oh dear lord. i am SO behind on blogging, on keeping up with the blogs i subscribe to, on DIY projects, on learning my lines for the show, on sleep, on pretty much everything i can think of right now. although i did go to the grocery store last night, which was a start.

rehearsal tomorrow & poster distribution for advertisement; should be fun. we finished blocking the rest of the show last night, so we can start run-thrus soon i think! that's always where it starts to get to be the most fun. it's funny; as tired as i am doing a show during the school year, i really love having that creative outlet and that SOCIAL outlet, spending that time with my theater friends! it is something that not only keeps me sane but adds something to my life, making it richer. so i'm thankful for the talent i've been given and for those who've encouraged and taught me and molded me along the way and to those to have given me the chance to discover what i can do. yay! ok, enough of the sappiness.

can we talk about how emotionally and physically exhausted i am after this first week back to school with the kids? i can't really get into details here since it's such a public arena that's connected to many of my fellow teachers, but suffice it to say that i am dealing with a lot of situations in my classroom/building right now that i was NOT dealing with the past 2 years i've taught here. and it doesn't help that i have 22 students. they barely FIT in the freaking classroom! i mean, you should see us trying to do calendar math together. one of the special ed. teachers came in my room the other day and didn't even see me, because in order to show them the calendar, i have to back myself into this tiny corner in the back of the room and reach my hand, and only my hand, out with the vis-a-vis pen! if only i could take a video; it would be comical. it's kind of like the clowns in the car at the circus. just saying.

also: where's the joy? cuz it ain't lurking anywhere in my hallway, that's fo sho! it's been a rough start to the year, what with pretty much everything technological being broken in pretty much every classroom, being the new campus technology rep, and having some kids with special needs that take up most of my day in energy. it always turns out that the kids you have to work the hardest for are the ones you end up loving the most, though, doesn't it?

a good note is that my class this year is filled with some truly compassionate, caring, and beautiful little kiddos. i think once we get into the swing of things, it's going to be an amazing year of learning for us (including me; i'm already learning so much). so i guess beyond the exhaustion, i can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

i am hoping to start back going to the gym next week. i also really miss thrifting! i haven't been shopping at goodwill or my thrift stores in like a month! must get back into the swing of things once the show dies down some. maybe the week after we open...

i will try to get back to blogging on a regular basis, because i miss it!

happy weekend, all!

The good news is that I finally made myself get off the couch and step away from the laptop and (drumroll please...) LEFT THE HOUSE TODAY.

I know; it's overwhelming, isn't it? Yes, this is one of the hazards of being a teacher who is off for the summer and has no children to wake me up at a decent hour and make sure I am kept busy all day. There is no keeping busy for me these days, especially now that my play is over (until I start the next one in 3 weeks, haha).

OK, the bad news; sorry I got carried away. The bad news is that, somehow, despite all attempts toward the contrary, whenever I leave the house, I end up spending money. Yes, bad news for the bank account.

Anywho, today was a great thrifting day for Gayla. Yes, I am speaking of myself in the 3rd person. It's a hobby that is highly underrated, if you ask me. It's kind of like (in my opinion) the "that's what your mom said last night" joke; it never gets old. So there you go.

I visited ye old Goodwill in Richardson/Plano area today--it's on Midway for those of you DFW's (D.F. Dubs) out there. This is the best Goodwill I've ever been to! It was HUGE, and as I checked out the cashier said to me, "wow, you got a little bit of everything, huh?" to which I happily replied that yes, I did. *Grin.* Have I mentioned how much I love thrifting? It's the best retail therapy ever, frankly. Granted, I did spend some money, but if I consider all that I got for that money, I definitely outdid myself in the great deals department. I even picked up a tight mini-skirt with leopard print to use as a costume piece in Little Shop (the next play I'm doing). Holla.

On another note, I have about 18 projects I'm currently in the middle of, and I can't wait to finish them up so I can share them on here!

Just got back from an evening walk with the husband, and of course I got bit despite spraying myself like crazy with Off! and wearing my anti-mosquito bracelet (yes, there are such things). Ah well, could have been much worse.

I will be posting pictures of my thrifty finds as soon as I can get all the pictures uploaded and of projects as I finish them! Yay, hubby is drilling some holes for me as I type this!

Hmm...I am trying my hand at this whole adding a scripted signature to my blog thing, and it does not appear to be working out the way I envisioned it. Ah well. I'll give it another try later. Or tomorrow...or something.

seriously. so, for those of you who may not know, i'll be playing the role of "Sandy" in Grease this July. those who know me are aware already of my not really loving Grease so much, but i am sad to report that i finally read my script last night, much to my dismay.

seriously? it was really funny (except not), because i was talking to my mom on the phone earlier, complaining about how the show has the most horrible "message" of any show ever, how basically the show is one huge masogynistic mess, when i pulled out my script, saying, "who wrote this show?" lo and behold, it was written by 2 men. shocker. the whole plot of the show goes a little something like this:

sandy and danny are happy lovebirds over the summer, just the two of them. school starts, all their friends act mean and ruin their relationship. danny's friends make fun of him because sandy is a prude and doesn't "put out," and all the pink ladies make fun of sandy because she doesn't smoke, drink, or have sex. so how does this sad story get resolved? well, sandy has to CONFORM, of course! the best answer is of COURSE that the woman has to CHANGE who she is so she can 1) fit in, and 2) have a man like her. GEE, how shocking that it was written by 2 men in the middle of the women's lib movement!

ok, sorry, i get a little worked up about things sometimes. that's my musical theater rant for this week, ha!

on a happier note, i am one busy bee this summer already! today i painted my dining room all by myself, and i've already got the whole room put back together with accessories, wall hangings, and the curtains back up. i rock. NOT to mention, i made homemade cookies for the first time today! meaning, i actually mixed ingredients together to make the cookie dough instead of buying those break and bake ones from the store, LOL! and they. are. yummy. chocolate chip butter cookies, YUM!

tomorrow is a full day of studying for the ESL test i have to take monday, while also finishing up some laundry and picking up to prepare for clint's parents to come visit! tomorrow evening we've got a surprise anniversary party to attend, and saturday we're all hitting the rangers game. good times! and hopefully it won't get rained out!

on an upside, my kiddos have been surprisingly relaxed this week (so far: knock on wood) considering it's the last week of school! i truly expected a lot more "wild banshees on the war path" (per kathy white, one of my fave sayings of hers), but except for the 1 or 2 that kind of act that way year-round, i've been pleasantly surprised. which really makes me worried about next year. because what are the odds that i would get such a good class 2 years in a row? not good, is the answer to that question, my friend: not good! alas, i digress.

i took a half day today to hit the ole doctor, as i've got the sickies again. shocker. just another sinus infection, as per usual, but i asked for a shot to speed the recovery, as i've still got 3 days at work, all of which will involve me feeling much better than i did today. especially if i'm gonna be doing heavy lifting. ask, and you shall receive! i got myself a shot of 'roids, and i can already tell i'm less congested. 'tis a start. i'll take it.

the list of to-do's before the end of school seems to grow perilously longer despite the work i've been doing. at least my room is pretty much packed up. every time i start to feel accomplished, i think of more things i'd like to/i need to do before the last day. seriously. i did bring it and got my end of year book to my class written, but i still have to paste all the pages and bind the book so i can read it to them on thursday.

don't have a whole lot going on right now other than the end of school, which is truly enough. we had our grease photo shoot last week, and saturday we had our poster distribution, where we harass everyone within a 5 mile radius of the theatre to hang up our promotional poster for our summer musicals to advertise. it was HOT. then we went to eat lunch together as a cast at this place called Chuch & Lucy's, that had agreed to be our featured restaurant for the show, which includes placing a coupon in our Playbill (program-haha). WELL, let me tell ya: the owner of Chuck & Lucy's is apparently a bi-polar nutcase (alas, she is not the only such nutcase I know), as she approached us and proceeded to berate us for daring to display our poster in her window. mind you, the restaurant's name was ON the poster, she had just had a meeting with the director 3 days prior, and there were about 16 other posters already displayed in the window. can you say psycho? because i can. i can even spell it correctly.

good times with the crazies, good times.

let me tell you, speaking of lists, christine, that my summer to-do list is growing ever-longer as we speak. here's what i've got so far: (Clint laughs everytime i say i'm going to add something to my list)

-paint dining room, paint office, paint red wall in guest room (is the red wall too much? thoughts, those of you who have seen the room?)

-do some writing
-have our families over
-have friends over
-2 masters courses (this truly may not happen, but i'm working on it)
-study for ESL test and take june 15th
-smartboard course (june 10th i think?)
-grease rehearsals & performances
-trip to destin
-get new wood flooring installed!
-buy a new kitchen table
-have piano moved here from mom & dad's
-work out (ha! don't laugh)
-try out some new recipes
-touch up paint edges of moldings in bedroom
-learn to use my dvd burner
-clean out and purge office!
-go to six flags & hurricane harbor with my season passes from b-day!
-go to schlitterbahn? visit lil' sis on the way down?

as you can see, i'm insane to think i will actually get all of these things done, but i'm going to try to make a calendar/schedule in hopes that i'll get a least a lot of it done. we shall see! lol.

ok, we are at the end of this loooooooong post. i'd hoped to post some photos, but they are taking too freaking long to upload; sorry. next time!

1 and 1/2 days of school left! i might cry!

I have decided to write a novel. I've been thinking about it for a while (well, this particular idea; I've thought of writing novels in general since I was about 7 years old), but I fully intend to make it happen. It might have to wait till this summer, but I am on a mission. I enjoy communicating through the written word (obviously, or I wouldn't write on this blog and my other more personal one), and it couldn't hurt to try to get published. In my wildest dreams, I can totally make this happen! =)

Just thought you should know. Now that I've made this plan/goal public, I expect to be held to it!

Why do neither of our home computers have Microsoft Publisher? Now I have to go up to the god-forsaken school on my Spring Break to print out a donation letter to try to get the Spa I'm going to today to make a donation for RCT's annual fundraiser.

If anyone is interested in attending our performance, by the way, please let me know. Tickets are a little pricey because it's our biggest money-maker of the year and generally provides the money to put on our big musicals in the summer, but it's for a good cause. Namely, me, and the opportunity to make a fool of myself in blonde wigs repeatedly. =)

The show is Saturday April 11th (or 10th, whatever the Saturday is). I think the tickets are $39/each. I'm only singing one song, but it is one of the hardest (if not THE hardest) songs I've ever performed, and it is therefore, quite impressive, if I do say so myself. Check it out by Kristen Chenowith on YouTube if you like: Girl in 14G.

OK, fabulous. I am off to some errands and then lunch with some great girls!

I went to the doctor yesterday after I left school. Basically it was turning into an upper respiratory infection (again). I have gone through the remnants of all the kleenex boxes in the house (I always keep a lot of kleenex--allergies) plus a roll of toilet paper after the kleenex ran out. At 4:30 this morning I got up and moved onto the couch, as I couldn't stop coughing full blast and didn't want to ruin Clint's sleep! My throat is one unhappy camper.

I am sure hoping to feel better by this weekend. It's been a while since we've seen Clint's family, so we've been hoping to get together with his sister and her family--maybe this weekend. Can't wait to see their kiddos; they are so sweet!

Saturday afternoon I have some auditions to attend since I signed on to music direct a kids' musical for the theatre where I've been teaching voice lessons and workshops. We are doing Schoolhouse Rock Jr, so it should be fun. It's a very easy commitment: just 3 Saturdays in February, then a music review rehearsal in March or April. It works out well with my rehearsal schedule for the annual fundraiser with RCT, which performs the first weekend in April. This year I'm only doing one song, yay! I just don't have the time or stamina during school to make a big commitment. No more shows during the school year for this chick! It's too exhausting.

Then Saturday afternoon I move on to working the cake walk at the school carnival. This carnival they do every year is insane! They have all kinds of fun stuff, it's amazing. They make tons of money for the PTO, which ends up funding all kinds of great things at school. This year Kristen and I (another 3rd grade teacher) applied for a technology grant and are now getting interactive whiteboards in our classrooms--this is funded by the PTO! Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to be at this school. We have great teachers and supportive principals and parents. It really is a good place to work, and I have made some good friends!

Hopefully I'll something more exciting to write about soon!