That Time of Year

I feel like I am a rut with school and my daily routine. It seems to be the same old, same old day in and day out which is getting old quickly. I am ready for the "Winter Holidays" since it is politically incorrect to say Christmas Break. To top off my routine, I have gotten worse instead of better. So frustrating since I have been trying to take good care of myself and take my medicine and whatnot. The kids were entertained enough though by my voice and I think honestly felt sorry for me today.
On a brighter note, it appears like it is going to be a cold winter :) So maybe some snow this year...It was at least a record low last night in the twenties which is amazing for us down here in the south in mid-november. It is time to invest in some new dressier winter clothes. My wardrobe is predominantly school clothes or cute tops that can go with jeans...not much dressy-wise. Here are some things I am looking at:

Lace Dress from Ann Taylor Loft

Houndstooth Skirt from Talbots on sale!

Guess "Drifter"

Michael Kors Jacket

Can you tell that I like the Houndstooth pattern right now!

Somebody's got a case of the Mondays

So today was my first day back at work since last Wednesday and it was totally a MONDAY!!! I went to a conference out of town from Wednesday evening until midday Saturday. It was a lot of fun to break out of my routine but hard as bejeezes to come back to it. Apparently my threat from the last substituting experience paid off or my sub rocked my students' world. I am all about taking a day for professional development or if you just need a day but after this particular experience I don't feel like that is possible. Mind you I can be a very particular person (OCD) when it comes to leaving my babies. I don't like to do it often and I leave very detailed plans i.e. 7 pages per day. Needless to say this morning, I discovered that that was apparently not enough. Not only did this sub not follow my plans, she went above and beyond to GRADE all of my papers that I asked for the students to turn in to their folder. I have never heard of a sub that graded all the test. It wouldn't be so bad if she had just stopped there but she graded my test in red pen (big No-No) and went so far as to write comments on them. Can't wait to see what my parents say about that. The substitute also played Bingo with the students at the end of the day and gave them the treat that I had bought for the good report as a prize for winning Bingo. Great! Last thing I promise to whine about is the fact that I have some private books that I use as read-alouds with my class. Apparently those were given out to the students so that they could read them so they have now all read the different books that I have saved to use as a read-aloud. ARGH!!!!!! I just wanted to cover my ears each time my students told me about something they did with the substitute. No wonder they behaved and loved it! talk about having a case of the Mondays that lasted awhile today.
On a happy note, I totally got over my case of the Mondays by buying some Christmas paper to start wrapping some of my early Christmas presents. YAY!!! I love the Christmas season for all the different reasons that you can think of. It blows my mind though that they are already showing Christmas commercials and it isn't even Thanksgiving yet. One teacher told me today that is 15 days until Thanksgiving and after Thanksgiving break, it is only 15 days until "Winter Holiday". YAY! Something to look forward to...