Stressed out = understatement!

So the title of this post pretty much sums up my life right now - STRESSED! Isn't it the summer... aren't I supposed to be enjoying it!?! Once next Tuesday, the 29th, arrives I will feel much better because everything will be packed and uncluttered in this apartment and I can FINALLY clean the whole place! I had off this past weekend and had intentions of packing the whole time... but... I didn't. Derrick was in town on Saturday which is rare for him to have off on a weekend day so we met up with great friends from Savannah at a half way point, Columbia, SC, and went tubing down a river there. We then drove back and went out to Music at Blakeney, a live jazz/blues music where you can sit outside and bring your own alcohol and just relax. I LOVE GOING and now that I will be moving away from this area next week I'm not sure I will venture back out here at night anymore! On Sunday I had to do lifeguard re-certification which lasted till 12:30 and then I finally could start packing!! So... I began packing and well this is what I am STILL dealing with (pictures below)! Through all of this packing I feel like a slight hoarder (which I am fixing and "un-hoarding" everything as I sort through it). I was finding stuff that was just embarassing that I still owned! I decided to remove myself from my college life and got rid of most of my fraternity t-shirts that I love to wear but know it is time I move past that phase in my life! As you look below at these pictures please do not judge me - I am usually very organized and clean! Below is a picture of my 2nd bedroom which is where I put things that I am still confused on how/where to pack.

This is a view of my closet. It looks like a disaster because I had just sorted through all of my shoes and kept the ones I planned on wearing next year. Also, Derrick added his clothes he wanted to keep out to m closet so that is our stuff combined - pretty good! The clothes in it are what I am keeping out for the summer. The rest of my stuff is in those handy dandy space saver bags.
Another view of my dining room with a couple more boxes (did I pack anything on Sunday???)
So this is why I am still stressed - I still feel like I have A LOT TO PACK! Mostly because if you have ever packed before.... you always feel like you are so close and when you think you only have 1 more box left... it turns in to 15!! As I was driving home today I remembered .... I HAVE A STORAGE CLOSET OUTSIDE ALSO!! ahhhhh!!! How does one accumulate so much stuff??? Is this move over yet??? 8 more days till I have to be out! (and ps... 4 of those days I will be in OH, 3 of them I will be working, you do the math...).

My time, Your time, Who's time??

Happy Monday everyone! Yay I have the day off completely and got a TON done! Unfortunately I have not gotten much packing done yet... but I still have lots of time left in the day to do some more!

I keep on meaning to write this blog and now that I have the day off I am taking full advantage... this blog is for my mom and her trouble with time changes (mom is laughing right now I'm sure as she reads this). You are now getting an insight into my phone conversations that I have had with her when I'm in Texas and the many I have to look forward to.

Every time that I have been in Texas in the past year I always call my mom. Usually we would end up talking about what time I have to get up, what time the job fairs would be, or what time I have to catch my flight. It never failed that when time was brought up she would confuse herself very quickly because of the time zones. If I said that I had to be at the airport at 3:00 she would say, "Katie -- it's already 2:45!! You better hurry! Oh wait... 3:00 your time, so 4:00 my time." Now that's understandable the first couple of times that we would talk but really a year later... now it just makes me laugh! She really does have to speak saying "your time" or "my time" throughout our conversations to help understand the times.

So this is for all of you reading -- when I talk to you after I move to Texas the time change will be 1 hour (I will be behind you 1 hour... for those of you still not getting it - it will be 12:00 your time, 11:00 my time). I will ALWAYS speak in MY time (Texas time) and you will always speak in YOUR time (east coast time) and hopefully we will all adjust to this time change together! For those of you who talk to my mom, throw in the "your time" "my time" language to help with the confusion (love you mom).

SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER!

Well it's been awhile since my last blog post but I have worked 96 hours at the pool in the past 4 weeks on top of finishing up my school year in North Carolina so that is my excuse for not blogging!! Thursday, June 10 was my last day teaching in Charlotte! It was very bittersweet for me. I am so excited to move on to a new experience but it was very hard for me to say good bye to my adorable and sweet class (by far the best class I have had in my 3 years of teaching). They were everything a teacher could ask for in a class: funny, sweet, accepting, tolerant, smart, laughed at my jokes, supported one another - they were what I wish we all could be like to others. They helped one another out all the time without me even asking and when others made a mistake they would actually say 'That's okay! It was a great try!'. To hear those words come out of 5 and 6 year olds mouths is just a great feeling to know that those kids are our future:)

So June 11 was my final teacher workday at my school. Derrick came throughout the week to pick up boxes and on June 11 he made 2 trips to pack me up completely. My room that I have been in for the past 3 years was no longer mine. And everything that accumulated into my classroom was now in my dining room.... and also exploding into my hallway and living room. I took pictures so you could really see what I was dealing with when we finally unpacked the second load from my car (overwhelming to say the least).

my dining room:

my living room:

I wanted to come home on the 11th and just relax and do nothing but once I saw what my apartment looked like I had to get to work. Derrick took apart the futon in the second bedroom and organized empty boxes while I moved, taped, labeled, sorted, and reorganized the dining room. Now all boxes that are in the dining room are full, taped, labeled, and ready to go. Marjoity of the boxes in the picture below are from my classroom. I'd like to say I'm not a hoarder when it comes to teaching materials but when I was cleaning out my cabinets I definitely found not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 (YES FOUR) big storage bags of beans. I don't know why.... but then I also found 4 (YES FOUR) big storage bags of rice!! I promise those are not packed in any of my boxes. The thing with teaching that many of you may not understand is that little kids don't mind if things are slightly used because to them it is new. And they actually find it cool when I say "The first graders used those boxes last year!". So I continue to save everything because as you know teaching is not the highest paid profession and why buy something new when the old stuff works just fine (even if it does have scribble on the outside of it - my next class is going to scribble on it too!). When Derrick said "How did you accumulate all of this stuff" I simply said "I have no idea but I use it all!".

Organized dining room:


Tomorrow is my first Monday off from both school and the pool!! I plan to get a lot of packing done and will probably reorganize the boxes again. We set up the storage unit to move out of my apartment June 29 so only 16 days to go!! I have a visit home to Ohio for my best friend's wedding and 40 hours a week at the pool so on my days off I will be consumed with packing and blogging to keep everyone posted!

On a side note.... SPACE SAVER BAGS ROCK!! I still have my token bag that will not stay sealed but I am going to say that pillows and blankets just do not do well in the bags. All of my clothes are still very tightly sealed and unfortunately in the picture you can't really see them (because they are so flat ... well lumpy but flat) but they are still so awesome. If you ever need a little pick me up I highly suggest buying them just to have some fun with:) It really will bring a smile to your face!

It's like heaven in a brick building:)

Now to continue on with my mini trip out to Austin to get things situated. On the first day there as you read I got to experience Austin a lot more than usual and found a place to live:) Now onto my second day!

I had been in communication with my new school, Casis (pronounced cuh-sees), since I was hired at the beginning of April. My new kindergarten team picked a date to plan out their upcoming 2010-2011 school year and invited me out to meet with them and learn more about their school year. Throughout the past couple of weeks I had been researching my school to find out more about it. Casis is very different in every way from the school I am at now. It has a lot of parental support and majority of the students come from middle to high class families (where I am at now most are at the poverty level). It will be a very different experience for me and I am so excited to teach in a different atmosphere.

I arrived at the school pretty early so I decided to fill up my gas tank now rather than later. I pulled into the gas station and see that on the big sign it says 2.74 but on the actual gas tank it said 3.09. Well I was not paying over $3 for gas so I drove on. After a couple minutes it didn't seem as though I was getting to a gas station anytime soon so I turned around, drove back, and was prepared to pay $3.09 (I already paid a ton for valet... why not just keep it going). Well I pulled into the other side and that gas pump said 2.74. Then it clicked - they had full service there! 3 guys came out while I was pumping to clean my tires, windshield, and windows, wished me a great day and headed off (didn't even wait around for tip which I probably would've given because I've never been to a full service gas station before!). As I was taking this area in (my school was right across the street) a high school student pulls up in his brand new BMW to the full service area and that was when I knew I was in different area!


Hahaha - I quickly got into my little rental car and drove over into the next plaza to park because I couldn't find the parking lot for my school. As I sat there for 30 minutes (yep.... when I said I was early I meant like 45 minutes early) I watched all of the students and parents pull in and head into the school. From the time I sat there watching them I just could not believe the cars pulling in! Almost every single one was Mercedes, BMW, Hummer, etc. It was nuts! They all headed into the Starbucks right across the street from my school and then off to school (kids too!).

Well after sitting long enough I headed into the office and was greeted by one of my team mates with a HUGE HUG and then her calling to my principal who also greeted me with a hug! What a welcoming feeling:)

I was introduced to everyone in the office and then went down to meet with the rest of the team and I have to say, they could not be more amazing! So friendly, warm, and inviting and willing to answer all of my questions and so interested in getting to know me! We discussed the school and everything till lunchtime, then headed downtown for lunch and I had to head on back to the airport (remember... I didn't make it to the Austin airport so I had to drive all the back to Houston!). I drove the whole way with a huge smile on my face and felt like I could not have made a BETTER decision - what an awesome feeling!!!

I got to the airport in time to attempt to catch the last 2 flights to Charlotte. Well... flying stand-by is obviously not a guarantee and well.... I can guarantee you I did not make it back to Charlotte that night!! I felt so bad because my friends Susan and Joe who were watching Mia had to watch her another night, which they didn't mind but of course I hate putting that burden on them! Then there was my situation of where to sleep? I didn't want to pay for a hotel but did I want to sleep at the airport??

Well ---- lucky me!! Derrick called to tell me that he was given a trip that was flying to Houston then he was flying the plane up to San Antonio that night!!! So I just went over to where he got in from Newark and we went to grab dinner, hung out a bit, and then he piloted the plane up to San Antonio!! That was the first time he ever actually flew the plane with me on it so that was a great experience!!

So, I flew to San Antonio on Friday night, woke up early, flew back to Houston, then sat and finally made it on the 3rd flight out of Houston and got in around 4pm (same time zone mom... still 4pm your time) to Charlotte.

Through the whole last little hiccup I didn't get overly angry or frustrated like I would usually because I just had such a great feeling in me about my move. To make a decision from across the country about a school and a city to live in was a bit nerve racking but now that I know I made an amazing choice - it feels wonderful!! Austin, Texas... HERE I COME!