Roller Coaster

Today has been a little bit of a roller coaster as far as emotions go.

I woke up this morning, the first day of school, and put on the outfit that I had carefully picked out last night: My favorite teal top, and my favorite white capris.

While I was straightening my hair, Gabby kept trying to attack the bathroom rug (a daily occurance). It was getting really annoying, so I bent down to pick up the rug. That's when I heard it: the horrible ripping sound. I looked down, and there was a gigantic rip in my favorite white capris. Not cool! On top of that, I was feeling some serious first day jitters, and my stomach was a little queezy.

I changed into some black pants, and luckily, things got a lot better once I got to work. It was so great to see all the kids again! I can't believe how last year's 4th graders are taller than me already! And when did skater clothes become SO popular?? I've never really liked them. I felt like a total nerd, though, because I wasn't wearing skater shoes, a funky headband, or articles of clothing covered in peace signs or skulls :-P Is this stuff popular everywhere or just in the school's particular demographic??

Most of the day went extremely smoothly, despite a few glitches in my schedule. (I wonder why the principal doesn't seem to understand that I can't be in two places at once...? By the way, Mrs. M, my last name changed over a year ago. You might want to mark that down since my old last name was on almost all of the staff handouts and schedules). Moving on...I finished decorating my classroom! Wanna see it?? ;-)

Sorry for the blurriness...I was having camera issues.

Math IS fun, isn't it?? ;-)
The room/bulletin boards are still pretty bare. I just found out that I would have this huge classroom on Friday, and had to beg, borrow, and steal in order to find some posters/decorations in the building. Well, not STEAL, but definitely beg and borrow!

Lovin' these nifty little geometry cut-outs from a third grade teacher down the hall. They go all the way across the front of the classroom
That semi-circular table in the middle is where I'll do just about all of the classroom instruction.. I probably won't use the other desks at all
THIS is how I get the students to listen to me ;-) (Not really, but it sure does help!)
PS - I bought this adorable bag at Target for $1! LOVE that place.
And THIS is how I calm my own stress level during the day (The Sour Patch Kids, that is). Chocolate is my favorite, but these are a close second!I'm so glad the day went so smoothly!

After work, I did some shopping, stopped by to visit my grandma, and then came home. That's where I found out some pretty bad news. I wrote awhile ago about how my wedding photographer charged us a bunch of money, and then never gave us our pictures or anything. She did the same thing to lots of other couples, and then we all tried to take her to court. I went to her pre-trial hearing a few months ago, and they decided that the case should go to the grand jury. Today I got a call from the prosecutor, and apparently they've decided that my photographer was not guilty of any criminal charges. Ummm, excuse me. She took well over $10,000 from all of us, we never got our pictures, and we never saw a cent of our money back. How is that NOT grand theft? So I will never see my wedding pictures (other than my proof book and a few that I salvaged from her website) and a lot of money was lost between myself and Luke's family who helped pay for pictures. I'm feeling totally cheated, not just by my photographer, but also by the justice system in general. We can try a civil suit, but she already owes so many people so much money, I don't know if we'll ever see any of ours back. Besides, I don't want my money back...I want my pictures!!!

Mad doesn't even begin to describe how I'm feeling right now. I've been crying since I heard the message. Maybe I'm overreacting, but those were my wedding photos. The pictures hold so many memories of the wedding, so in a way it feels like I've lost the memories, too.

Well I'm off to try to cheer myself up :-P Maybe some ice cream will do the trick! (Yes, I'm an emotional eater :-P)