MLK Weekend

We had quite a big MLK weekend this year. My parents got all new, much needed appliances in their kitchen right before Christmas. But, their cabinets and counter tops were just really dated, and somewhat unattractive. So, me and my sisters and all our hubbies had the brilliant idea to send them off for MLK weekend and camp out at their house and re-d0 their kitchen. We have been so excited about it since before Christmas, and my parents had no idea. We worked our tails off, but we actually had a really good time. We painted all of their 36 cabinets and 9 drawers, painted all the hardware, replaced the backsplash (we spray painted the back side of plexiglass and hung it, which, if you can find reasonably priced plexiglass, is a fairly cheap and really nice looking backsplash), changed out the light fixtures, and replaced the counter tops. The cabinets all got sanded, primed, sanded again, and then got a coat of paint on the back and 2 on the front, which took what felt like forever. By the end of the first night, we had countertops off, all doors off, and everything sanded and primed. Of course, it was 3:00 in the morning before we went to bed. Here are some pictures of all the hard work.

Here are a few before and after shots of what we started with and how it all turned out. I forgot to take a before picture until after we'd already done a few things.

Like I said, mom and dad had no clue, and their reaction was awesome. They were so surprised. Mom even cried. It was great. We were all really proud of ourselves, too.

Losing My Mind

We started back to school yesterday and I have made the biggest idiot mistake that a teacher can make in a small town where everyone knows each other and talks to everyone. I forgot to send report cards home today! Ugh!!! My assistant principal very nicely and sweetly told me that it was no big deal, but that I needed to call every parent and let them know what happened. One issue that we have at our school is a ridiculous amount lunch charges. The cafeteria won't refuse to feed a kid because they don't have money, but the students all have accounts that they charge lunches to. The new policy is that we can't send the report card home until all their lunch charges are paid. I don't know how I feel about the new policy because I have one student who owes $240, and his sister also owes this much, so that's almost $500 that his family owes the school, and they're not wealthy people. He's brought his lunch every day this year, so all the charges are from previous years, but he hasn't received a report card yet this year. Of course, I usually cheat and let him look at it before I send it to the office. So, all that was to say that I had 5 kids who wouldn't have gotten their report cards today anyway, and I have 6 who I e-mail things to, so I only had to call 11 parents, but it was still a pain. So far I haven't gotten any ugly e-mails, and I guess I'll find out in the morning how many mad parents I had that called the school. But, I didn't leave today until around 4:30 because Wednesday is our grade level planning day, and I hadn't heard anything at that point, so maybe no one will bother me about it. This is the price I pay for having too many irons in the fire. My classes start back Monday, but I've been sick with some nasty throat virus - the kind that makes my whole body twist when I swallow. I have gross white spots all over the back of my throat and this stupid lady at school (yes, she really is stupid) very rudely said to me, "Why are you here? You probably have strep throat. You're going to make me sick." I wasn't even talking to her. Unfortunately, I teach her son (equally stupid), so I have to keep a civil relationship with her. I made sure I breathed nice and heavy on her kid today. I'm kidding. I try not to get that close to him. :)