Mrs. Moore's Musings

So, I have been thinking a lot about the purpose of this blog.  I think that it is be sure and write down, as honestly as I can, my experiences during this year that has had so many important events.  I did not know that when I made this my New Year's resolution, but I am pretty sure that some day I will be glad that I have these entries to look back on.  Today is my wedding anniversary.  My marriage has been a grand adventure with ups and downs, but I truly married my best friend, and I know that of all the decisions I made in my life, marrying him has been one of the most important and best decisions I ever made. This week has been one of the most difficult in my life.  As I sit here thinking about how to write this, I know that I want to.  I want to write this down and not forget what has been a forever life-changing week.  This week my son moved out of our home in order to begin a brand new adventure in college.  I am so overwhelmed with emo...

My favorite girls enjoying our last summer supper :) Oh my gosh.  It is here!  It is really really here.  Tomorrow is the first day of school.  My daughter and I finished getting her school supplies packed just a few minutes ago.  She is starting her FRESHMAN year.  This is simply not possible.  I have cookies baking in the oven and I am getting ready to get in the shower.  My classroom is ready, name tags are made (who knows if the people I originally have on my roll will still be my people tomorrow, but I want to be ready).  I have my outfit picked out, I have peanut butter and pretzel snacks packed in my book bag. I am ridiculously excited and nervous.  I know I won't sleep well tonight, but I will be so excited it won't matter until Wednesday (the day I must move my son into his dorm room--a project I am in denial about tonight because I can only handle one major emotional upheaval at a time).  I currently have 147 new peo...

So, summer is almost over.  Next week I have a week of professional development, which means school with no kids, and that is not my favorite week of the year.  I am actually a professional development enthusiast most of the time (when I get to choose the classes and subjects that I know I can benefit from) but I am not so great at meetings that I am not engaged in or interested in. Probably how MOST of the students in my classes feel so I will make it through for them.  My summer has been pretty low-key and wonderful.  My family decided to put in a pool, which ended up being quite an adventurous undertaking, but we are thrilled with it and know it will be something we will enjoy for many years to come.  I had a goal to watch some serious television, I did not do any of that (although I watched some episodes of House of Cards and I highly recommend this series).  I read about 25 books, some classics (my favorite was re-reading Invisible Man) , some adult l...

I didn't write a blog post last week and I am sorry about that.  I have been writing every day because I am working on a project with Crystal Bridges museum, and it has taken me a lot longer and been a little more involved than I originally thought it would be.  It has been awesome-just a little more intense than I imagined.  I have been researching works of art and writing essays about the art, the artist, My work area (and breakfast) and history of the painting for an online database for teachers.  I have loved learning all about these paintings and I have realized that although I teach this and believe with all my heart--it is true that every work of art has a story to tell.  It's been awesome, but I was so busy I didn't take time to write my blog last week.  I hope you'll forgive me and keep reading.  I do feel like I'm doing okay on this New Year's resolution of mine :) This week I did something I don't normally do.  I was supposed to ...

It's summer, and for teachers, even ones like me who take on some additional duties for extra spending money, it means I get to spend more time on social media.  I love Pinterest  in the summer because all my friends find and pin awesome stuff, even though I am never sure if I am supposed to make something super healthy, something super decadent, build something awesome from reclaimed something, or get a total body workout in six minutes?  It also means I spend more time on Facebook. I was inspired today by the number of quizzes that I not only see, but am often tempted to take and laugh at myself in the process.  The recent ones have been of a new variety, asking "How much of a _____ are you?"  Be it the "b" word, redneck or my personal favorite, "How classy are you?"  I was really thinking about that this morning, as I rode on my (okay, Justin's) John Deere mower while he moved wood to our burn pile in his 1986 (I think) old pick-up truck named J...

What a week!  Have you ever had a week where NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING seems to work out exactly how you envisioned it?  Yep, me too!  Last week was the week to beat all weeks.  It started out Monday with a professional development opportunity that ended up not feeling very professional or very developing.  I left that session feeling defeated, belittled, and like my job was not the job that I love so very much.  Not a great day.  The pic I texted Justin when I was getting nervous... Justin and I are delighted to be able to put in a pool for our big summer project this year.  It is a pretty nice above ground pool.  If you know Justin, we (meaning he) did lots of research and got us a great deal on one from the internet.  We also conducted research to find reliable pool-installation people and finally after searching found one and made an appointment for them to arrive on Monday as well.  It rained Monday, so no pool guy....

It's Sunday.  The first summer Sunday.  I love summer!  This week was pretty monumental in my life in a quiet but significant way.  My husband and I accompanied our son to freshman orientation at the university of his choosing.  First of all, I feel really blessed that my son had choices when it came to his options for higher education.  Although he certainly wasn't a perfect student, he proved himself smart and capable and curious and was offered a few different scholarships from many schools in our state.  The fact that he had a true choice was very gratifying and a tiny bit scary for my husband and me.  Ultimately, he chose the university that is closest to our home.  That is NOT why he picked it.  My son does not have a major, nor does he have a clear cut path for his future at this point.  I can't imagine why--he turned 18 last week, shouldn't his road be clearly marked?  The reason he chose our local, yet kind of big uni...