Day in the Life

Hola! Today's Day In My Life post captures Monday, 11/20.

Yeah, can I get a "Wooooo!" for the quick turn around on this one? I woke up at 4 this morning so I had time to finish it up before it went live at 5:30.

On Sunday night I did not sleep well at all thanks to Christmas and Jelly. This whole "no feeding the cats in the middle of the night to shut them up" thing is really affecting my slumber!

My alarm went off at 5:30. I did my normal getting ready routine: drink iced coffee, update podcasts, go to the bathroom, get suited up to run.

Despite not eating since 3:30pm the day before, (I had a REALLY early dinner) I enjoyed my run. I was a little lightheaded and had no energy at all, but I wasn't hungry. It was cold and smelled like winter, which made me excited for the holidays.

After my run I got dressed for work.

I've had better outfits but today it was all about comfort.

I leave for work by 7:30 so I get there at 7:55. I dropped my lunch off in the faculty fridge, made myself some coffee, then headed down to my classroom where we were having a faculty meeting. Yes, a faculty meeting on Monday morning...

Pretty much!

We discussed safety procedures for the school and reviewed what to do in any number of situations. The meeting went until the bell rang so I had to rush to my stair duty. 

If you're ever wondering where I am from 8:40-8:50 on Monday-Friday, it's at the bottom of the EPE stairs...

Luckily, my plan period was first thing in the morning so I had some time to prepare before I had a class. One of the things I did was fix up a little prize box. I've got some good stuff in there!

My first class of the day was third grade. We sang the song Tender Shepherd from Peter Pan. Then we added resonator bells and hand bells.

I really want to buy more of these for my classroom next year but they are rather expensive. But WORTH it because they're good for getting all ages to play music. I am super excited to create some more lessons with these.

Fourth grade came next. We're learning all about The Nutcracker because we're going to see a performance of it in a couple weeks. I love The Nutcracker!!!

Then it was time for lunch but... I had no appetite. I'm not sick anymore, but it has been difficult to get my body back in order. Instead of eating lunch, I sent some emails to make sure my December chorus concert was in order.

Speaking of chorus, they were my next class! We only have a couple more rehearsals until out concert so it was ALL BUSINESS during our half hour rehearsal.

After chorus, I had a couple first grade classes in a row. They played a music game in groups. Of course there was drama. There's always drama when first graders are in groups...

Oh, I ate lunch while managing all the drama- quinoa surprise and grilled chicken.

My last class of the day was fourth grade. Before we dove into The Nutcracker, we had a competition that needed to be held. Here's the back story:

A couple weeks ago, I realized that even though the fourth graders had a big unit on The Star Spangled Banner in music class, some of them still didn't know the words! So I told them we're having a competition. I cut up all the phrases from the song and in their small groups, they had to put them in order. The group with the fastest time would win and gets to pick a prize! I gave all the students the music about two weeks ago so they could study. I was excited to see how well they would do.

Well it turns out, not many of them studied and they readily admitted it. I was shocked! How hard is it to learn the words to the National Anthem, especially since they play it EVERY MORNING AT SCHOOL!!??! Luckily, I did have three groups (well, it ended up being partners) who were able to do it in under five minutes so I gave all six kids a prize.

School is over at 3:40, and I left right away. I had some errands to run. First, I went to Michaels to get some more beads for the ornaments I'm making for Christmas. It looked like Christmas exploded in there!

Not only did I get the beads, but I got a cute pair of socks and a notepad for the fridge. I can totally see myself wearing these socks sticking out of ankle boots.

Then I went to the mall because I had a hair appointment at 5:15. I had time to kill, so I walked around for awhile. It was busy. I guess everyone is shopping for the holidays already. I was homesick. I don't like to be out after dark on a school night!

I went into H&M even though I never find anything in there. Their clothes seem to be so cheaply made. Why are all their shirts and sweaters see through?

I also went in Express. They had really cool leggings that were thicker and fancier than normal but... THEY WERE $59.95. What the heck!? I know, I know, all you express shoppers are going to tell me, "sign up for the coupons". It is just shocking to me how expensive that store is.

I will say though, that at least in the past (not sure about now) Express clothes were REALLY WELL MADE. I have a pair of black dress pant capris that I have worn semi regularly since student teaching... That was in 2004. The pants are still in GREAT shape! They haven't faded, pilled, nothing. So I suppose if their stuff is made well and will last over a decade, it's worth it!

My hair appointment started on time and my stylist did the same thing as last time. I have no beautiful "after" picture because I didn't have him style it since I was coming straight home to dye my hair.

And that's what I did! I had the dye on by 6:01 and then I just had to wait a half hour until I could shower. While I waited, I typed up this blog!

Then Paul and I had dinner. I made a huge salad. I've been severely lacking on veggies ever since being sick so my body needed it! 

Oh, look who shows up while making dinner?

That's light ranch and ground turkey.

Chrissy wanted the ranch, cheese, turkey, and croutons.

He's a garbage kitty.

We watched Colbert while eat. We had about 7 to catch up on. We always watch the monologue, comedy segments, and only the interviews that interest us. 

Joe Biden was on last week so we watched him. I freaking love Joe Biden.

Omg I never saw this one before! I'm rolling!

Note: While searching for the perfect Biden meme for this post, I got sucked into a huge Biden meme rabbit hole! People are so funny and creative! I wonder what Biden and Obama think of the memes?

Dessert was donuts leftover from our faculty meeting! I didn't eat one that morning, but put it in a tupperware to take home and eat later! You all keep tupperware at work, right!?

I crawled into bed around 8:30 and fell asleep reading reddit. I have been lurking there for at least a year and on Sunday I finally made a username so I could write a comment on a 13 Reasons Why post. Well, I got 4 upvotes! Not bad for my first comment!

Do you know all the words to The Star Spangled Banner?


If you shop at Express, can you let us know if their clothes are well made?

What are your thoughts on H&M?

What's your favorite Biden meme?