jersey girl in georgia

2008-11-02T17:08:00.002-05:00

OK, so I have once again been lax in updating this blog. Life has been very busy with school.

Hmmm. . . September was quiet with the exception of standardized testing. I was not allowed to proctor the tests becuase my continous glucose monitor will occassionally beep as an alarm. Instead I got hall duty which was actually a great chance to get some grading and planning done. Always a good thing.

The continuos glucose monitor is going ok, still have trouble calibrating the sensor so i often do not trust the readings, but I am working on getting it to work better.

I have done some more gardening. A few weeks back my friend Irene and I planted several hydrangea, phlox, and reblooming irises. This week we put in 1 more hydrangea (there are still three to go but I need to clear out some areas) the rest of the phlox, some crocuses, gardenia and some bulbs Jeff's grandma sent us. So I am looking forward to a colorful spring.

In other news I started teaching CCD (They call it PSR down here) on wednesdays from 6:30-7:30 pm. Then I head over to a local restuarant where a young adult group from church plays trivia. We actually were ranked 39th in the area, we went to a top 50 tournament and got beaten quite badly last weekend but it was a fun experience.

Last weekend Jeff and I also helped with the annual BEST competition at SPSU (Jeff's alma mater). It is a robotic competition for high school and middle school.

The weekend before that we went to Nashville to visit my sister and mom. It was a lot of fun,. We even got to see the school my sister is currently student teaching in.

I wish there was more excitement to report but that is what is up with Jeff and I.

Jeff and I will be heading to NJ for thanksgiving and his parents will meet us there. They are great to travel up so we will not have to choose between families. Then they will join us here in GA from dec 25- Dec 31. We will at some point during that time make a trip to Nashville to see my sis and my brother, nancy and my mom will be there.

2008-09-13T20:34:00.002-04:00

Saturday September 13, 2008

Wow, Ok so as usual I have fallen behind on my blog. Sigh.

Lets see if I can complete a run down of what has happened since I last posted.

Jeff and I went to Boston for my 10 year college reunion in early June. It was a ton of fun and I got to catch up with old friends from college as well as high school. Woo Hoo!
After returning from the reunion I reseeded my vegetable garden as it did not tolerate the transplant very well.
We started tiling the dining room in late June as well.
In mid june I got trained and began using my insulin pump. It has made a huge difference and I love it.
In early July Jeff and I drove to nashville to see my sister. It was relaxing and enjoyable.
In mid-july Jeff and I went to Ohio for waht was supposed to be his 10 year high school reunion, but it was postponed. So instead we saw his grandparents and drove to the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan. I even got to make a glass flower. It was very cool.
I started school August 4 the Students returned August 11 and it has been a whirlwind since.
My grandmother passed away August 1 and I flew home to NJ for the funeral during preplanning.
The following weekend Aug 17 Jeff had his actual high school reunion. We had a nice time and I got to meet several of his high school friends.
We hosted the St Catherine's Young Adult BBQ at our house it was lots of fun.
My vegetable garden has produced a few handfuls of greenbeans. i think we will need to move it for next year so it gets more sun in the summer when all the leaves are on the tree.
Last week I learned I qualified for a continuous glucose monitor and I am excited to start using it soon.

Other than that life has just been extremely busy with school.

2008-06-04T23:17:00.002-04:00

Hey all

So I have been slowly enjoying my first full week off after school has let out for the summer. Do not get too jealousy I go back August 4.

Hmmm. . . What has happened. I will be teaching 8th grade again next year so I am very excited, although I feel bad for the teacher who has to switch grades. My room has moved and the new room appears very nice but I am leaving arguably the best science classroom in the school so I am a little sad, but if that is all I can complain about I am doing swell.

Seema, my best friend, and her family came in friday May 23rd. . . We took them to waffle house for breakfast (got to get some grits) it is the south after all. Then went to coke world on saturday, followed by church and had a BBQ at our house for dinner. Sunday we had a relaxed breakfast and drove to chattanooga. While there we saw the Tennesse Valley Railroad, saw Ruby Falls (beautiful and worth the 2+ hours) grabbed some dinner at a local brewery and then found a hotel in dowtown. The next day (memorial Day) we went to the aquarium in Chatanooga. It was lots of fun, the otters were as cute as ever and they have added penguins. Of course the butterfly room is always cool.

Then Seema and family headed on to nashville and Jeff and I headed back home. We relaxed for a bit and then went to a friends house for a small BBQ.

Tuesday and Wednesday were hectic but productive at work as I had to pack up all my stuff from my old room and move, but lots of teachers pitched in to help with the moving on wednesday and I am proud to say that I left the room well organized for Rick who will be moving in.

Thursday I slept in a little and then went into school to prepare a presentation for a science leadership conference I was presenting at on friday.

Friday I had the conference. . .It went well and then a relaxing afternoon.

Saturday and Sunday Jeff's friend from High School and my new friend Irene came by. It was nice having another female around and sunday morning we did some garden shopping. . .

Monday was dr appt day. . .

Tuesday was random errands and today was the day to get pampered with a manicure and pedicure just in time for my 10 yr college reunion this weekend.

Well that is about it. . . Oh wait we have a bird's nest in the rhododerdrum bush outside our front porch. It has three eggs and we are very excited. . . we think after some searching that it is a brown thrasher. . .I will try to post photos when I get a chance.

2008-05-11T15:46:00.002-04:00

Relay was awesome. . . although I was sick and left around 2:00 AM. I am so excited for next year and want to start planning now.

I raised $475 dollars online. I have another $125 of offline donations to be logged. That coupled with the $225 I raised cropping m hair and the lumanarias I purchased ($110) Brings me to a grand total of $935!!! I am very excited.

I slept most of saturday and am happy to report that I am starting to feel much better today. Jeff and I are going to build the vegetable garden bed and transplant our seedlings from the kitchen to outside today.

Happy mother's day to all!

2008-05-07T22:44:00.002-04:00

Relay for life is this Friday if you would like to make a donation click here:
http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RelayForLifeSouthAtlanticDivision?pg=entry&fr_id=8026

Click on donate to a participant and type my name. .

My Reason to Relay
I am joining people around the world in celebrating those who have survived cancer, remembering the people we've lost, and supporting the lifesaving mission of the American Cancer Society.

I know the importance of raising money for research. I would not be alive today had research not be completed. In Sept 1976 I was diagnosed with a stage IV neuroblastoma. At the time they had no known cures, only treatment that added about 6 months to your life. I am one of the first patients that the chemotherapy actually worked on. 32 years later I am very grateful. I am living proof that research works.

On a sadder note, my father lost his battle with lung cancer (he never smoked) in january of 2006. It was a long hard struggle and he lived well past what the doctors thought was possible. He held on to see my brother graduate medical school, my sister graduate college and to watch my blow out the candles on my 30th birthday cake. He was able to be there for those important events because of new treatments that were being released.

Please make a donation to me or join my team. You are helping deliver the hope that future generations will not have to endure cancer threatening the lives of their friends and family. You have the power to fight back against a disease that affects millions.

If you would prefer to donate by cash or check, please click here to print an offline donation form.Please be sure to notify the Relay For Life participant that you are making a contribution on their behalf. Please send the complete form with contribution to the local American Cancer Society office at:American Cancer Society1825 Barrett Lakes Blvd Suite 280Kennesaw, Ga 30144

2008-04-19T15:51:00.002-04:00

After the official style

2008-04-19T15:43:00.002-04:00

After Pictures

2008-04-18T23:31:00.006-04:00

Locks of Love!

Wow, so I actually had 8 inches of hair to donate. Here are some before pictures, I get the "official style" tomorrow at 9 am.

2008-04-18T23:25:00.003-04:00

Hey here are pictures from the first communion.

2008-03-27T13:38:00.006-04:00

Relay for Life!

My school has a team entered in Relay for Life a fundraising effort for the American Cancer Society. The event is May 9 and we are trying to raise as much money for ACS as possible. As a cancer survivor myself, I am eager to help. I know first hand how important it is to raise money for research. I am also purchasing luminaries for my father. While he lost his battle, he benefited from the new drugs as the were released to market. It allowed him to be there for my brother's graduation from medical school, my sister's graduation from college and my 30th birthday.

If you want to help and donate please click here http://relay.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RelayForLifeSouthAtlanticDivision?fr_id=8026&pg=entry
Then click on donate to a participant
Then you can type in my name and donate.

In other news I will be cutting my hair for locks of love on April 19 at another school fund raiser.

2008-03-27T13:25:00.002-04:00

Easter was great we had friends to celebrate with. Sadly though, both my index fingers became very sore, I have trigger fingers.

Monday I could not bend either of them and made an appt to see a hand dr. I saw the dr. wed and got a cortisone shot in each hand. I really hate getting them because they are less than pleasant so I put it off but I could not use my hands anymore so I had to give up. The shot was not as bad as I remember but right now I have not seen a big improvement. . . last time i got one the hand was perfect the next day. I will give it a week or so before I call the dr.

this weekend I will see my sister and mom in nashville. Yay!

michele

2008-03-22T10:23:00.002-04:00

This past week FLEW by. Last weekend we hopped a plane to florida on saturda morning for my cousin John's wedding. It was a small and beautiful event. Tia his bride was radiant. We really enjoyed ourselves as well as getting to see family an activity I am growing more and more appreciative of living in georgia. The only downside was our plane, orginally scheduled to depart at 8:09 pm was delayed and we did not take off until after midnight. Work the next day was a little rough but we both survived.

I planted several hanging baskets with strawberries and other plants during the week and I hope to plant the raspberry, blackberry, blueberry and hydrangea bushes later today. I forgot how much fun it is to dig in the dirt. . .

Tomorrow we will host Easter at our house. It will be Jeff, me, Gregg, Wendy (Gregg's girlfriend), Matt (Jeff's old roomate) and Irene (a friend of Jeff's from HS). It will be nice to have a full house.

Not much else to report. . . next weekend we are heading up to Nashville to see Sr Sophia (AKA Kristen). It should be nice.

The weekend after that I fly to NJ for Grady's first communion (he is my godson) and Jeff goes to California on business. We both get home Tuesday and I have the remainder of my spring break. I hope to start digging up our vegetable beds and make several annual dr appts (podiatrist, eye dr, etc)

I suspect I will be awfully busy until spring break so this ma be my last post for a while.

God Bless and Happy Easter!

2008-03-09T21:46:00.002-04:00

Wow! The seeds are taking off. . . I have to transplant several cucumbers and green beans to larger pots out of the seed starter greehouse. I recieved tons of plants I ordered earlier this year but we had a real strong cold snap, even got snow on saturday so I held off planting most. I did get 4 house plants into pots: dwarf lemon, lime, orange and tangerine plants. I hope to get the strawbeey plants into hanging baskets and out on the porch this weekend.

In non-agricultural news. . . Jeff and I bought the tile for the dining room and kitchen on saturday. The store was having a 10% of sale. . . Woo Hoo!

Then after church we went to a young adult event the church was sponsoring. It was a game night with beer and pizza. It was lots of fun and the people there were really nice. . .I hope to attend more events they sponsor.

2008-03-03T21:03:00.003-05:00

Saturday Jeff and I went to the Booth Western Art Museum and sunday we went to allatoona dam.

I also started indoor seedling for our vegetable garden: bell peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, green beans, carrots, watermelon and other melons. I hope to transplant them in a month or so.

2008-02-24T19:57:00.002-05:00

So last weekend I had the pleasure of having my Mom visit. She stayed from Friday night to Monday evening. It was great having her here.

2008-02-11T13:38:00.000-05:00

This weekend was nice. The weather was beautiful so Jeff and I got out and wallked through the neighborhood both saturday and sunday. We opened the windows and got some much needed fresh air into the house.

Sunday we got out and did a little clothes shopping and then I planted some flowers in the yard. We even got to use the grill sunday night for dinner. . . burgers. Mmmm.

Sorry there is not much more to report.

2008-02-03T21:21:00.000-05:00

In class #4 we finally finished learning roses. Here is my latest cake.

2008-02-03T21:13:00.001-05:00

The week after my birthday was conference week so it was very busy but things went rather smoothly. I really do work at a great school.
The following weekend Jeff & I flew to florida for my Grandmother's 90th birthday party. It was SO nice to be surrounded by family.

This picture is Jeff, me, my mom and Grandma

This picture is My brother, Greg, his wife, Nancy, Jeff, me, my Mom and Grandma.

This picture is all the grandchildren. I think it was the first time this many of us were together. 15 of 16 were present. (my sister was unable to attend but she called and sent her wishes.)

2008-02-03T21:05:00.000-05:00

Ok time to play catch up. . .
Saturday Jan 19 Georgia got snow for the second time in one week. It was pretty cool. So I got to feel like I was at home for my birthday. Jeff and I stayed in and lit a fire in the fireplace.

Jeff sent me beautiful roses at work for my birthday and got me the deluxe edition of monty pythons holy grail . . . I movie I am obsessed with.

I had monday off of work and I stayed home and baked a cake which I brought to class #3 of cake decorating. It was an almond cake with raspberry filling.

2008-01-17T22:33:00.000-05:00

Here are the photos

2008-01-16T22:03:00.000-05:00

It is snowing in Georgia. . . I can hardly believe it. . we actually got close to an inch on the grass, not too much is sticking on the roads though. I am hoping for a snow day but am slowly losing hope. . . If I do I will post pictures I took earlier tonight tomorrow.

2008-01-14T22:43:00.000-05:00

Ok here are the pictures from Nashville

Photo #1 is Sr. Sophia (AKA Kristen, my sister)

Photo #2 Is Sr Sophia and Sr Beatrice (a classmate of hers)

Photo #3 is our family potrait. From left to right My brother Greg, his wife Nancy, My husband Jeff, Me (in back), my sister Sr Sophia and my Mom.

2008-01-14T22:26:00.000-05:00

Jeff got me the wilton cake decorating I class and supplies for christmas. I started classes last week and tonight was my second night of class. Here are my first two cakes.

This cake, the one I brought to class to decorate, is a carrot cake with cream cheese icing and butter cream decorations.

This is a blackberry jam cake with vanilla custard and buttercream frosting.

2007-12-25T15:51:00.000-05:00

OK, sorry I should have stayed more up to date.

Let's see . . . shortly before thanksgiving we painted the dining room and kitchen.

We spent a great thanksgiving at my Mom's house and even got to see her beautiful new kitchen. Jeff's parent's took the train up to NJ, so we got to see both families. I even got the added bonus of cathcing up with a few high school friends.

After thanksgiving I helped out with a regional practice tourney of science olympiad at Dickerson. Jeff even tagged along to help and we installed a large chunk of the central vacuum system, we just need to install a few more outlets.

The weekend before last we painted the living room a lovely shade of blue.

We have purchased oak to put down in the living room and hope to tile the kitchen and dining room in the near future.

I have my camera here but forgot the usb cord to download, sorry so I will try yo post pics when I get back home.

We left saturday dec 22 and flew to Dc to see Jeff's parents. We will stay here until thursday dec 27 when we will fly back to atlanta. Then friday dec 28 we will drive to nashville to meet my Mom, brother and nancy. We will get to see the radio city christmas spectacular friday night at opry land and then we will visit with Sr Sophia (Kristen) saturday and Sunday. We will return sunday night to acworth and have a quiet, low key new years. I do not need to be at school until jan 7 so I will enjoy my week off, I want to catch up on cleaning, organizing and of course baking.

I am even toying with the idea of an open house that weekend to meet the neighbors and show som friends the house.

Ok well back to my in-laws. Love you all and I hope you have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a Happy Healthy New year!

2007-10-12T13:40:00.000-04:00

So last weekend we purchased our grill it should arrive this week and we will pick it up next weekend. We also purchased the glass for the end tables so they are upstairs and in use.

The ladder was delivered so I hope we will find time to put up the ceiling fan in the living room, but it will be a busy weekend as it is Mall Day on saturday for Georgia BEST robotics. Jeff helped with the competions when he was at SPSU and we both helped this past year. I look forward to doing so again this year.

2007-10-04T16:50:00.000-04:00

Not much to report this week.

We looked at grills this weekend, I think we have narrowed it to just two or so. Hopefully it will be purchased this weekend.

We are still in search of a sturdy, durable and affordable patio set.

We finally ordered a ladder, shipping was free and we do not need to figure out how to get it home and we did a small shopping at homedepot for random odds and ends.

Jeff finished the tables we just need to get glass cut for the two side tables.

I ordered some flowers, fall bulbs, shrubs and hydrangea for the yard. Some of it will ship in the fall the rest will ship in the spring. I am excited. The only catch is we are in a level 4 drought which means ANY outdoor watering is outright banned.

School is still doing well. The marking period ends next week. Yikes! that snuck up. We have had ITBS testing all week. I will be very grateful when it is all over. The short periods are hard to work with, plus the kids get all fidgety.

Wish there was more excitement to report.

2007-09-24T16:36:00.001-04:00

Gotta love home warranties!

So our range was lighting sporadiacly and the oven was not holding temperature properly. We called the company and they sent a guy out on a sunday night, and $55 later he replaced the spark unit on the range and the ignition unit on the oven and we are back in tip top shape. Much less expensive than a new oven.

Not much else to report.

2007-09-19T13:47:00.000-04:00

yeah we have a living room! So after three separate attempts to get the sofa in through 3 different doors, we finally have our living room furniture. It is great to have a couch and chair to sit on. We have even begun staining the tables for the room and should have them in by this weekend and we purchased a ceiling fan last weekend, now all we need is a ladder to get it up there. LOL!

Plus I have started get stuff to decorate the walls so we are slowly starting to feel more settled in.

One day at a time they say. School is going well progress reports went home today and my students have a test this friday.

2007-09-10T13:48:00.000-04:00

Hey all

Wow, so Ashley furniture called and will be delivering the furniture this saturday, they could have delivered it on wed, but no one would be home for delivery. Sigh.

Sunday we went and purchased a sofa table, two end tables and a tv table/cabinet from an unfinished furniture store. Jeff is going to stain and finish it himself. They are great durable pieces, hardwoods, and we saved tons by finishing it on our own.

Thanks to all the help from Jeff's Mom who visited this past weekend the kitchen is now 90% done. So I am very grateful.

Things are going really well. The only down side is I appear to have caught a bug, I have a sore throat, and my nose was running all last week. Sigh. But hey if that is all that I have to complain about I am doing pretty darn good.

2007-09-03T21:13:00.001-04:00

Wow what a busy month. School has been great, incredibly busy and time consuming but great. I actually look forward to spending my long days there. LOL!

Let's see the closing went smoothly and we moved in Sunday Aug 27, 2007.

We purchased a fridge. We splurged and got a Kenmore Trio, bottom freezer, with french doors in black. It is really nice and having filtered ice cubes is a huge bonus. LOL!

One of our neighbors (a woman who lives 4 doors down from us and ironically works in my school building once or twice a week) showed up with a lasagna, bread and a tossed salad for us as well as a houseplant. While we were talking her husband even mowed our grass since he heard we did not have a lawn mower yet. Talk about hospitality.

This week Jeff went to work on a project he had picked out which was to refinish the 4 x 4 hardwood entranceway to the house. He put the final coat of polyurethene on today and it looks AMAZING!

We also bought a lawn tractor and it was delivered on sunday Sept 2. Sears really loves us first a fridge, then a tractor, and we even almost bought a grill until we found out it could not be converted to natural gas.

I have finished unpacking our closets and have mostly setup the dining room and the kitchen. The guest bedroom is also a set. We are still unpacking and making minor repairs or changes.

Saturday we replaced a shower head in the hall bathroom and it works a million percent better and Jeff installed a ceiling fan in our bedroom today.

All in all we are slowly settling in. Today we finally picked out a living room set. We got a sofa, loveseat, chair and ottoman. We are still in search of tables and lamps.

Well I need to finish up some lesson plans. More news hopefully next week.

2007-08-09T22:19:00.001-04:00

Well school starts on monday aug 13 so I imagine I will not have much time to post. I will try to keep up however. We are set to close Aug 22.

The school year appears to be going well so far and my room appears ready. I am really excited to be teaching 8th graders again.

2007-07-12T18:40:00.000-04:00

After having looked at a few other houses, we decided that despite the fact that Aug is not a great time to close it was worth the wait. We dropped our offer to cover the cost of our rent for Aug and we actually have a signed contract. Woo Hoo! Now for the wonders of inspections. . .

2007-07-06T15:31:00.000-04:00

We sent off all the signed documents to be signed by the seller on friday. We returned from vacation yesterday and found out that the seller's wife needs surgery so they now want to close Aug 24. Sigh. We need to renegotiate the terms. Sigh.

2007-06-29T20:00:00.001-04:00

Well it looks as though we will close Tuesday July 24 and take occupancy Thursday July 26 at 6:00 pm. That gives us friday to get moved and saturday as buffer if necessary.

We leave for our vacation tomorrow at 5:30 am. We should have internet access ont he boat, so hopefully I can update the blog with some pics from our vacation, otherwise I will when we get back Friday July 6.

2007-06-28T18:39:00.000-04:00

In the immortal words of orphan annie. . . "Oh my goodness. . .Oh my goodness!"
It would appear that after 3 formal offers we asked to split the difference and we have a verbal agreement. So I believe we are homeowners.

2007-06-24T19:15:00.000-04:00

Hey all

So Jeff and I had company in from out of town this weekend so got to get out and see some of the sites. Friday we went to Marietta to wander through the antique shops in the square. Saturday we went to the general, a museum on locomotive and civil war history and today we drove downtown and saw the aquarium. It has been a fun weekend.

No news on the house yet, we made a low offer monday and it was met with mixed reception. We are going to make another offer today or tomorrow. I would really like to have this wrapped up before we leave for vacation on saturday.

Well I am trying to update my blog more often as I have recieved several requests to do so. Let's hope I can keep it up. LOL!

2007-06-16T21:26:00.000-04:00

It has been a busy week. Friday I looked at more houses, (God bless our realtor he showed us over 50 homes). I liked two we saw. Today Jeff and I looked at our short list (mind you it was 9 houses, so it was not that short). Together we narrowed down our list to a top 4 with a clear winner on top.

It is a ranch on a full basement about 10 miles north of where we currently live. It has a rocking chair porch (I am a sucker for rocking chair porches) It is 4 bed, 3 bath. It has been wonderfully maintained and does not "need" any work to move in. We may choose to update some aspects of the home. Amazingly it is on 1.5 acres of land. The best part is it is very comfortably in our price range and even a little on the lower end of our range. It will be a little bit of a drive to get to work, but we think it is well worth it.

We are looking over our mortage options and hope to make an offer in the near future.

So it was a busy and exciting week, new job, new house.

2007-06-13T11:29:00.000-04:00

Wow. Ok I have been very busy. School finally finished May 25 for the students and May 30 for teachers. It has been a busy few weeks though. I flew out right after school on Wednesday for Florida for a funeral and returned home that saturday.

I spent last week interviewing for new jobs as I decided that Sixth graders were a not a good fit for me. I was very blessed to recieve 3 different offers (2 high school and 1 middle school) all at wonderful schools. I spent a lot of time thinking but finally decided to accept an 8th grade physical science position at Dickerson Middle School in East Cobb County. While I was tempted to take the high school positions I really kinda like being the crazy 8th grade science teacher. That and it is a smaller school than either of the high schools Dickerson has about 1100 students, while the high schools had 2100 or 2600 students. You can read more about the Dickerson at: http://www.cobbk12.org/~dickerson/

I really felt most at home when I walked into the school. The interview went well and I feel it is a great fit for my personality. While my year at Marietta was difficult at times it gave me a great deal of self knowledge about my strengths and weaknesses as a teacher, as well as my likes and dislikes. I really think Dickerson will be a great fit. The teachers there all seem very friendly, it is a family atmosphere. Also they have an excellent music and theater program. Reminds me of Ridgefield and ironically they also have a large percentage of asians/koreans. LOL Can you tell I miss Ridgefield?

In other news Jeff and I have been house hunting the past few weekends, we hope to find a house before the end of July when our lease expires, although if necessary we can go month to month (we would prefer not to as it costs a premium).

The only other big news is our vacation plans. Jeff and I will be taking a 5 night 6 day riverboat cruise (paddle wheel and all) from June 30-July 5. It is on the American Queen. I hope to post some pictures and more info as we enjoy.

I guess that is it for now. I will try to update this blog more frequently.

2007-01-13T14:38:00.000-05:00

I am trying to be better about posting. . .

Let's see the main entree on my plate these days is the upcoming digital science fair. Our students (85, 11 year olds) are going to do basic research on renewable and non-renewable energy sources. Then they are going to actually build wind, water or solar powered generators (ok a motor in reverse . . .) and test variable that will effect their efficiency (read voltage output).

There are lots of logistical issues and I will spend my three day weekend trying to put together a few to test how well they work.

Next weekend will be a mixed bag. It is my 31st birthday friday. . . yup I am THAT old. LOL! But it is also the 1 year anniversary of my Dad's passing. Sigh. I have been struggling with that a bit lately.

The week after should be more exciting. We are taking a field trip with school to see High Museum of Art in Atlanta to see the traveling Louvre exhibit on Wednesday Jan 24. And Saturday Jeff and I will be flying to Florida for my Grandmother's 89th birthday party.

I imagine I will be quiet until Feb but I will try posting when I have a chance

2007-01-07T20:55:00.000-05:00

Ok . . ok. So I have been really quiet. . . Life has been very busy.

Jess Nicolosi is here visiting on her way to Denver CO and she has inspired me to update my blog. LOL! Oh and she is our first non-family house guest. Woo Hoo!

Let's see to back up a little.

In SEPTEMBER we took 65 sixth grade students to Rock Eagle . . . a 4-H camp for 2 nights. We managed to survive although my cabin of 11 year old girls had its share of drama. . . but hey it is to be expected. The next morning I had the distinct pleasure of having my license photo taken, and I learned the hard way georgia actually prints your weight on your license (What the hey?) We also managed to squeeze in a trip to see Sr. Sophia (AKA Kristen) in nashville and see her for the first time in her habit and white veil.

In October we decided to retire my Mazda and purchased a Mercury Montego. I was sad to see my car go, but Jeff's brother Gregg bought the car so I get to see her and I know she has a good home.

Early in november Jeff's parents visited us in Atlanta. Our first house guests. They also were kind enough to bring down a beautiful dining table. Later that month, I made the drive up to NJ for thanksgiving. I had a whole week off so I left sunday morning and arrived Monday afternoon after a pleasant stop off with Jeff's parents in Mannassas. Unfortunately MOnday evening I developed a migraine which did not go away until wednesday when I gave up and saw the doctor and got a shot for the pain. I felt much better after that and had a great thanksgiving with my Mom, Brother, Nancy, Jeff, his parents, my cousin Alex and Nancy's parents. It was great to see the family and be in NJ again. Saturday we loaded up the car and drove back to georgia again with a stay in mannassas with Jeff's parents.

December was a busy month. We had a showcase night for the magnet progam I teach at. Then the weekend of Dec 8-10 we flew to West Palm Beach and visited my grandmother. Christmas was very busy but we spent it with loved ones. Jeff, his brother and I took amtrak up to Mannassas the friday before Christmas. Jeff and I stayed until the day after Christmas and we took amtrak back to Atlanta on tuesday evening. Gregg stayed for a mini-family reunion at his parents house. We were sad to miss it, but glad to be going to see my family. When we arrived in Atlanta wednesday morning we swung by the airport to pick up my mom, my brother greg and his wife nancy. We returned to our apartment and gave the tour. The next morning we all piled into the montego and made the drive to nashville to visit my sister. We had the pleasure of introducing Greg and Nancy to Cracker Barrel cuisine. The visit with Kristen (Sr Sophia) was great and it was especially nice to have the family together. Something that had not happened since my wedding 7 months ago. We returned to Atlanta friday evening and enjoyed a wonderful brunch at the apartment before putting everyone back on a plane saturday afternoon.

We just enjoyed some peace and relaxation for the new year and I spent new's years day baking. Woo Hoo! Something I have not had much time for and really missed. And well that brings me up to this week. Sorry I have been so quiet and I will try to post more often

2006-09-02T21:07:00.000-04:00

Sorry I have been so quiet. Things have been busy with school. Jeff and I are more or less settled in. We actually got phone, cable and internet service around the 15th of the month. School is insanely busy but good.

I must be in school by 8:20, unless I have a 7:20 am meeting. I have those on Tues -dept meeting, and Wed- Faculty meetings, and occassionaly thurs. . . overflow for dept meeting and for the next few weeks Fridays for training on software.

Mon/Wed/Fri I have first period planning. So once I am free of meetings I do not have students until close to 10 am. But from there I am teaching 5 classes, 65 minutes long straight thru with a 23 minute break for lunch with the students until 3:50. Then we hope the buses are on time so we can dismiss those students.

Tues/Thurs we have advisement. Which means I have a class from 8:50-9:20. Then I get till 10:15 or so to prepare and plan. Then I teach from 10:20 straight thru again till 3:50. I

It is a whirlwind of a day. But the students are a good bunch. I am constantly surprised at how much they already know. I need to have lots of back up stuff ready in case we finish early, but I like it. It is a change of pace, I am still adjusting to 6th graders, they need lots of direction, no matter how smart they may be, but I am slowly catching on. I am working my tail off, but enjoying it. It is forcing me to become a better teacher. It also helps that the teachers I work with are a great bunch; Always willing to lend a hand and give pointers. Still I am tuckered out at the end of the day.

We nearly have the lab set up and we even ventured in there last week to do several stations on minerals. I hope to eventually start teaching in there more often then not. We set up a freshwater aquarium this week and we hope to get a terrarium set up with fish, plants, frog and maybe even turtles. I am doing research on saltwater tanks. . . . but that will wait a few months.

This past week was PTSA back to school night. So I was busy preparing the lab, that means most of my 3 day weekend will be spent catching up on paperwork. Sigh. Still Today I got lots done. I did a thorough cleaning of the apartment and I am finally going through the last handful of boxes and finding homes for things.

Next weekend Jeff and I will be meeting my Mom and brother to see my sister in nashville for visit day. It should be fun.

The following weekend I have a conference for "new" teachers at the Fernbank Musuem in Atlanta. It should be useful.

Oh and the district is paying for me to get endorsement to teach the gifted so I will be busy these next few months. I will probably start my masters program at KSU next fall. I have lots going on right now.

Well I miss all of you and hope to carve out some time for phone calls.

2006-08-12T10:31:00.000-04:00

Wow! I guess I have been quiet. New teacher orientation was July 31 and August 1. Then All teachers were in for preplanning. There were lots of meetings, but they were helpful as they really focused on improving instructional methods as well as delivering the curriculum.

I went in over the weekend to attempt to better set up my room. Jeff was even kind enough to come in and help on Saturday and help me find desks as I still did not have any. Sunday I spent decorating and hanging posters. MOnday I walked in to find my posters fell. Ugh. Turns out next to nothing sticks to my walls I tried mounting tape, poster tac, hot glue. It all falls down. I finally found some household GOOP glue. But it is permanent so I need to laminate my posters before they go back up. I am hoping by the end of next week it will be done.

Wednesday was the first day of school. My students are a great bunch. Although it is interesting they are a different bunch from 8th grade and high school. But I think I am settling in. There were some logistical issues with rosters etc but all in all it was great. I basically tried to establish routines and procedures. We also started talking a bit about science.

Thursday I got to administer learning style surveys and multiple intelligence inventories. I hope it will seriously help my classroom instruction. Remebering where the student's strong suits lie and playing to them.

Friday we got to do some FUN science. We practiced observation skills. They as an introduction to the scientific method we got to do some dry ice experiments, including the exploding film can. I hope I have sparked my students interest and we can really get rolling with material next week.

2006-08-03T22:51:00.000-04:00

So I started work. New teacher orientation began monday. The students will arrive this coming wednesday. Hopefully I will have desks by then. The teachers I will be working with are really nice. The school I am at is Marietta Sixth Grade Academy (MSGA) their web site is http://www.marietta-city.k12.ga.us/msga/ but I am on the magnet team which is associated with the Marietta Center for Advanced Academics (MCAA). Their website is http://www.marietta-city.k12.ga.us/mcaa/

2006-07-27T13:22:00.000-04:00

Hey all

So we left tuesday night and drove into alabama. Spent the night in Auburn and continued to Mobile wednesday morning. We toured the USS Alabama in Mobile during the day and then drove onto Pensacola (Actually gulf breeze) Florida. We will be here for the next few days enjoying some fun int he sun. Sunday we return to georgia and I start work the next morning. I am really gald we were able to squeeze this trip in.

2006-07-25T01:47:00.000-04:00

OK so everyone has been asking for wedding pics and it is taking forever to upload them to email. So I will post them here. . .

This one is my Mom walking me up the aisle. Dad is holding my hand in the form of his college ring on my thumb.

2006-07-21T10:30:00.000-04:00

Terrific Thursday!

So Thursday morning I get up for my interview at the magnet school. I wander over thinking I doubt I'll take the position. It is sixth graders, the commute is longer (a whole 20 minutes instead of 10. LOL!) I really liked the staff at the Marietta Middle School (MMS). The JASON project is a great program and excellent to add to my skill set and resume.

Then the interview. It is the Principal's second year. He is a technology guy. They have resources out the wahzoo (sp?). The sixth grade magnet program is officially part of the Marietta Center for Advanced Academics (MCAA) but is housed at the Marietta Sixth Grade Academy (MSGA). This is the first year the program is in existence. They have a wing of 11 brand new classrooms at the MSGA. I would be working with a team of sixth grade teachers (one for each subject). All students have a laptop computer for use during school hours. I get a smart board, a tablet/laptop computer, powerpoint projector and a huge budget for additional resources. The students must have a 3.0 GPA and place in the top 75% on standardized tests. The program will expand tot he 7th grade next year (being housed at the middle school) and then to the 8th the following year. I would have the option of moving up with the students if I so choose. I would have the ability to design the curriculum so long as they align with the Georgia state standards. The plan is to teach the 8th grade material at the 6th grade level. The eventual goal is for the 7th or 8th grade students to be taking high school classes for high school credit. These students are basically being groomed for an AP Program at the High School Level.

I was torn, it was an awesome opportunity to take part in a one of a kind program in the state with unprecedented support from parents, staff and administration. I could help develop and groom the program. The 3rd-5th grade program has already earned national recognition and I could help further the program. It would be TONS of work though.

The principal informed me he planned to make a personnel recommendation. I now had a dilemma, 2 offers from the same district for the same salary. I called Jeff and we met for lunch and discussed it. I could hardly believe it. . . I was going to take the 6th grade position.

I am nervous but excited. I can't explain it. Somehow I got the sense I was just supposed to be there.

So I called the HR office and accepted the position. Got an ID badge and I report to new teacher orientation 8 am Monday July 31. We have planning from August 1- August 8 and the students report to school August 9.

2006-07-21T10:16:00.000-04:00

Wicked busy Wednesday.

Sorry my Boston school days are showing. 8:30 am my belongings arrive. I begin upacking and I get a call from Marietta City Schools asking me to come in for an interview for a 6th grade science magnet position. I was hesistant but figured hey no harm in interviewing. I schedule an interview for Thursday morning. A few hours later I get a phone call offering me the 7th grade JASON project position. Then Jeff and I go out to get our new mattress for our bedroom set.

2006-07-17T15:04:00.000-04:00

Woo Hoo!

So the it sounds as though my stuff and should be here either Tuesday or Wednesday.

2006-07-14T21:05:00.000-04:00

OK so the washer/dryer arrived! Yay! And after much getting a new haircut, getting an outfit to wear, a pair of shoes and doing some research on Marietta City SchoolsI was ready for my interview this morning.

It turns out they now have two openings, one for an 8th grade earth science teacher and one for a 7th grade JASON project teacher. The JASON project is really cool, lots of hands on and webcasting. It is inquiry based so it could be interesting. So I will write a thank you note this weekend and wait and see.

In other exciting news we bought a beautiful bedroom set today. It should arrive next friday or saturday. It is a Queen size louis phillipe sleigh bed, with dresser, mirror, 5 drawer chest, and mirror. I really like it.

I think we should get the couch out of storage this weekend and I am told my belongs should even arrive next week. They guaranteed deilvery by the 20th so it is not a huge feat. But I am looking forward to getting my stuff.

2006-07-13T10:06:00.000-04:00

Woo Hoo! So we had home cooked meal number 2 last night. Chicken and dumplings. Figured when in the south do as southerners do. Tonight we are going to try out the grills at the apartment complex. Plus they have picnic tables which means we can sit and eat. More then we can do right now in our place.

Oh and with a little luck we will get the washer/dryer in the next few hours.

2006-07-12T22:46:00.000-04:00

My first interview. . .

is scheduled for friday morning at 9 am. It is with Marietta City Middle School. I was hoping for a bite from the high school but it is a start.

2006-07-12T13:46:00.000-04:00

On a happier note. . .

I got an email from Marietta City School about a position I applied for. I am hoping to set up an interview soon. . . although I will need to get a suit as mine is in the move. I also finished my Cobb County application. I hope to follow-up on my GA license tomorrow.

I bought lamps yesterday. The apartment has tons of natural light, after dusk it gets a little dark. I think I may go get some bar stools for the breakfast bar as we currently have no seating in the apartment. We hope to get the coach from storage tomorrow. I would love to get a table but we have one in the move. I am trying not to buy stuff we already have but I caved and bought some cheap fry pans yesterday. It was very exciting. We had our frst home cooked meals. . .tacos. . . ok so not exicting but it beats cereal and sandwiches. I am looking forward to cooking eggs and pancake this weekend.

I suppose we are slowly settling in. On the bright side we had a week to sort through Jeff's stuff before my stuff showed up and added to the chaos.

Oh and you will never believe this. . . I have made my bed everyday I have been here. And I try to straighten up the clutter every evening. I am in purge mode, trying to clean out and donate whatever it is we do not need so it does not add to the clutter. Who would have guessed?

2006-07-12T13:42:00.000-04:00

I hate waiting. . .

So last week we called to activate our cable and internet. . . turns out they can not come out to hook us up until July 27. Argh!

My belongings were supposed to arrive between July 7 and July 20, but I was told it would be much closer to July 7 and now when I call they tell me it will be sometime next week. Argh!

Sunday we bought a washer and dryer. It was supposed to be delivered yesterday between 5 and 7 pm. Surprise. . . surprise it did not show. Just my luck. Hopefully we will actually get it tomorrow. I was looking forward to washing my clothes. Sigh!

2006-07-10T14:05:00.000-04:00

Hey all,

It is me. . .So I arrived safely in Georgia with my hubby a little after midnight on Tuesday July 4. Friday July 7 we moved most of his belongings into our new apartment. We still need to get our couch and coffee table out of storage. But that should happen this week.

I was expecting my belongs to arrive Friday, but it seems there has been a delay. Its kinda a bummer as all our cooking pots, pan, microwave, etc are in the move as well as my vacuum etc. But we will survive. Cereal and Sandwiches are working fine for now. . . LOL!

I am sending out more applications to schools, public, private, etc. So hopefully i will hear back soon. Hopefully my suit will arrive before an interviews. LOL!

Michele