Life as of late

Grad school- just a few days until it is done! I have been very proud of myself because I kept up with ALL of my work, have not procrastinated, and actually got a lot of work done well ahead of time! Unfortunately, I should have procrastinated this time because one of my professors actually decided to get rid of a major assignment because too many people looked "tired" and "overwhelmed." Guess who actually had already finished hers? That's right- this girl right here. TIme management people- it goes a long way.

Job Interview- it went really well yesterday! It was very low key and more like a conversation with several of the faculty members, but I think I liked this method better than the traditional type of interview. I have some things that I have to think about, but I should hear in a few days whether I got the job or not.

Running- I met my goal last week of four days. I will have to run today, tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday to meet it this week, but I think that it is do-able!

Weekend- This weekend I am going to my grandparent's 50th anniversary celebration and I am so excited about it! We are traveling to Greensboro. Friday my sisters and I are going shopping, Saturday is the vow renewal and celebration, and we will come home on Sunday. It will be a short trip but I am looking forward to the time away! The only down side to this is that I have to leave my precious Meredith for the weekend but I am leaving her with a family who will take very good care of her and who have a few dogs to keep her occupied!

I thought I was over this?!?

This weekend I was sick sick sick. I felt grose on Friday during school: I kept sneezing, my nose was running, my throat felt foggy, and I was just overall blah. I went home to take a nap on Friday afternoon to try to shake it. I felt OK by the time I woke up so I went to my sister's house for dinner and a movie. On my way there, I was super duper excited to find this:

the official drink of summer in England. I have been jonesing for some Pimms since I came back from England in 2009 and just now discovered that they sell it here in the States! Its good stuff, so you should try it if you get the chance. Look up drink recipes for it online.

Saturday I felt terrible all day long. I managed to get my oil changed in my car, but that was about it. Sunday I worked in the morning and was fairly productive in the afternoon. I cleaned my car, made a test for my students, did some research, cleaned my room, took a nap, read, picked out my outfits for the week, and went grocery shopping. I was impressed with my productivity!

Recently I have been implementing different "time savers" or maybe a better term would be "stress relievers" or "making Hilary's life better practices" into my days. I have successfully implemented the whole picking out all my outfits for the week thing on Sunday nights. This saves me a LOT of time and a LOT of headache during the week. I have even noticed that I look more professional and put together. In the four weeks that I have done this, I have YET to wear an outfit twice- quite an improvement from my old standby outfits! I really wish that I had done the 30 for 30 challenge this time because I actually think I could have been successful in my endeavors! The second thing that I have done is starting to make my lunch for the day the night before. This way, I am not scrambling around looking for something to eat in the morning and my meals are usually healthier!

I still have a few practices/things that I would like to do

1. I want to come up with new hairstyles to wear. I feel like my hair is so blah all the time. I have a few things that I do with it on a normal basis and would like have a few more standby things to do,

2. I want to make working out an integral part of my day- not something that happens by chance. I want to start running outside again. I want to go to the gym more!

3. I want to have specified reading time for my own reading pleasure- not stuff related to school. I love literature and I have a bunch of bookshelves stuffed to the gills with books, many of which I have never read! Time to get crackin!

I think thats it for now- we'll see where I'm at when I master these goals!

Just a few thoughts....

~ I am thinking about starting a teaching blog to archive some of my lesson/classroom ideas. I think this would be a good way to have a place to come back to for a refresher on some of my finer ideas and hopefully serve as an inspiration for other teachers who may be struggling or need a small dose of inspiration. Thoughts?

~ I have nothing on the books this weekend and I LOVE it! I am going to use this weekend to hone some of my lesson plans, work on my resume, work on my portfolio, and relax with the pupster- all while watching movies and/or Friends. It should be a productive, yet restful weekend. I may even have a sleepover with my little cousin Jon because he has been asking and asking me to have a sleepover. We'll see how that goes!

~ The more I am here, the more I like the high school that I am at. I am really getting into the groove of things here, meeting new teachers and forging professional relationships with the faculty and staff this semester.

~ Last night I tasked my Dad with making me something similar to those office mailboxes for my classroom. I have seem them as a way of organizing, passing back papers, and keeping materials in the classroom in several classrooms and I.want.some! Granted, he has time because I won't have my own classroom until at least August (and hopefully that is the latest!), but I want to get him started on it so he can make them to my exact specifications :)

~ I want to plan a vacation for the end of this semester or the end of my program (about a month and a half apart). I dont know where I will go or who will come with me, but I want to go somewhere!

~ I received my I Heart Accessories package yesterday and I love it! I can't wait to post about my goodies and link up with other swappers!

I think that's it for now!