minutes of overtime...thank you very much. 

Around 5:30, I needed a pick me up.

Enter my amazing husband. 

Who showed up with a Wild Cherry and a touch of Banana slurpee.

And in the midst of my {state testing review, calling parents, planning for next week, and filling out paperwork for student's Dr. visits{.... 

I was reminded how much my hubby loves me. 

So thankful for him. 

  

ready or not...

What my school bag looked like on Friday, when I brought it home from work before break. 

What my school bag looked like on the Sunday night before school starts after break. 

I had really great intentions... but {coffee dates, lunch dates, laying out in the sun, meeting up with friends, house cleaning, car cleaning, laundry, oral surgery, ice cream eating, husband loving, and resting} seemed to have gotten in the way. 

So here I am BLOGGING, at 9:26 PM the night before my first day back....and juuuusttt starting to open up this {mess}, to prepare for the upcoming week!  

grumpy...

The sun is shining...which is rare around here it seems.

I have the day off of work.... lovely.

My husband is also home with me and doesn't have to work the weekend.... love it. 

We don't have anything planned or scheduled to do today... that is rare.

But for some reason...I am GRUMPY.

I don't want to go outside and enjoy the sunshine.

I can only focus on the fact that I have to go back to work in 2 days.

My husband's quirks are grating on my nerves.

And I'm upset that I don't have anything to do, and can't figure out what to do.

I need a major attitude adjustment.

I am thinking a pain pill for my head, a short nap, and hoping that maybe, just maybe, I will wake up LESS grumpy.  Or many not even grumpy at all.  Because, really?  

I have NO REASON to be grumpy!

Is it just me, or does this happen to you too?  

spring break....

Spring Break in Washington is always....interesting.


Monday:  BEAUTIFUL day.  The sun was shining, it was warm, and I felt...productive.  Had coffee with a friend in the morning, got to work out in the morning, and then came home and CLEANED.  Everything.  I even cleaned my car out!


Tuesday:  Not beautiful.  However, it turned out to be a great day.  I was able to have coffee with one of my best friends in the morning, got to catch up with a former student's family and hung out with them for a bit, popped in to another friend, and then had coffee with a girl who I am mentoring.  I totally felt like a normal person doing normal person things...during the day time!  During break I try to squeeze in as much as I can, because normally I just don't have time to do things like this.


Wednesday:  I ended up having surgery and getting my wisdom teeth out. Ouch.  However, it is forcing me to just relax these last few days, and I think that is much needed for my soul.  


Tomorrow is Friday, and we are headed to our church's Good Friday service, and then happy hour with some of our best friends.  


Hoping to feel better tomorrow... I'm ready to be up and moving again!