busy bee...

what a busy bee i've been. it is time to go back to work. my summer job of playing bum is officially over. last monday i started putting up my classroom with the big lovely help of mr. tony. boy, there's nothing like the smell of an empty school and the sound of potential bouncing off the bare walls. it's the most exciting time when there's so much possibility for the year. as far as sewing is concerned, i've made 8 curtains with each being a different color. it took me an hour and 25 bucks to find the most gorgeous colors i could find for my price range (one being an awesome three stooges one). i've also finished 7 schoolbags... only 15 more to go. ahh! anyway, it was great to go back and catch up with my ladies. there are lots of changes with the new administration. it sounds more structured and i think that's what the school needs. the new message for the school is loud and clear: "we mean business". excellent. friday i was dead tired. saturday morning (4 am kind of morning!) vanessa and i were in charge of water stop for practice. tony, mom, marisa, alayna, and nadia ...oh and tokyo, came out to help and the water stop was awesome. our theme was danny and his love for sports. vanessa's posters of danny and quotes were so motivating and helped the team get through their first 12 miles. so by saturday afternoon i was dead tired too. tony and i went over to my real house house (what i call my parent's house) and went swimming with marisa, alayna, nadia, and my bestest amiga melissa. even being dead tired, there's nothing like being with family. it was so much fun. the girls are crazy adorable. so after almost 3 hours in the pool, i was ready to drop dead. saturday night, tony and i watched some dallas cowboys and michael phelps earn his 8th gold medal. history in the making. moments later, i crashed. i think there was even a little drool. that's usually a sign of me being really really REALLY tired. but boy did it feel great. bzzzzz.

schoolbag of tricks...

it's back to school in 3 weeks and i have been working on my schoolbag project. hopefully i will have 22 schoolbags ready by mid august. at least that's the plan! each student will have a schoolbag attached to the back of their chair. finally, i (nor my student helpers) will have to bother with collecting and passing out school supplies anymore. of course, it would be nice if i didn't need it in the first place but i was so tired of those few kids who kept sticking their arms and hands in their desk getting their glue-on-their-hands-then-peel-it-off fix (it doesn't matter if i use to love doing this too!) or shredding papers to throw around or make their "paper art". hopefully this will work. i have a good feeling about this. and i think the kids will love it. they will have a chance to become more organized and practice some good old responsibility. above are pics of my first completed schoolbag. i used scraps of fabric that i had on hand but i already visited my local fabric store to purchase some more "boyish" fabric for my boys. peace must be maintained.