1 week of summer break down. How? How is that even possible?
A week of work, and meetings, and grading, and emails, and meetings, and did I mention meetings, never goes by this fast.
Welcome to the first post of my Summer Blog Series! If you missed the original post explaining my rationale behind these posts check it out here!
But, basically, the down and dirty is... I am kinda sorta over all the hooplah surrounding teachers' summer breaks. Too much speculation and too much exaggeration. Case in point:
Depending on who you ask, teachers are either frolicking in fields of sunflowers all summer long OR they are nose deep in curriculum development without a moment dedicated to fun or relaxation.
I am here to tell you... as much as you would like to believe the voices on either end of the spectrum, most teachers' summers are a mixture of the two views. Minus the sunflower fields. No one does that.
Oh, wait... I guess I do? |To be fair, that picture was taken long before I was a teacher.|
I am here to share with you "The P's" of my first week of summer. No, no... not my bodily functions. The Productive, The Playful, The Plates, The Pinterest-inspired, The Push, & The Pretties that all happened this week.
The Productive
**This first week of summer was insanely productive. I actually spent most of this first week at school working alongside my co-workers to improve our curriculum.
We got to play with giants pieces of butcher paper, scissors, and tape for a few days. It was like scrapbooking for teachers.
Except instead of adorable pictures of our families and pets we were playing with the Colorado Academic Standards. Hmph.
As crafty as it all looks, we were actually making sure our curriculum was deeply rooted in the standards and progressed in complexity throughout the year. This is the kind of stuff that makes the teacher nerd in me go super giddy!
**My other major project of the week that I tackled was cleaning out all of my files.
That's right, people, I lugged all of the contents of my classroom filing cabinets home to purge.
I tend to hoard and this was probably the most cathartic, yet cringe-worthy, thing I have done in a while.
I dumped, trashed, and organized. But... let me tell you, there was some old stuff in there and nothing is more horrifying than seeing the assignments you created during student teaching. |And I thought that stuff was gold back then. Like the best of the best. Yikes! Sorry kids.|
**I also dominated this ridiculous pile of laundry.
Apparently I have no energy to do anything adult-worthy the last few weeks of school and that, there folks, is the result.
The Playful
This week was full of time with new friends and catching up with old friends.
**One of my dearest friends, who also teachers with me, and I met up after a long day spent at school to decompress. We went to a delicious new restaurant down the street from our school called Cheddar's.
Look at this delish concoction we indulged in.
Sangria AND a margarita mixed. Hello.
Can't decide if you're wanting Italian food or Mexican food? Me neither. |The struggle| Thank you Cheddar's for not forcing me into that corner. Summer is all about getting exactly what you want whenever you want it. Am I right?
**Ok, those of you who have been reading for a while know I absolutely obsess over The Bachelor/Bachelorette. So, imagine my giddiness when I get to partake in a real-life Bachelorette Party.
Giddiness levels - Over. The. Top.
One of my sorority sisters is getting married this weekend... EEE! |I might just like weddings more than bachelorette parties... I can't decide, but just like Sangria & Margaritas, I don't have to.|
We spent her last days of single-ladyness at the Rockies game. A torrential downpour delayed the fun for a bit but the clouds cleared and we got to soak up some sun at the ballpark. |Please, note our super creepy cardboard cutouts of her husband-to-be's face. We just had toooo much fun with that & even ended up on the jumbotron. Life Goals!|
**If there is one thing I wish I was better at it would be drawing. My handwriting is pretty on point and I can craft with the best of them as long as it doesn't require any sort of illustration. |I am convinced my drawing abilities simultaneously peaked and plateaued at 6-years-old|
These drawing insecurities were only heightened when Brady, my sister, her boyfriend Nate and I perused the Denver Chalk Art Festival. Holy cow... these artists were insanely talented and insanely dirty. So much chalk everywhere. The Type A in me was creeping out a bit. But the art was worth it.
The Plates
The most note-worthy item that went into my mouth this week was...
**This delish take on Chicken Parm. It was inspired from the Crispy Chicken recipe posted on my favorite blog Mix and Match Mama. But instead of the poblano sauce we used a jar of marinara and parmesan cheese to top it off because we are a bunch of Gringos when it comes to spice around here.
I also tossed potatoes and asparagus in olive oil and about 1 tbsp. of all purpose seasoning. I roasted them at 450 degrees on a cookie sheet. The potatoes obvi take longer than the asparagus. So, I roasted those for about 12 minutes alone before adding the asparagus to the cookie sheet and roasting all together for another 12 minutes.
The Pinterest-inspired
I just scrolled through my camera roll for the week. Nothing screamed "Pinterest worthy". Shocking.
BUT this coming Monday, I am getting together with a group of girls to make these nifty Wine Tiki Torches:
We were told to bring one empty wine bottle and one full. Done and done.
Crafts and wine. What could go wrong? Results to follow. |Crossing fingers it won't land itself on one of those "Pinterest Fails" sites... only time will tell.|
The Push
Got back to the gym this week after taking the last few weeks of the school year off. |Apparently laundry isn't the only thing to go out the window.|
Brady serves as my pseudo personal trainer... which is great because he's insanely good looking, strong, and my favorite...free!
But, he does not go easy on me at the gym. I'm constantly like... don't you love me??? If you did you wouldn't make me do this god-awful activity. I am literally sweating!!
I appreciate it in the end though. And then reward myself with things like smoothies. Because I have convinced myself that's what healthy people do.
Ummm and if you haven't heard of Qalo rings, check 'em out! They are these phenomenal silicone bands |see my hand above| that serve as a placeholder for your wedding band when you are working out, traveling, doing anything where having thousands of dollars wrapped around your finger doesn't make sense.
The Pretties
I know I wore pretty clothes this week... but, alas, I forgot to snap pics of them. So, instead... I will leave you with the gem I took this week. The complete OPPOSITE of "pretties"
AH! Is there some sort of cosmic force out there that ensures all passport photos turn out awful?! Because of course we all want the worst picture of us being shown around the world.
Mark my words... I will invent Instagram-like filters for passport photos. |Everything looks better in Valencia and worse in grocery store florescent lighting.| And I will become rich.
Thanks for walking through my first week of summer with me! Hope you can see it isn't all fun and isn't all work. A healthy balance! As life should be, regardless of your career.
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Labels: Family, Fashion, Friendship, Middle School, Productive and Playful, Recipes, Summer Blog Series, Summer Vacation, Teacher
