Surprise Classroom Visit

Today was a wonderful day! I want to scream from the rooftop but in order to be more realistic I figured I'd blog instead....So today was MONDAY and the first day back from thanksgiving break. Usually this is a teachers worst nightmare because you never know how the kids are going to be when they come back. So I started my day crossing my fingers hoping for a good day. All started normal and the kids seemed more tired than anything else....then I got a new student. As if my Monday wasn't hectic enough I now had the headache of a new student and paperwork plus parents coming in and out with their kids and of course they all want to stop and talk. So I am surviving and just trying to finally get my day going. So we begin calendar math and all is well. I am having to be more over the top than I normally am because my kids are half asleep but they are participating. Then the door opens and in comes a district visitor. Now visitors don't bother me because they are normally around for 15 min. max and then gone. However this was not a normal visitor, she is like 2nd in command for my school's area. So she's kind of a big deal. Anyways- at first I don't think anything about it because it didn't click at first. So I am just doing my teaching thing and time is ticking away. I end calendar math and go into readers workshop. Our visitor is still sitting in our room...watching! I do my thing as I would normally and try to forget she's even there. It's soon kids reading time and I dismiss them to their seats and we do our thing. Meanwhile the visitor plus 2 other faculty members from our school are still in my room and it's been at least 40 min. I go around and help my kids read and ALL of our visitors begin to walk around and listen to the kids read. My kids loved all the adults and I admit the extra ears were nice. We end our reading time and begin to clean-up and prepare to share and our visitors finally leave after thanking me. It was at least an hour, the longest surprise visit I have ever had. My day continues and I ask other teachers and most were skipped on the visit and the ones who did get a visit said it lasted for a few mins. So now I was wondering why on earth my visit lasted so long....Did I do something wrong? or was it great? We all know I kind of freak out at times! I find out from our school coach what the deal was....
The visit was a suprise for all, not just me. And it turns out I was the shining star today! The visit lasted so long because she was enjoying the time in my classroom and didn't want to leave. However it turns out I set the bar high for the rest of the staff and not everyone got such a glowing report. But enough negative...I ROCKED!!! After all the worrying it turns out that i did just fine. It was awesome! Of course I know I am not perfect and I have plenty of room to improve but hey today was a great day! And I helped to make our school look good!
In such a tough profession that everyone sees as easy and takes for granted, it is so nice to get a compliment. We forget how nice they are to hear and yet they cost nothing.
And to top off my amazing day my new students parent stopped by this afternoon to check and see how the day went and update some information. She saw me in action briefly and said "It is teachers like YOU who spoil us parents!" I asked what she meant because to be honest at 3:00pm my mind was shutting off. She said it is rare to find a teacher like me and it makes it difficult to find good ones later on. She thanked me and said she was glad her daughter was in my class. I smiled and thanked her and said I was glad as well.

So that was my awesome day! I am still smiling and eagerly waiting for the hubby to get home so I can share my wonderful day with him!

I VOTED!!!!!

SO I am embarassed to admit that at the age of 26 I finally voted for the first time ever! I know it's embarassing and I have no excuse other than not caring really and being lazy. However I have broken that chain. I voted yesterday for the first time ever. For those who don't know Florida has early voting since we're retards and screw things up. So I waited in line yesterday at the library for over an hour but the outcome was well worth the wait. It was so fullfilling to turn my ballot into the machine. Now I will admit that the voting process itself took all of 3 minutes and after standing in line for an hour my feet hurt and my back hurt and I was like thats it? But when I thought about I realized I was finally taking a stand and voting. I feel very grateful that as Americans we are able to vote and be heard! So this year I was heard! And I must admit I am proud of myself! So please get out there and vote! I know if I can, everybody else can as well! VOTE!!!!!

Life!

So I have been married for 3 weeks now and life is great. Preston and I are still in the newlywed stage and it's amazing. It was tough getting back into the swing of things and coming back to reality but I have adjusted finally. Its hard after spending an amazing week in Las Vegas and then coming back to reality. Las Vegas was amazing and very fun. Vegas is a city that has something for everyone. There are people all over the place. I was amazed at all the different languages I heard as we were walking along the strip. We stayed at the Mandalay Bay Hotel which was top notch. The hotel had so much going that we really did need to leave if we didn't want to. However of course we left and walked the strip. We saw the Sirens of TI show which was fantastic and FREE. The fountains at the Bellagio are beautiful and breathtaking. All the malls had awesome shops and made me wish I was a millionaire instead of a teacher, LOL. We had dinner Wednesday night at "Top of the World" thanks to Shawn and Julie and it was awesome. We were on top of the Stratosphere rotating around and seeing all of Vegas. Not only was the view beautiful but the the food was melt in your mouth good. And both of our meals were cooked correctly which is amazing for the two of us b/c that hardly ever happens. Thursday we saw The V show which is a variety show that was good. It had all sorts of acts and they were very entertaining. Friday night, our last night there, we ate at a 4 star restaraunt in our hotel called Fleur de Ly. The food was out of this world good. It was hands down the best meal Preston and I have ever had. We had the 4 course elegance menu which was to die for! The portions were rather small and Preston was slightly disappointed because he was very hungry however when we left we were both full. I still remember that meal. We did other things but those are the main things. We did alot of walking around and looking and just enjoying being together. I will say that was the best part of the week. I got to spend the entire time with Preston and we did what we wanted when we wanted. It was so nice and relaxing.
So I will try to be better about blogging....try to help me out with reminders!

THE WEDDING!!!!!

Bachelor Parties!

Ok so we all know I am getting married in like 6 weeks! Exciting I know but NOT the topic of my blog this evening.....I had my bachelorette party back in July and had a great time. I went out to dinner and went to a club with a group of my dear friends. We had a blast of course and came home way too late(which isn't hard for me since we all know I go to bed super early). And this past weekend Preston had his bachelor party. He and a couple of friends went down to Daytona Beach for the weekend. Of course I wonder why they need to go out of town for a whole weekend but whatever! So I got to thinking, scary I know!
Why is it that MEN have this desire to go to the strip clubs for their bachelor party? Women don't have the same urge and desires yet it seems almost natural for men to go to the titty bars to celebrate before they get married. I don't understand how this has become such a popular and accepted bachelor party practice. I am sure men would be pissed off and jealous if women went to a club and got lap dances by naked to half naked men. Yet it seems to be ok for them attend the strip club and women are supposed to be ok with it and not care that the man we are about to marry just got aroused by some naked bimbo. The men don't seem to care enough about our feelings to change this behavior. Why is there such a double standard in society?!?!?! I understand that they will never see the women again and they don't hook up and they really and truly love us and all the other blah blah blah bullshit! Yet it still doesn't make me feel any better about the situation. I don't understand why women are supposed to be satisfied with our man and only our man yet "our men" can go get turned on by strippers and we're supposed to smile and be happy they came home to us.
Don't get me wrong...I love Preston dearly and he is a wonderful man. Yet I am still hurt by the behavior and don't understand it at all.
Any other thoughts ladies?

Racing to Success!!!!

Today was the first day back to school for teachers and I survived and am not totally exhausted! Whoo Hoo!! I started at my new school and am very excited. I have a wonderful co-teacher who I will be working with and my grade level rocks. I am glad about the decision I made to switch schools. It seems to be a happier environment and people actually work together. Of course I still have a lot to do because my classroom is not nearly ready for students but it will be in time(I hope). Our theme for the school year is "Racing to Success" and the teachers are the drivers which is cool. So I am excited to be back in an inviting environment with a great grade level. So I will keep you posted as the years progresses. Wish me luck!

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

It is August 3 and my BIRTHDAY!!! I am now 26 and loving it. Last year I freaked out about getting older and was not a happy camper about it. But this year I am loving life. I think about all the wonderful things going on in my life and I can't help but smile. I am truly happy with where I am in my life right now. I love teaching and can't imagine doing anything else. I am engaged and getting married to my real life Prince Charming. And I have the worlds greatest friends. Life is good right now!!! So birthday's may bring some down but think about the positives in life and all the blessings God gives us and be HAPPY! I am a happy girl who is very blessed at 26. I can't wait to see what is in store for me at 26! (besides becoming Mrs. Preston Hart Colangelo Jr.)
Happy August 3rd!!!!