My Inspiring Day

Today I had the opportunity to attend my first Autism support meeting for no other reason than I am fascinated by Autism and the theater I work for is interested in doing a program I created years ago for my Special Ed class. Today, I won't be going into great detail about the program as it is still in the ironing-out-details phase, but I would like to share the experiences I had today in the meeting.

OASN

Ocala Austism Support Network

The Ocala Autism Support Network is a non-profit organization designed to provide free services to individuals with autism and their families. They were established in 2011.

First of all, it was a small group today, but I was happy that it was because I was able to actually converse with the founder and co-founder as well as the specialists that were there from the county. I was able to learn about this new (ish) support group in my home town of Ocala and learned some interesting statistics about Autism in my county's schools. This is great information for a first year teacher come August...

The other great experience I had was running into an old friend. One of the founders of this network is the mother of an old high school friend who definitely had a big impact on me growing up. When I was a senior in high school, I was the assistant director of the show The Boys Next Door which is an incredible play about four disabled men and their caretaker living in a group home and their day to day lives. I was fortunate enough to attend a magnet school for the performing arts and the cast and myself were sent on several field trips to schools for disabled students, facilities for disabled adults, and an actual group home where we spent the entire day with the men who lived there. We helped them do their chores that day and even went bowling with them in the afternoon. It was one of the MOST rewarding experiences in my entire life and has definitely impacted my decision to go into education.

Well, Mrs. Perales of the Ocala Autism Support Network, has two children with disabilities: one with down syndrome and one with autism. She was so on-board with this play and the research we were doing and drove us high-schoolers around several times in order to learn more about the disabilities were we working on. She contacted people for us, she made arrangements for us, and she was like the drama class mom for all of us.

I have been thinking back to the experience I had in high school all day today! I decided to search the vast resources on the internet to find anything about it from 2006 and I found the article in the newspaper about it! You GOTTA read it! It has quotes from Mrs. Perales and mentions my brother (Joey) who played the character Barry, a man with schizophrenia. What memories!!! Click the photo below to go to the original 2006 article. <3

I'll never forget the year when I graduated from high school, Mrs. Perales came with her son to my graduation party and gave me a copy of the book Oh, The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss with a written note of encouragement on the inside cover. I still have it in pristine condition (which will likely change when I decide to read it to my classes throughout the years...) and recently flipped through it again as I am packing to move. I packed it along with all my other books in preparation to move in the coming weeks but had I known I would see her again today I would have kept it out and taken a picture of her note in the cover! I will certainly write an updated post when I unpack it in a few weeks in my new house.

It was nice to see her today and learn from her the services her non-profit organization is providing to my community. I am happy to say that I will be working closely with them as the Education Director and I plan and implement a new program at the community theater for students with autism. I will go into more detail about this program in the next couple of months as we figure everything out, but today we took another step towards our goal for the education department.

I am so excited and motivated right now!!!!

I Hate Moving...

In the past 8 years, I have moved... wait for it... 9 times. That's more than once a year! But hopefully this next move will last a while. I mean, this move makes the 10th move since 2006! Ugh!

Oh how I hate packing boxes and moving furniture and unpacking and cleaning the dust off the things you're packing and haven't cleaned in a while and when you finally feel like you are done with the MOVING part, you have to organize and get the new place up and running.... Bleggh! I just hate it! Sorry for that really long run on sentence, but that's how my brain is working right now.

Everything is a mess before it is packed. It is driving me insane. I worked for hours yesterday, sorting and packing and dusting. This is the result! I feel like it should look a lot better than that! 

I know that it will all be worth it in the end. We are moving into a beautiful home. The situation is actually quite perfect. My husband and I as newlyweds, moved in temporarily with my parents in the built in garage until we were enough out of wedding and school debt (thankfully we were smart about it and didn't have a lot... but still...) to find a nice apartment or house to rent. Then the plan was to save more money after we were done with school to go towards a house. This is the situation for a lot of young newlyweds and college students as I've found while researching places to live.

But then, plans changed drastically! My mother-in-law got a new amazing job where she gets to travel and every three weeks the company she works for flies her home for a weekend. She's doing something she loves, seeing new places, meeting new people, but still gets time with her grown children at home. That's why she didn't want to sell the house. She wants a place to come home to and the house needed a lot of work and updates before it could be sold anyway. That's where we come in... we are taking care of the house while she is away! The stipulation: she gets her bed when she comes home every three weekends. I can totally handle that.

My sister-in-law will also be living with us, which is fine, seeing as it is a five bedroom house and she's awesome. The floors are getting redone as we speak and slowly but surely the house will be like brand spankin' new! At that point, we may stay, we may move and she may sell it... we don't know. Either way, I am excited for this new adventure and I'm sure MY parents are thrilled as well. ;)

But really... moving is awful...

Wordless Wednesday: I Almost Didn't Make It!

So it is 11:45 pm on Wednesday. I almost didn't make it in time for a Wordless Wednesday!

I almost forgot dinner today, too...

What is your "go-to" dinner solution when things don't go as planned?

Mine... well... cheese and tortillas... can't get any easier than that!

End of the Year Bundles Up and Ready! (On Sale till the end of the day)

The TpT Sale for Teacher Appreciation Week is still running for another 8 hours. Both of my End of the Year Bundles (for Kindergarten and First Grade) are on sale for 20% off! Use the TpT promo code TPTXO for an additional 10% off! 

The bundles include 4 products each valuing at $14. The bundle price is regularly $10 and till the end of the evening they are on sale for $8. Adding in ANOTHER 10% discount with the promo code you are looking at $7.20 for four products normally priced at $14.... So... I'd say now is the time to snag these!!!

SO CLOSE! Help Me Get There!

I have been slowly approaching the 100 follower mark on Teachers Pay Teachers and today I hit 80. I am excited that it is growing and that I am almost close to a "mini" milestone! While 100 followers isn't a lot (at all actually...) it still feels good!

To celebrate this little milestone, the day I hit 100 followers on TpT, I will be hosting my very first giveaway! I will be giving away my end of the year bundles (check them out HERE) AND one product from my store of the winner's choice (up to $8!).

But I've got to hit 100 first, so help me get there! Share this post or my status on my Facebook page (below). Can I hit it before the weekend? Hm...

Thanks for all you do, readers!

We All Appreciate a Sale!

No time for chit chat! I'm just going to cut to the chase!

Tomorrow and Wednesday (May 6th and 7th), Daisy Designs is participating in a Teacher Appreciation Week SALE! All of the End of the Year items will be on sale for 20% off! I know several of you have wishlisted the Kindergarten End of the Year bundle, so now is the time to snag it! Add it to your cart and use the above promo code!

Click Daisy (below) to go to my store and shop till your heart's content!

Don't forget teachers... even though there are rough days and your job can be incredibly stressful and frustrating... remember that you are appreciated and that what you do TRULY matters.

Happy teacher appreciation week and happy shopping!

May Currently

I'm linking up with Farley's Currently posts again! Watch out! I am starting May off on the right track!

LISTENING: It is raining and cooling things off here in Florida. Good thing, too, because it was getting HOT!

LOVING: I just got glasses yesterday and can't believe how different things look when I can actually see them!

THINKING: I am highly anticipating the show tonight of the musical I choreographed at the school my mom teaches at. I can't wait! I know they are going to do so well!

WANTING: I just want my new house, now! It is so big and beautiful! But the floors are getting re-done and the walls are getting painted right now... so I must wait...

NEEDING: If I'm moving in three weeks, don't you think it would be a good idea to pack? Yeah, me too...

SURPRISE: This month, the surprise is to feature a blog of my choice in my post! I am featuring A Spoonful of Learning because I am so excited for her to have won a cash prize through the Ellen Show! She was on Ellen, y'all!!!! Here's the link. A Spoonful of Learning. Or click the button below. You GOTTA watch the video at the end!