The picture below is quite deceiving. You may think this area is clean and quite sanitary. And I can promise you it is. (I would know since I'm the one who gets to clean and disinfect it after each use.) But this picture of the diaper changing area in my classroom does not capture the permanent stench permeating the area. And the multiple air fresheners we've tried just don't do the trick. Sad. Especially since I spend probably 1/3 of my time in this area. Any ideas?!? And no, the window you see does not actually open. Not even a little crack. That would solve my problem.

Other things worth noting in this picture... the wonderful artwork displayed on the wall. I believe they were painting a picture of... nope, I don't remember. Also, please note the chair. This chair serves 2 purposes. #1 Its nice to sit in when changing diapers rather than having to lift them onto the table. Yay for changing diapers with the kids standing up! #2 My not 'time-out', but 'relaxation chair'. In other words, when I'm trying to get through 10 diapers and potty checks, any child running around my classroom dumping all the toys, hitting their friends, or doing something else dangerous (such as climbing on the shelves) who doesn't listen to my words reminding them what their body should be doing; they get to sit in that lovely chair.

Why is Sarah telling us such unnecessary details about her diapering routine?!?

DRUMROLL PLEASE...

My #1 underwear pooper and toy throwing and cussing little angel is moving and tomorrow will be his last day. My room will be less smelly, more quiet, and this chair will be less frequently occupied during diaper changing. And maybe I won't pull out as much of my hair. His moving isn't something we should celebrate, but since another child just so happens to be celebrating their birthday, I figured we'd throw a double celebration. HOORAY!




Speaking of food, Rashida found my lunch today entertaining. I found it yummy. What do you think? The Soda was a 99c splurge... the eyes on the smiley face are what remained of my PB&J sandwich and the mouth is the sliced banana I dipped in my chocolate pudding. Also note the high fashion blue polo and khaki uniform.

Check this out...

Sarah's To-Do List for Today...

1. Get to work on time. check

2. Survive work. check

3. Avoid any tactless criticism from my boss. almost check

4. Go grocery shopping. yummy check

5. Eat dinner. Do a banana, chocolate pudding, and doritos count? no check

6. Hang out around the house... instead of paying good $ to go bowling. Yay for Uno with 'Shida and Krystal. check

7. Go to sleep. soon to be check

Yesterday I was talking to a childhood friend of mine, Jenn Lewis, who used to go to all the church activities with me back in the day... and she told me how she'd bumped into the missionaries on the train yesterday and how she's going to start meeting with them... Yay!

One, Two, Fwee, Foh, Fi, Sik, Sen, Eight, Nine, TEN

Ten Reasons I Like My Job:
1. My children give such wonderful hugs.
2. I love the way their faces light up when they see me come into the room. It makes me feel special.
3. I love those moments when they GET IT.
4. There is a part of me that thinks that having 10 toddlers makes the idea of having twins seem a bit easier. Or even quadruplets.
5. Sometimes I get to eat their food. Today I got to eat a corndog and tator tots. And animal crackers. Yum!
6. Being exposed to every illness and communicable disease (scarlet fever, head lice, croup, pneumonia, pink eye, staph infection, the flu... you name it and we've probably had it at our center in the past 6 months I've worked there) will increase my immunity to future illnesses.
7. I get to do the most fun activities. Like paint. And color. And do all sorts of sensory activities like GORP and Playdough. And I get to play outside twice a day.
8. I can almost literally roll out of bed in the morning and go to work. Who am I trying to impress?
9. I get a paycheck every other Monday.
10. Bad days make me highly motivated to find a better job.

Speaking of better jobs, ...I do have a job interview this Saturday for a position here in Las Vegas at a company called Compass Behavioral Health!!! I would be doing early intervention (HOORAY!!) so lets all hope I do well in the interview and impress her with my knowledge and enthusiasm. And madd skillz.

Other notable news from the past 48 hours...
I almost went on an almost blind date. Explanation: A friend of a friend I met for a half second on sunday told her he wanted my number so he could take me to some concert tomorrow night that he had backstage passes to.. but my roommate said that she doesn't really trust him. And if I do actually remember this guy, I kinda got the heebie jeebiez. So I 'have plans' tomorrow night and won't be able to go. Sad day.
I had to work on Martin Luther King Day. But do not fret. I still celebrated by listening to his "I have a dream" speech and other Kinghorn family traditions.

You can be the judge.

Yes its after 3am and I'm just now posting. That is how exciting my life is! Okay, so maybe not. You can be the judge.

I slept in and Rashida (wonderful roommate) cooked breakfast for us. And then I talked to the fabulous fam for like 2 hours. Then I chilled with the roomies for a bit before getting rid of a headache AKA popping some pills putting a heating pad on my neck and taking a power nap.

Then ~DRUMROLL PLEASE~ ...Tonight I went to my first real college sporting event!!! I know, sad. But also YAY because I got to watch the UNLV Rebels beat the Wyoming Cowboys!!! ...It was quite fun. Dianna (my roommate) and I went with our other friends Sam and Richard.

Of course since I'm new to this whole 'camera of my own' thing I forgot to bring it along so I could take pictures. But I did take one at home. Holding my ticket. And saying "REBELS".

Then we all went to the store and bought some ice cream and laughed at Valentine's Day cards (some of them are really funny). Then we went back to our house and ate the ice cream with our other roommates and then talked for the next like, four hours. We played EC Idol. A game show where the others in the room nominated a 'contestant' (someone they thought you might be interested in) and then they get to be the judges about what they thought of those two individuals together. I was Paula. Sam was Simon. And Richard was Randy. And D was whatever that new judges name is. And no. This is not a real game. But once it gets to be like 2 in the morning, sometimes you come up with some pretty funny stuff!

After the game and the game we made up and the lactose intolerant 'tooting' and the cheek twitching and everything else, now I am ready for the Sabbath.

Thank goodness church doesn't start til 1.

Hearts: Warmed and Broken

Ohmagosh. Its Day 2 and I'm actually posting. Woowee I'm on a roll!!

Today my heart was broken as I helped comfort one of my kids whose parents are going through a divorce. Its alarming to see just how much a child is affected by the decisions their parents make. One of my other kids is also chatting nonstop about his Mom's fun new boyfriend. Who they are moving in with. He lives in another state.

Please let me be wise.

Today my heart was also warmed as I was serenaded by the awesome Secondhand Serenade who I went to see in concert tonight!! If you don't know who they are slash what they sing, check them out. Here is where I should put a link. But I'm tired. And lazy. So have fun googling! (Is that a word?!) Anyways, the concert was awesome and he is amazing. I was a little bummed that even though his music is clean he still was drinking beer and cursing a bit during his performance. Maybe he thought that would impress us "Sin City inhabitants" AKA Las Veganites? What am I called?!

Now I must go watch The Office. In my bed. And fall sleep to the docile tones of Dwight and Andy.

Here I am!!

So... this is my face when I think about the INTENSE world of blogging I've just entered!

Why join this world?! Well, I got a fabulous new digital camera from Santa for Christmas. Living soo ridiculously far from family almost makes having a camera and a blog a necessity. Phone calls can only share so much! Hopefully family and friends will be able to enjoy this as an added way to keep tabs on what I'm really doing here in Vegas!

Okay. So its not that exciting. I live in a house with three other girls. We're all members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon church) which basically means we have tons of fun but can actually remember it the next morning.

I spend most of my time at my oh so fabulous job. What is this job I'm so psyched about? I'm a lead teacher at a child care center. I teach 10 children all between the ages of 2 1/2 and 3. This is important to know because, yes, I will be ranting and raving in the future.

I'm also looking for a more permanent and personally fulfilling job in the field of Early Intervention (providing developmental therapy for children birth-3 yrs old who either have a diagnosed disability, are delayed in some areas, or are at risk). Unfortunately, this job search has taken longer than I was hoping. In the mean time I'm trying to just be grateful I have a job. And I do love my kids!!

I also have a great group of friends out here! We get to do lots of fun things together which I will document. Most of. Maybe not all.

Well, I feel this was kind of a somewhat rather successful first post (note the uncertainty)...