The End.

I was so excited to see January end and be able to start with a fresh month that I changed the calendar in my classroom yesterday morning. I also changed the gellies that I hang on my window from "Let it Snow" to "Love" and hearts. Just knowing that February was a few hours away was exciting.

At the end of last year, I analyzed our budget and our expenses from 2012 and made a new, more detailed budget for each month in 2013. I was excited about it. Then came the tuition bill and an unexpected car repair and all of the sudden the month sucked in terms of the budget.

I've decided I HATE paying for car repairs and I think they're dumb. We spend thousands of dollars on a car just to spend more money on it in a few years to keep it working. Why can't it just work on its own? If I paid $10 for it, yea, I would expect it to break. When I spend thousands of dollars, I expect it to last forever. And, do you really need to charge me that much money to fix that one thing?? I know...I know...I'm being irrational. 

With my anger over stupid car repairs, I've also been humbled this month. Why am I freaking out and getting angry and anxious when I should be grateful? Stephen and I have everything we need and more. We are not hurting. Please forgive me for my selfish, ungrateful attitude; it really is uncalled for and selfish.

I was also excited to see Friday get here this week. Last Friday we got out three hours early, Monday we had a three hour delay, Tuesday we had meetings all morning and I had to work late, Wednesday was a scheduled early release, Thursday we had parent meetings all morning. Today, is finally a "normal" (is a day spent with 100 middle schoolers ever "normal") day where I actually get an hour and half of planning. What am I doing with that time? Nothing. Well, I'm blogging, but nothing school related.

You would think with three short days in the span of a week that it would be an awesome week. But somehow the short days end up being more crazy than the regular days. The day feels rushed and I feel like I'm running all day to get everything done.

The weather this week also went from snowing/freezing rain to 70 degrees back to freezing. That can't be good for anyone and is just a tease of spring and winter...not enough snow to really count and not enough warmth to really enjoy.

Needless to say, I was ready for a fresh start...both a new week and a new month.

My third period got a point in the homework competition this week! I was beginning to fear that they would never be able to get a point because they just don't do their homework. I'm hoping today will be a boost of morale for them and get them doing their homework again. I may have considered cheating for them when I saw they were close yesterday. But, I didn't have to thanks to all of my other classes being more slack than usual. I don't think I've ever been excited about slackers like I was yesterday because I so wanted third period to at least have a chance in the competition.

My students were working in groups this week analyzing some graphs. One boy was reading for his group and the data was broken down into decades. Instead of saying decade, he kept saying De-cay-ed. Eventually someone in another group informed him that it was decade. Decayed was when something was dead and was decomposing.