Sunday Morning, May 16th, 2010

Finally! This is my new classroom area in the NEW Middle School Building. We were given the keys on Friday. I can now come and go in the room and begin to get organized! The students will begin the new school year in this building. What you see above is the massive amount of room for my classroom space.

On the wall with the red fire alarm will be a SMART BOARD.... it is an amazing piece of technology where I can show students lessons from the Internet. It makes the lessons enlarged for the entire class to view. That gray rolling computer stand is for my *hopefully* digital camera and new laptop. Off to the right you can see one bulletin board... further down that wall is a wipe board to write on in class.

Now this side of the room is opposite of the WHITE BOARD. As you see I took the photo before moving tables or the rolling computer stand. Will take more photos this week to share. My desk is now in the middle of that bank of windows. Behind it and centered to the windows is my black bookcase. Makes it easy for me to turn around and grab something and then turn back to my desk. My computer will rest on the right side of the desk and the printer will be on a computer stand next to my desk (can't move these until school is out!).

Ahhh! A kitchen! We can finally teach a few simple cooking skills to the students. It is a galley kitchen style. Love the buttery yellow walls. Floors are concrete and then stained. There will be no tile to deal with in this building. That door you see at the end of the kitchen opens into my storage unit.

Now I love the fact the storage unit came without shelving. LOL... Yesterday, Wayne, Laura and I took 7 sets of bookcases to the school. Wayne assembled them and we got them placed inside that storage unit. I am moving one more bookcase in that room from my current classroom. But finally I will be able to properly store, organize and find materials! Each bookcase is 31 inches wide and 76 inches tall with 5 shelves. So I have 40 shelves!!!!! I already have my plan on how to fill these shelves. One bookcase will be strictly for Science books and materials. Another for Social Studies books and materials. The next is for Independent Living materials (Life Simulation, Drivers' Education, Independent Living books). Next is the Reading/Language Arts bookcases (yes need 2 of them!)... and so on. Am excited that I will be able to walk into the closet and grab the right book without having to drag out boxes and check out each one. My current storage closet is smaller than my kitchen pantry.

Now the other side of the kitchen. The wonderful bank of windows! I am going from a tiny, tiny room to this wonderful room. Going from a single window to 2 huge banks of windows. For me it is great because I love natural light.

Today I am cleaning the scrapbook room (and currently as you see taking a break). I have to stamp some images for a trade I did with a lady. Then I have to begin prepping for my June 5th card class. Today I am going to work on the Father's Day card, which is so cute. I saw an idea on the web and then have played with it and changed it a bit. I am going to use that stamp set called Totally Tools. Can't show you until the 5th of June because my class gets to see it first!

So I better go put something into the crock pot for dinner tonight, and get back in here to finish cleaning. I have alot of stamping I want to happen today. Yesterday was a dud day for me. After I got back from the middle school I ended up propping my feet up all day.

I went out to dinner with Tawanna and Lisa on Friday night. I know better than eat Chinese food, even though I love it. The sodium kills me. My ankles were sooo huge. They were much much wider than my feet. Oh and they ached! I was walking (or rather shuffling) because it was so painful. Thought that I better keep them up and not stay in a sitting position any longer. Went home and took a fluid pill and of course, drank water by the gallon and was constantly in the bathroom.

But today, they look more like ankles. But am taking another fluid pill ..... something about the combination of heat, humidity and then add sodium and my poor ankles and legs fill with fluid. The doctors call it "idiopathic (unspecified) edema" --- basically they cannot find out why this occurs and it has been happening since my late teens. My ankles look like elephant feet.... ugh ugh ugh... that is why you NEVER see me in dresses..... and I only wear shorts around the house.

Hate people seeing my horrible legs. Now add the psoriasis that the chemo gave me.... I look like a patchy, scaly set of elephant legs.... Even have almost quit wearing short sleeve shirts for the same reason. The psoriasis is bad in red scaly patches on my legs, but both elbows are hard white patches and sometimes it appears on my hands and face.

Yet, I cannot complain too much. After all the chemo is also what has kept me alive. So it truly is a small price to pay. Life with psorasis versus death without psorasis.... hmmmmm rather be alive. I think my mission in life or on earth is not finished. So here I am!

I will get off my soapbox now. You all have a great day!

Arlene