Grad School Blues...

Today I am singing the Grad School Blues. How in one day can I go from carefree and relaxed about my upcoming class to a complete mess and overwhelmed? Oh that's right because I decided to have 7 classes of students take an exam this week and my new semester of classes started and there are a gazillion things to do in 1 week for this class. I have 3 readings (1 is mandatory, 1 is "optional but important that you skim the key details" and 1 is a case study on Calif. Finance), a 3 pg. paper/discussion to write, a Self-Test, a weekly evaluation, a discussion of introductory value. Oh and I am *supposed* to start working on my Course Project that is due at the end of the semester. Where do I start?

To top it off, my students have come up with wonderful reasons for why they did not do well on their exams...complain, complain, complain. And then while I am lecturing, they interrupt to ask meaningless questions....just another day in the life of an underpaid, unappreciated teacher. :(

Exam Day = Doom Day!

So today is a teaching day with 3 classes to teach. Fortunately for me, it's an exam week (second of four), so there is less creativity on my part, as I only have to lecture for 1.5 hours instead of 2.5 to 3 hours. But here is what is irking me today. They all knew they had an exam today...I only announced it and wrote it on the board every week for the past 2 weeks and highlighted it during last week's class and they have a course syllabus....yet I had 2 students who were completely oblivious to today's exam. Then, because I care about my student's well-being, I reviewed and reviewed and reviewed the material being covered on the exam, posted a review sheet online for them, and evenly slipped on some hints as to the types of questions that may be on their exam. Any yet, they still seem to miss the questions! Seriously? I cannot even give away points. I think I will need a large bag of chocolate to get through this grading week. :(

Sorry for the rant!

Consignment Shopping

I was just watching The Duggars and saw them go shopping here. I should keep this place in mind in the future. We will have to see if we can attend one of their sales to stock up on some things in the future and bring lots of friends and family to help find the great deals.

http://www.growingkidssale.com/

Room Decor Challenge

Below is my Room Design Challenge Entry and I chose a Nursery with an Aquatic Theme. It is more ideal for a boy, but could be girlied if needed. I love the underwater and found the ocean design calming.

Enjoy!

*My Power Buys*

Since I am home these next couple days by myself, I spent part of my evening looking for some great deals.

At Bed, Bath & Beyond:

Cookbook Holder for the Kitchen (orig. 12.99- 20% off = $10.39)



Picture Frame Tray (Clearance = $4.98) -For our Guest Bedroom-
*It is missing a piece of glass to cover the pictures, but I can find one and it may need some touch-up paint*




At Target:

Photo Box (Clearance = $ 4.98)
*I added a coat of white paint to cover some dirt marks and then fixed the ribbon (it was falling off) with some hot glue and added the shells*

Busy Bee

This is a somewhat hectic week for me with all that is going on, and I really need to conquer some things around the home and in my life. Greene is traveling for work until Wednesday. Thankfully, we did laundry, changed linens, did the dishes, and even vacuumed and straightened up a bit this weekend. *Note: We have a gazillion clothes and therefore only do laundry every other week, and to be all honest the dishwasher gets run approximately 2x a week since it is only the 2 of us and most times the 2nd wash is pans and it's only 1/2 full.* In terms of our house cleaning schedule, I am notorious for straightening up behind Greene as he leaves things around, but for the most part we "clean as we go". *Thank you God I have a husband who understands the meaning of a clean home and picks up for himself (for the most part).*

My Schedule for Tonight:

* Trip to Michael's Craft Store (look for some extra pieces for the Halloween village)
* Redo the Recipe Cards and catch up on the stack of recent recipes
* Watch my "girly" shows
* Work on the Christmas applique kits

Later this Week:
* Higher Education Finance class starts (Wednesday evening)
* Grade exams (Friday & Weekend)
* Relax and POGO (my evening escape)

...

Blogging has definitely taken a backseat to life here but mainly because grad school, being sick, teaching 7 classes a week, Husby traveling, and my shoulder still hurting has been the primary focuses. Once again Husby is traveling and it is a quiet week between grad school (term starts Wednesday) and teaching (Exam 2 this week).

Nothing to exciting has been occurring either. We have the village almost all set for Halloween (pics to come in future post) and this weekend, we bought some new furniture for the home. We are beginning to transition ourselves from newlyweds and "stay-at homes" to more entertaining and future family status, so we found a really nice dining table that has a leaf for widening/extending it with 6 matching chairs and also a loveseat to match our couch in the Living Room.

Our Couch:



Our New Loveseat:



This is the Dining Room Table except with 6 chairs:



The Tall chairs (Ones on Left) are the chairs we went with (We already plan to redo the seats as I do not like the material on them from the warehouse):



*I think we are going to cover the chairs in a blue suede-like material, but cannot find a good picture*

*::*Update*::*
Although this is crappy camera phone picture, you can kid of see the color of the fabric. I happened to be near Joann's and figured I could snap a quick picture.



Saw this fabric and want to make pillows out of it or maybe placemats and napkins:
*http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog.jsp?CATID=cat1183844&PRODID=xprd779844*