Things I've learned as a substitute teacher

Well, it's been nearly two months since I left the YDR. I am learning something new everyday. Some are silly and some are serious, and I am sure there are more to come.


1. When you really have to go to the bathroom, there is no one there to relieve you.
2. Some students could care less about school and there is not much you can do to change it.
3. Teenagers know more about drugs, alcohol, etc. than I ever will.
4. Every day is different and when you least expect it....students surprise you.
5. Getting up at 6 a.m. isn't as bad as I thought, especially when I get to take naps now.
6. Eating lunch at 10:30 a.m. isn't as bad as it sounds.
7. Eating dinner at 4 p.m. isn't that bad either.
8. More time after work doesn't mean more motivation to make it to the gym.
9. Review games with food prizes don't carry as much weight as you think they do.
10. Teachers have a lot of meetings, too!

Mounds of clothes

It's no secret that I love clothes, shoes, handbags, accesories, etc. I've never really felt guilty about it because I spend so little. I do most of my shopping at Thrift Stores, Consignment Shops and sale racks of discount stores.
But a few days ago, I felt really overwhelmed. Nate and I don't have traditional closets...they are big, but have slanted ceilings and off layouts. I've been storing all of my clothes in my "dressing room," which is the spare bedroom. I had dozens of summer dresses, formal dresses and winter coats in the back of Nate's closet (which is the closet in OUR bedroom.) He wanted a place to store his firearms and asked me to give up my craft closet. I couldn't do it. So, he decided to use his closet. I've never seen the man so gung ho. He went to Home Depot, bought a bunch of wood and started turning his closet into a storage facility.
Unfortunately, I had to remove my clothes. Right now, they are laying on the spare bed. The stack is high. My wedding dress is partly to blame for that.
I don't know what to do. I could scale down my clothes, but I wear a lot of them, if not all of them. I am not really buying new clothes, so it's not like I am adding to the collection. I thought about storing the seasonal clothes in plastic containers in the basement, but you can't really fold formal dresses into plastic containers.
Any suggestions?

And the finished (well almost) dining room

Check out the photo to the right for a before glimpse, well, more of a during.
And look at the bottom to see the photos of the finished dining room. The photo on the left shows the natural light better, but Nate didn't install the new light yet. The second photo shows it at night with the new light, but without the beauty of the natural light shining in on the gorgeous floor. This dining room was a true test of our teamwork. I think we did a great job making it through together, even with a messy, dusty house for weeks. We are sitting down to eat dinner more!
*A special thanks to Ron Stiger for his help, advice and guidance!

Surprise -- the hutch

Just when I thought my camera was going to take the trip to the electronics graveyard, it some how resurrected. Not sure how, but I am done asking questions.
So, I can post the dining room photos. I wish I had a better before, but just think white walls, white carpet and1980s fixtures. Not to mention the ugly laminate hutch. Check previous posts in home projects to see the progress.

Anyway. Click here to read the background on the hutch. Here is the before, during and after of photos of the hutch.
I added little jeweled handles to the black doors. We only put two doors back on because there was the beautiful wood drawers that added contrast to the all black hutch. If you look close, you can see my amateur painting, but I don't think anyone is looking too close :-)

Before
During

After

Dinner ideas made easy

The one thing I miss about living in York is that the Giant supermarkets are more high tech than the one in Shrewsbury. I miss that little machine in the meat department that offers recipes. You can choose a cut of meat, scan the meat and dozens and dozens of recipes are ready for you to print. It's awesome.
For example, pork loin was on sale for buy one get one free. I really only make pork and sauerkraut and roasts before....so I was looking for something new. I scanned the pork and scrolled through the recipes. I ended up choosing Pork Paella. It was basically Cajun-seasoned cubes of pork served over a mixture of rice and beans, wine, clam juice (which I happened to have in the basement...lol) and peas. It was really tasty, filling and not to unhealthy. Pork is a very lean meat (if you trim the fat.)
The scanning machine is just another tool shoppers can use to save time and money. If you are already at the grocery store, you can make sure you have all the ingredients. Some people are intimidated to use new technology, but you will see after the first time you use it...you'll wish you started a long time ago.

Almost finished

Our dining room is almost finished. To the visiting eye it is finished, but we still have a few small details to take care of. Unfortunately, my camera is acting up. Fortunately, we are getting a decent tax return so I can buy a new digital camera. So, I hope to post pictures soon.
As for taxes, I was very nervous to tackle Nate and my taxes this year with the student loan interest, property taxes and mortgage interest. But a friend of mine said Turbo Tax was great! You don't even have to buy the software. You can go to www.turbotax.com and file online and not pay until you are finished. And even then, it's only $29.95 (extra for state) to file and totally worth it. She said she compared it to playing the slots...and I totally agree. After I entered Nate's W-2, the refund total shot up, then I added my W-2s and it went practically to zero. (I relished in the fact of only have two w-2s this year, because next year, I'll probably have six or so.) Then after each deduction, it slowly shot up again.
I haven't filed yet because Cracker Barrel offers a discount and off course I lost the information. But it looks pretty darn easy.
So here's hoping to a new digital camera!

Exhausted

I haven't felt true exhaustion in so long. I was always really responsible about getting to bed on time, getting enough sleep and making sure I wasn't overdoing it.
In the past few week, I have felt exhaustion like never before. I started with Friday, when I was in school during the day and at Cracker Barrel at night. I woke up at 6 a.m. and didn't fall asleep until 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning. I think I did OK catching up over the weekend, but come Monday, I was at overdoing it again. I woke up at 6 a.m. to attend the first solo day of a 12-week sub position dealing with emotional support kids. I left school at 3:20 p.m. and drove to Harrisburg where I studied for a quiz. Then, I went to class. I didn't return home until after 9 p.m., only to do it again the next day. Well, Tuesday after work, it caught up to me. I took a 30 minute nap. Wedensday I took a 2 hour nap. Thursday, I took a 2.5 hour nap. It's getting ridiculous. I go home, sit down and have no energy to get back up. Fortunately, I was able to pull myself out of the funk long enough to take a cycling class last night and walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes. It was invigorating. When debating whether to exercise or not, I always remind myself how alive I feel when I am through, but sometimes the bags under my eyes and the exhaustion in my bones keep me from even attempting.
The exhaustion doesn't look to be ending anytime soon. I have a short time after school today before I have to be back at Cracker Barrel, and I return on Saturday (the bills have to get paid and we have been spending a lot at Lowe's and Home Depot as of late.) Then Sunday looks like a day to run errands, catch up on cleaning and return phone calls. Monday is a holiday, but I still have to go to class.
I am hoping to find a cure for this exhaustion and get back to the crafty, decorating girl I was before I took this 12-week sub gig. Who knew a dozen teenagers could wipe a girl flat on her back?