Whew! And funny things first graders say.

Today was that kind of day.  I came home from work and climbed into bed, wearing my dress and cardigan and all, and slept for about 30 minutes.  I dragged myself out when Gus woke me up, figuring I should at least put on some comfy clothes.  Then I went into the kitchen, grabbed a tube of the pre made cookie dough out of the fridge, found a spoon, and sat on the couch to eat.  Now I’m sitting outside on the back patio, watching the hubs power wash things {he loves his power washer}.  The weather in Dallas this week has been PERFECT.  We are in that short time of year when it’s cool in the mornings and just right in the evenings.  Fall is on its way!

Work is still going great, besides my naps and cookie dough break in the afternoons.  I am learning SO MUCH.  I just with my brain could soak it all up and remember it forever.  It’s hard to be hit with so much information and great ideas, all day every day.  I am so lucky to be where I am.  It sounds silly, but I know this is what I am supposed to be doing.  I am loving my kids and even when they take 20 minutes to pack up their bags and walk down the hall, leaving only 4.5 minutes for recess, I still love ‘em.  Funny things they have said to me this week:

* Do you think an entire pee wee football team would be strong enough to lift a small car, like a Mini Cooper?

* How old are you? {I told them to guess} 23?  {I said YUP, that is exactly right}

* {After chapel, one girl pointed to the large metal cross hanging over the alter} Is that the real cross? {Me: What do you mean? Is that cross real? Yeah, it’s a real cross.}  No, I mean the real cross.  The one that Jesus died on.  {Oh. No. Not that one}

They make me laugh everyday.  I love their hugs and when they want to hold my hand when we walk down the hall.  And sometimes, even the crazy boys who are never paying attention, ever, run up to give you a hug and tell you that first grade is really fun.  And they’re right. It is really fun.

Chopped

I have this thing where I grow my hair out, forever and ever, then get sick of it and chop it off.  It is usually a quite drastic cut, and then I regret it about 20 minutes after I leave the salon, and thus spend the next 6-9 months growing it out again.  I haven’t done the drastic haircut in over a year now, which means for the past 18+ months, I’ve just been growing and growing it out.

Well I reached that point where I couldn’t stand it anymore.  When it gets super long, I spend 90% of the time with it pulled back into a ponytail or some sort of bun/wrap deal, just to get it all out of the way.  I was starting to feel like I was drowning in hair, and like it only looked good if I spent a good hour on it before work, so basically like never.  Thus, I knew it was time for a change.... but not my usual drastic cut.  Last time I did the cut, I wanted to look like LC in this photo (my stylist totally FAILED  to capture my vision that time):

This time, I just wanted to get rid of the length and go for something lighter and fresh, that I could still wear up or down and style lots of ways.  Here’s how it came out, before and after (before pic is blurry because it was first thing yesterday morning and I was looking rough)

Only four people at work today noticed the change.  And two of them are my BFF’s that I see all the time, so I knew they would notice!  So I guess it wasn’t really that big of a change at all. NONE of my kiddos noticed.  Oh well.  I’m loving it and have zero regret {so far} on the new do.  And these days, anything that saves me some blow-drying time is totally okay in my book!

so long sweet summer

Time did that thing it always does: fly. And here I am staring fall in the face, while still sweating in the 100 degree temps.  This weekend was a good chance to stop and put things on hold for a bit and I really tried not to worry about all the work I need to do for my classroom (we have parent night on Thursday, eek), all the reading I need to do for grad school (yeah, that started back up this week) and all the ‘stuff’ I always feel like I need to be doing (keeping the house clean, laundry, eating a halfway decent meal).  Mark and I went separate ways for the long weekend - he went to visit college friends at the lake, while I stayed home and hosted college friends who were visiting Dallas.  Two of my best girlfriends stayed with me for a night, and we got to all get ready for the night together {just like in the DG house}, catching up while we curled our hair and did our makeup, wondering aloud who would get married next, have kids next, or just stay the same.  On Saturday, we got to meet baby Hadley, and then watch the Texas game together on a {hot} patio.  But the best part was when we all stayed up until one in the morning, sipping wine, eating bon bons (literally) and just being together.  Times with friends like that are harder to come by these days, when we all live in different cities and have to, you know, go to work every day.

Now I have the Sunday Blues on a Monday night, anxious about a paper I need to write for grad school and a presentation I need to put together for parent night, and it reminds me of the same anxieties I would have at UT, when I was juggling classes and jobs and the social calendar of a college student.  It’s not that I’m worried I won’t get it all accomplished - I know it will all get done - but I still have that little nagging feeling that I should be reading or studying right now, not watching a game on TV or going out to dinner with Mark.  If I’m awake, I should be being productive, right?  At least folding some laundry or unloading the dishwasher?  But I tell myself it can wait until tomorrow.  For now, it’s all on hold.