Back To School Gifts

It is August and I go back to work in less than a week!   Yikes!  There is something so wrong about that!  This being the first summer in about 15 years that I haven't worked makes it even harder to go back for some reason.  Perhaps it has something to do with that little baby that was recently born?  Or that I'm only 2 1/2 years away from full retirement?   Well, regardless, I wanted to get a little something together for my co-workers to celebrate the beginning of another school year.  We are itinerant, so I decided to put together a little "survival kit" that can be kept in our cars.

I bought a bunch of zipper pencil pouches from the back-to-school area of Target and then purchased a number of small items to fill it.  Dollar Tree was a great source for this as well.

Because I wanted to decorate the zipper bags a bit, I added washi tape stripes across the plastic window.

For the last six months or so, I've been breaking my addiction to Diet Coke and replacing it with a new energy drink that I discovered at the Louisiana Marathon called ZipFizz.  It is all natural and contains caffeine, but doesn't have the other bad qualities found in carbonated beverages.   I first began replacing my morning Diet Coke and sometimes my lunch one.  I find that Diet Coke now doesn't quite taste as good to me as it used to, so I don't crave it like before.

Anyway, all that to say that Zipfizz comes in these nifty little plastic tubes.   I've been saving the tubes, because they seem like they could be used for something----just wasn't sure what.  They seal tight and even come in pretty colors.

I dressed them up a bit by adding strips of washi tape to match the zipper pouches.

I filled one of the tubes with paper clips.

In the other, I put a few safety pins.

I'm thinking of adding one more tube for some Tylenol---we all need that from time to time!
Last, I designed and printed out a cute tag.

They are filled, stacked and ready for the first day of school.  I might not be ready to go back, but something cute just might help soften the blow.

Here's what I filled the bags with:

Blue pen (for our IEP's)
Black Sharpie
Mechanical pencil
Pad of Stickie notes
Rubber bands
Roll of tape
Glue Stick
Hand sanitizer
Paper clips (in tube)
Safety pins (in tube)
Tylenol (in tube)

And just in case you're interested in seeing what I put together in previous years, here are a few of ideas:   2013,  2011,  2009.

Philly in May

Last week was great.  I was able to take off from work to fly up to Philadelphia with Callie for her graduation.  We arrived late Tuesday night, giving her a chance to put the finishing touches on her presentation for that evening before we ran errands.

I am not a fan of driving in unfamiliar, big cities, but with Callie as my navigator (and a lot help from Google Maps), we zipped here and there like old pros (only cut off one car by changing lanes at the last minute as far as I know---okay, maybe two).  We picked up her cap and gown and walked around the campus of Eastern University.  

What a pretty place, with ponds, old buildings, flowers and even Canada Geese roaming about freely.

Her favorite spot on campus is the chapel, and I can certainly see why.

Tiny and intimate and beautiful!

Just look at the ceilings in the foyer!

After lunch, she took me to visit some of the places she'd called "home" when visiting Philly over the last two years.  Her degree is a Master's in Urban Studies, with an emphasis on Community Transformation through the Arts, so rather than studying at the main campus, their concentration worked out of the urban Philadelphia area at the Build-A-Bridge House.  (the Build-A-Bridge Institute is the group she traveled to Bolivia with--a really neat organization.  In fact, I think you'll even see her picture on the website right now.)

We visited Chamonix, the hostel where she generally stays, along with a few of the other students.

That evening, after changing clothes, we attended the Thesis Presentation Program.  Everyone was nervous and eager for that portion of the experience to be over, but I was in awe of the projects and the depth of knowledge filling the room.

It made me want to learn more . . . do more . . . grow more.

It was so nice to be able to meet the friends that she has made

and the professors that she has has gotten to know so well.

As all of the other students presented summaries of their projects, an extra-special surprise was awaiting Callie (she actually knew, but didn't tell me).  Callie was awarded the Outstanding Thesis Award!!   That meant that she was able to present her project more thoroughly, along with the powerpoint presentation she'd prepared, complete with an audience activity.

On the way home, we stopped at the grocery store for snacks and couldn't resist posing with this sign. After all, it seemed to be made especially for her!

It was a great night and I'm so happy that I was able to share it with her.

Snow Day 2014

Yesterday afternoon, when reports of widespread "wintry weather" was forecast, our local school system cancelled classes for today.  I was thrilled!! In fact, you probably could have heard the Caddo teachers' shout of "hooray" all the way to East Texas without any trouble.  I know that it causes huge problems for working parents (and particularly because Bossier school did not close despite EVERY other neighboring parish canceling classes), but I believe safe rather than sorry is always a good policy.  Besides, we have the days built into our schedule anyway.  However, the only clue that it was winter this morning was in my birdbath.

Joy enjoyed the freedom of not being in her kennel this morning and after chasing Emmi around outdoors for a while.  In fact, she got so excited that she followed her inside--right through the doggie door!

It wasn't long until she'd also mastered going out and preferred staying outside watching the birds and exploring the backyard.

With no icy roads in sight.  I was able to run a few errands before settling in back at home to complete a few more projects.   When I pulled out my Mardi Gras decorations a few weeks ago, I couldn't believe how awful this wreath looked (to my credit, I haven't used it in several years because it was so bad).

Time for a makeover!   I took everything off, then rearranged, fluffed and re-glued to spruce it up a little bit.  Although not perfect, this is much better.

Instead of one particular Valentine gift for Ron, this year I decided to give him a small token of some sort each day to make it a "Valentine Week".  Yesterday, I made small stickers to put on his favorite fruit---bananas and oranges.  

Without saying a word, I just placed them all in the fruit bowl on the counter for him to find when he got home from work.

Today's gift is one that I made for the ladies in my office, as well.  I filled clear "pretzel bags" with Valentine peanut M&M's and stapled a tag to the top.  Here are their bags:

and Ron's bags:

Tomorrow, I will be hanging this 5x7 picture frame in our bathroom, along with some whiteboard markers so that I can leave him reminders from time to time.

And on Thursday (we're celebrating Thursday evening since we'll be going out of town on Friday), I will give him this box.

Originally, I'd planned to make something like this---a box made from a vintage book.  I thought it would be a great place to keep special cards and letters.

Better Homes & Gardens

But, so far, I have been unable to find the "right" book--one that is pretty, yet large enough to hold cards.  When I found the pre-made box at Joann's, I decided to adapt my original idea.
I glued an envelope to the inside of the lid and inserted a Valentine card.

Just about the time I completed all my projects, the wintry weather rolled in this afternoon.    It sleeted and snowed and after just a short time, it actually began sticking!

Joy loved being outside in it.  

Emmi, not so much!

When Ron got home, he took both dogs out to play for a minute---Emmi didn't stay long!

I think that Joy had the best idea for this snow day!