Weekly Wrap-up for February 19, 2012: Productivity, Good News, and Reading Plans.

This has been a cuh-razy week. I mean CRAZY. It finally hit me that the month was slipping away and I had made no progress on any of the plans I had to get things in order around here, so I told myself that by today, I had to get something done.

I tackled a couple of big projects this week. The first thing I did was organize my recipe binder (also jump started by the fact that Matt knocked my card box off the counter and broke it. After watching the cats bat my recipe cards everywhere-including under the fridge (that was fun to retrieve)-I decided to tackle this project this month instead of next). While doing my laundry at my mom's on Friday, I also tore through her recipes and wrote down the ones I wanted. I am still waiting for my specialty page protectors to come in the mail. As soon as they do and everything is perfect, I'll show you what I did. I foresee lots of cooking in the future. :)

My new goal of trying one new recipe a week is still completely successful. :) We've liked everything I've made so far, but the trick is going to be keeping this up as we get busier!

I also went on a cleaning/organizing RAMPAGE yesterday. We've been dealing with some clutter and mess in our second bedroom, so I finally decided to tackle it. Most of it was just tossing old magazines, filing bills and paperwork, and putting things away. I also cleaned out my desk and put some of the things away that have been out for no reason (like our Christmas wrapping paper. It was still out). From there, I got into a zone and tackled our bedroom. I did laundry on Friday, so I started organizing and putting clothes away. But then I was digging in my drawers and closet and wound up with a bag full of clothes to donate. THEN, I noticed my jewelry was a certified mess, so I spent 2 hours sorting out my jewelry, re-arranging, and setting aside a PILE of old jewelry for my nieces. I figured they would appreciate some new sparkles. :)

By the time I finished everything, I had a small pile of stuff to donate (I'm taking it all this afternoon), two bags of garbage, and it was 10:00 PM. I told you I was productive. But the apartment looks awesome and I feel really good about getting that all taken care of so I don't have it lingering over my head.


It also comes at the perfect time because I got some good news on Friday afternoon. If you were on twitter, you probably saw, but I got a long-term subbing position for the rest of the school year! :) I interviewed for the job on Tuesday morning, and they called to tell me Wednesday that they wanted a second interview next week. I was incredibly surprised to see the school calling me Friday afternoon, and the principal offered me the job! My mom and I did a happy dance.

I'm really excited to be going back into a classroom. The last 3 or 4 months have been hard with nothing to do. I'm even MORE excited that I'm going to be back in the school I worked in LAST year. It was a great environment, so I can't wait to be returning.

I'll be teaching sophomore English again (I get to teach The Crucible again! Yay!), a section of eleventh grade English (research papers), and a class called Exploring Literature. I'm really excited for the last class, since it is geared for students who don't like reading. I think it'll be a great avenue to push some books on kids and test my own abilities to engage non-readers. :) I'll know more about what I'm doing after our meeting Thursday morning.

But I am stoked. :)

I'm celebrating by reading all day today (and since I failed to read anything yesterday). I'm going to join in on the readathon going on with Literary Stars. Having other people reading today is good motivation, and since Matt has to work on homework, I know he'll leave me alone. ;)

Goals for today:
-Finish David Copperfield
-Read the third section of Roots for my post due Wednesday!

I hope you all had a marvelous week-Happy Reading!