The Beginning

"When baking, follow directions. When cooking, go by your own taste." ~Laiko Bahrs

This pretty much sums up my philosophy about the kitchen. I have never been a very precise person, which explains why I quickly lose patience for most things that involve measuring. It makes sense though, I never remember my mom measuring when she cooked dinner for us growing up....we just threw in whatever seemed right. We are the same this way. Baking is her forte. Every cake, bar, and cookie comes out amazingly perfect. I don't know her secret, but it probably has something to do with two sticks of butter, high quality chocolate, etc!

So where am I going with this? Honestly, I don't really know! All I know is that it is the LAST Friday of the school year (aka my last Friday of work for two months)! Please....be jealous, I would be too! My classroom is almost cleaned out, as well as my co-teacher, Kristi's classroom. She has been on maternity leave this spring and will be very happy to come back to a very well oganized room next fall. Kristi is the BEST! I would not clean anyones classroom. It is sort of like digging through someone's walk in closet, or pantry. You just don't go there.....and you might not want to go there depending on how much of a "teacher-hoarder" you are dealing with. I joked with my cousin Laura the other day about it and we both think I could start a new TV series. If you have seen the show Hoarders (you are lucky if you haven't!), you know what I am talking about.

Going through my teaching courses in college, I always heard the same thing from all of my professors and teachers......"NEVER get rid of anything! You will always find a use for it!" Ummmmm......this is so NOT healthy in any aspect of life! In fact, it is probably what leads to this terrible disorder of Teacher Hoarding! Lucky for me, I have a psychology background and was immune to this idea. I believe in purging the classroom several times a year - it keeps me sane. Maybe I am on the other side of the spectrum completely. My two co-teachers probably think I am a bit crazy when I start cleaning their classrooms throughout the day. The kids look at me with those great "WTF" teenage expressions when I try and get them excited about a cleaning day. I can't even get them excited with many types of spray bottles, which works on grades K-5 everytime. Trust me.....the 10 year olds go crazy for Pledge and Windex....you will have shiny armpits by the time they are done!

Soo....getting back to the fork. While I am not going crazy in these last weeks of school....in fact I am already getting excited for next year, I am ready to have some time at home in my NEW kitchen! Not "new" as in "remodeled,updated,redone" but new as in recently purchased 20 year old house! Either way, the kitchen and I are slowly becoming friends. It has taken awhile, and I am not sure I would call us BFF's quite yet like my old kitchen. My new kitchen is bigger, yet less efficient. The stove is electric, I bump my head on the counters, and I swear it gets cluttered so much faster. Ok boo hoo right? No, I am very very very lucky to have an amazing new house! I just need to spend some time cooking! My plan for my first week off is to do quite a bit of it, and blog about it too!

Sarah