First Day of School!

I have a secret.

A BIG secret.

A secret so giant that it would blow any four year old's mind wide open.

Are you ready?


I'm pretty sure teachers are more anxious and stressed about the first day than their students are.


Phew! I said it! It's true though. I can't tell you the number of people who were up at 2am with me on facebook, unable to sleep with the first day jitters. For the record, none of them were students.

For some reason, most people think about their teacher on the first day and see this

In fact, when they get to the school they will likely be greeted by a happy man or woman who looks like her-- calm, collected, in charge, and happy.

What they don't realize is that seconds before this smile wipes across their face there are a bunch of teachers huddled together looking more like this

And this

And, of course, this

Now, this is NOT to say that we don't love the first day. I, for one, can vouch for how amazing it is. Getting to know another bunch of students that will touch my life every day for two years is incredible. Knowing all the lit up faces and "aha" moments I will see, the lost teeth, birthdays and success-- that is what makes it all worth while. The reason that we act this way is due to a whole other variety of reasons. You know how your child is terrified that their teacher will be a dragon with three heads that eats fingers and toes for breakfast? We secretly are terrified that your child will be the ONE child in the world we can't teach/handle/manage/understand/etc. Everyone has their own fears. The funny part is, as a teacher, no matter what those fears are, when we face them we do so with such strength and passion for teaching and learning that we conquer!  I was reading through an old behaviour log for one of my former students yesterday and just stared at it thinking, "How did I get through that? She hit me seven times in less than two hours!" But I did and so did she. In the end, I did a ton of reading, after school courses, behaviour program training and we were both successful at the end of her Kindergarten program. (By the way, let that be some proof that teachers actually do work outside of our paid hours. For that one student alone I invested at least 400 extra curricular hours over two years).

But it's still scary.

I think the feeling can be best described by Louis Sacher when he wrote Sideways Stories from Wayside School. In this chapter book the students have a new teacher named Mrs. Jewels. She has heard horrible, terrible stories about how the students in her class are and the students have heard horrible, terrible stories about how she is. When she finally gets to the classroom she sighs a big breath of relief that these children are so nice and sweet that she decides they can't actually be children. Instead, she is convinced they must be smart and cute monkeys, because her students were not supposed to be that fantastic.

 So, parents, teachers and all other people out there, here is to another school year. Here is to 36 *gulp* smiling faces as nervous and excited for the first day as I am. Here is to another year of challenges, excitement and adventure.

~Mrs. Sunshine

The top 10 reasons I haven't wrote in over a month.

Man I have been a BAD, BAD, BAAAAD blogger.

But I have lots of excuses. So, in no particular order (and to kick off my blogging again), let the list begin!

10. I am working at school. Okay, okay. So maybe this isn't the greatest excuse, but as a teacher (especially in a new school), I actually HAVE been to the school lots.... in the last week. Doesn't really excuse the time before that where I was home, but whatever. I'm adding it.

9. I have been spending time with my husband. I have! I swear! We got back from our honeymoon on August 10th and he didn't go back to work until August 27. That was a long, LONG time to spend together, for the record.

8. I was really sick. The day we came home from our honeymoon, I felt funny. By that night I had a fever of over 102, was hot and cold, sweating and shivering, and all over in bad shape. It took a good week to feel normal again.

7. My mom and dad moved. I know that doesn't REALLY relate to me, but we helped them and it was exhausting!

6. My sister had some projects for me to do. I'm seriously running out of excuses, but I did spend three entire days painting, prepping and recovering.

5. We put an offer in on a house (and have the final stuff on Tuesday!). This is both exciting and terrifying! As we started house hunting, that has actually taken up a lot of time, especially since Mr. Sunshine would willingly admit I'm the financial guru in this joint.

4. The paperwork! Oh the paperwork! If you have ever had an offer accepted on a house, you will know that the resulting paperwork and running around is insane. I literally had two days where I got on the road at 9 am and arrived back home at 2 pm, having burned through a half tank of gas. It was nutty. I didn't eat.

3. I was on my honeymoon. I was! I promise! And it was FANTASTIC! Expect some recapping and pictures soon!

2. Lots of visitors=lots of cleaning. Ironically, none of those visitors actually stepped foot in my house, but I swear my house has never been so clean.

1. I GOT MARRIED! Okay, maybe there was SOME order. But seriously! I'm a Mrs. now! As a result, I am stress free!


Be prepared though... A recap complete with taxi cabs, trees being cut down, incorrect flowers and hot sweaty people will be up soon!

~Mrs. Sunshine

4 more days... ONLY 4 more days!

Man this weekend has been a whirlwind! We certainly spent our last weekend as an engaged couple in style. We went to a Rodeo, Rib festival (with some damned good ribs) and even got to see the newest Batman movie. Completely worth it!

That being said, I am starting to realize how little time I have left and how much there is to do. Mr. Sunshine still has to buy groomsmen gifts, I have to contact my bridesmaid to ensure she is still coming on Thursday to our rehearsal and to make sure her dress is okay. My mom is panicking over getting a late night table together, and as of this moment, we aren't sure whether we will have one or two photographers for the day of. It's a lot of last minute hassles, to be sure. Oh, and we have to clean our house top to bottom for the photographer. Oh, and of course I STILL can't find any damned bells to put on the tables.

I guess the good news is that I can basically finish off most that list in an hour. Perhaps I should. But honestly, I'm enjoying the lazy days of summer doing just about as little as I possibly can.

I'm sure I will post in a massive panic soon, but until then, wish me luck!

Miss. Sunshine

The bachelor party that wasn't. NSFW

When we first got engaged, Mr. Sunshine clearly told me that there were some things he was not interested in. One of them was a bachelor party. Having been married before, he felt that it was both bad luck to have one now (no idea, but I respected that) and he didn't really feel up to it. For his brother's bachelor party two years ago, they all went to a football game. I asked him if he was interested in something like that and was met with a firm no.

So it was never planned.

I also was all for the "no parties" idea and did not want a shower, bachelorette party or engagement party, but the bachelorette was a surprise party hosted by my sister, and, well, how can it NOT be fun when you are greeted at the door by this:

Picture blurred to protect the innocent. And yes, that is a giant penis costume.

Anyways, I ended up having a great time, asked Mr. Sunshine if he wanted to reconsider, and he was still cool with being bachelor party free.

But clearly he underestimated my dad. About two months ago, my dad and godfather asked when Mr. Sunshine's party was going to be. I told them he wasn't interested, etc, etc. I think as a result of not having really partied in 20 years, they were both disappointed and asked me to get Mr. Sunshine to change his mind. Wasn't happening. I explained that, unfortunately, he just wasn't interested. The matter was dropped.

I thought.

A week ago my dad comes up to me and says, "Tell Mr. Sunshine godfather and I are taking him out for dinner. Ask when he wants to go." I asked what it was for, and they said dinner. Mr. Sunshine politely agreed and that is where this has gone from "dinner" to "unofficial bachelor party under the guise of us all having a good time". Why do I say that? I say that because I have been subjected to the following from my father:
1. "Crap! We never invited his brother out! Should we have invited his brother out? Well I guess it's just dinner."
2. "Er... Miss. Sunshine, can you pick up Mr. Sunshine around 1 am from our house? He won't be able to drive home."
3. "Is there still a Hooters in Brampton?"
4. "Does Mr. Sunshine like tequilla?"
5. "Do strippers make you angry?"

Now, I haven't told Mr. Sunshine this because I am clearly a HORRIBLE fiancee, but I'm also secretly hoping that he goes out and has some fun. I know he will enjoy himself, as he loves both my dad and godfather, but beyond those two conniving men, neither of us have any REAL idea of what will happen.

Did anyone surprise you with a party? Did you have fun like I did or hate the entire adventure?

~Miss. Sunshine (only 6 more days until I'm a Mrs.!)

The Final Preparations

I can't believe it. I was crossing off the calendar (I like to make giant X's to mark the days) and today it said "Facial 2:00" and "10". 10 for only 10 days until the wedding. Where has the time gone?! I remember having to write in dates and marks and flipping page after page to get to July. I remember getting engaged and thinking 7 months seemed like an eon.

And it's almost here.

I think I'm getting the post-wedding blues a bit early.

As I look around my house I realize I have so little to do. I printed out wedding tree (which took forever because my darling sister made it to fit a 20 x 15 frame, which of course is too big to print almost anywhere on non-glossy paper), started tanning in a salon to get rid of the rest of these tan lines from hanging out at the pool, and my to-do list only has "car tune up" (tomorrow), "bridesmaid gift" (just have to give it to a Bridesmaid), "groomsmen gifts" (Mr. Sunshine is handling that one), "small container for wipes and disposal" (going to ReUse store to deal with that today), and "pack for honeymoon". Ughhh. So sad.

I also have to say I finally broke my cardinal rule about tanning salons. I, Miss. Sunshine, at age 25, have finally been in a tanning bed. There actually is a good reason though. I have these faint tan lines from my halter bikini I got a few months ago. I tanned and swam at my parents place a few times in a strapless bikini to try and get rid of them, but it is the weirdest tan ever! From the side, it is super obvious, from the front it is very faint, and when I wear a white dress, it looks crazy. It sucks. So after 2 weeks of tanning 3 times a week at my parents, I decided I might need a salon to help me out. I bought 100 minutes in a super bed, bought the lotions and decided to go. Only one problem. *duh* When the lady asked me if I had been tanning, I said, "Yes, of course!". I am quite dark, actually. So she told me to use the turbo bed for 7 minutes. I threw on some bronzing lotion, jumped in, and left. This morning I woke up my breast and bikini area are pinkish while the rest of me tanned nicely. Why? Because those areas had NEVER SEEN SUNLIGHT. No wonder I got a slight burn! I didn't even think to cover them at all because I am currently so paranoid about getting rid of my unsightly lines.

So now I'm playing the waiting game to tan again, and perhaps a bit of sunscreen on those bits!

Also-- never had a facial before. I think this wedding is turning me into a girly girl.

ALSO-- lost another 2lbs. This dress better fit, damnit!

Have you thought about or done something new and exciting for a wedding day prep? Are you tanning or doing any of the "girly" things?

~Miss. Sunshine

Tick-Tock

My goodness how time is flying by! Today is my Uncle's birthday and I remembered back to when Mr. Sunshine and I were looking at venues. Our backup, second choice venue had today as their only available Friday in July. Can you imagine? I can't. I am so glad, at this point, the wedding is not for two more weeks because there just isn't enough time. Every single moment I think we have gotten to the end of a task, it seems that 10 more pop up.

For example, things that I still haven't completed:
-seating chart board
-photography schedule
-day of schedule
-how the hell are we getting home?

The last one on that list is kinda the big thing here. Originally my parents were going to hire a limo. After both them and us humming and hawing over it, I took the lead and called up a few places. Because we are outside Toronto (not by much, mind you) and we are a wedding, a 30 minute drive to the venue and 30 minutes back several hours later was $650, plus tip and fuel charges, etc, etc. For 8 people. Insanity. That was also the BEST quote I got from calling several places. The most expensive, all in, was $1200. For the same effing thing. One hour of driving. That's $200 a minute for services. That's not having a limo waiting in the parking lot. That's not being able to leave at alternate times. That is straight up from 3:45-4:15 and 1:00-1:30.

Anyways, my parents are looking into option #2, but I think in the meantime I have to look into getting a town car. I am fairly sure the local cab company provides them, and that is fine with me. Mr. Sunshine is adament about not getting into a big yellow taxi, so I will certainly do my best. Also, if it is just the two of us it is one stop and 9 minutes from the venue, so hopefully it will be under $100.

I guess the last thing to mention is that I have hit one of the final stages of wedding planning, and that is the nerves/crazy mood changes. Seriously, my thought process recently looks something like this.

*looks at Mr. Sunshine* Oh my god, we are getting married in two weeks! *super excited and smiling*
Holy crap, I'll be Mrs. W in two weeks! *super excited*
I guess that means I'll no longer be a J_____. *getting sad*
No one can call me JJ anymore *starting to be really sad*
I'll be the only one in my family--- omg--- they aren't even like family cause we have different names *tears*
*Mr. Sunshine asks what's wrong*
"NO ONE WILL LOVE ME ANYMORE BECAUSE I'M MARRIED AND DIFFERENT!"

As you might imagine, this suddenly leads to extreme happiness and "OMG WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!"

It's a sad, sad (poor Mr. Sunshine) time to be a male in this household.


Oh well! Gotta get going on projects. Being that I volunteered at a camp all week, I am way behind and must catch up!

~Miss. Sunshine

Favours Complete!

Well, I wrote awhile back about how I was inspired to create favours. As a recap, I originally was not going to do anything, then saw this, then fell in love and c'est la vie!

Then I stumbled across a problem, in that same post. How the hell was I going to package these things? I seriously didn't know. I posted some ideas and was beyond smitten with these Weddingstar favour kits.  The problem was that they were $20 for only 12 boxes (and I needed 60), plus shipping and handling ($8 per item). For over $2 a favour I knew I could do better, especially since my favours were only pennies to make!

Still amazingly gorgeous. C'mon!

And so began the hunt. I finally tracked down kraft boxes at Creative Bag, but had to decide between square boxes that were 3" by 3" (vs the 2" by 2" in the pic above) or rectangular boxes. I ended up going for the extra large to keep them square. For $56, I scored 100 boxes (mostly cause they only came in packs of 100) and was able to have a bunch left over for my jewellery making.

After that was done, it was time for paper and ribbon. The paper was simple, as it went on sale for $0.25 a sheet. I picked up 6 sheets for $1.50+tax and that was done. The black and really thin ivory ribbon I ended up using was $0.33 each, on sale. I used two packs of black and one pack of white for a total of $1. The most expensive ribbon I used was a boned ribbon for $2.34 with my coupon at Michaels, expensive lace at $3 for BARELY ANYTHING with my 50% off coupon and then 3 rolls of "bobble lace" (packaged in a plastic egg and you get tons) for $1.27 each with my discount. I ended up using 3 roller glues from Dollarama ($3 +tax) and a leftover pack of stick on pearls (free, but I think they are also from Dollarama). The tags were $3 a pack at Staples (they are Martha Stewart), and I spent $1 on the stamp, using the same silver paint I used in previous projects.

In total, 60 of these wrappers were done for $84-$23 in left over boxes I am using for jewellery, which is only SIXTY-ONE DOLLARS, or about $1.02 per package vs the $100+shipping+taxes Weddingstar would have charged.

Anyways, without further ado, my awesome favours:

The tag, side one (our wedding date)

Our tag, side two, so they know what to do!

The 8 styles of boxes

Did you end up doing favours? Did they worry you as much as me?

Miss. Sunshine