AuburnChick's Adventures

Ok…so there’s no such thing as National Wield a Screwdriver Day.  I even checked Wikipedia.

But, in my humble opinion, there should be such a day.

So, in the spirit of leadership, I chose to celebrate it…

Today…

When I got down to business and strapped on my invisible carpenter’s belt.

Remember how I told you that the computer desk in my room was going to be leaving me?

Here it is, in all its glory…

I loved the simple, sleek design.

The Mr. and I went shopping and found the following desk at Office Depot…

We had already been to Target and Office Max…without success.

I was experiencing sticker shock.  I even complained about not being able to find anything for $50.

That’s why I was beside myself with happiness when we found the one above…for only $49.99.  It is on sale this week.

Yay!

Now, y’all might remember that I recently shared that my favorite class in elementary school was shop.  Plus, if you’ve been reading my blog for very long, you’ll also know that I really like to do the home repairs at Chez AuburnChick.

So, building the desk was right up my alley.

First, I got everything out of the box…

Next, I started putting in the hardware…

Insert Tim the Toolman’s “Arrrrugh…”

Building things is so much fun.  I really like watching the process of parts coming together to become a “thing…”

When I turned the desk upright, I noticed something…

Do you see it?  The bottom strip on the shelf on the right side…it is the unfinished edge.

Great.

I turned the desk upside down, fixed the piece, and then turned it upright again…

Oh good gravy, I thought!  Now, the piece was upside down!

I would have slapped myself on the forehead, but I remembered that I had a screwdriver in my hand.

Yeah.  I know.  I was a little surprised too.  I can’t believe I actually used my brain.

The third time was the charm…

I installed the last shelf and put the computer on the desk…

I am THRILLED with the desk.  It is even nicer than the one that was in the room before!!

Because I was in carpenter mode, I decided to go ahead and see what I could do about the window.  It had been begging for attention.

I drove to Walmart and bought an inexpensive set of blinds, a curtain, and a spring-action, no-tool-needed curtain rod.  You will see that picture in a minute.

What you won’t see in the picture of the window are the blinds I bought.

Why?

Because I could not figure out how to install them, despite using my go-to-expert…Google.  It turns out I don’t need them anyway and will return them tomorrow.

Next, I drove to Michael’s with my coupons in hand.

Oh my gosh, but did you know that every Friday, from now through August 24th, teachers can get 10% off of their entire orders, including sales items?

I did not have an ID badge from my school, so I could not take advantage of this deal, but I plan on approaching my principal and asking for something I can show the stores I shop at.  My school is so small that I don’t think it requires staff members to wear badges.

Regardless, I still shopped.

I found this small flower pot on clearance for $1.99 (marked down from $4.99)…

I also found this basket…again a clearance item…for $9.99 instead of the regular price of $19.99…

I could not use my coupons on the clearance items, but I did use them to purchase two packages of Expo markers, which I put inside the pot.

Although my original intent for my day had been to finish packing up the books in the hallway, I wound up putting the not-quite finishing touches on the room.

I hung my clock and another bulletin board.

And…

I placed the all-important name plate on my fancy-schmancy new desk.

I made a collage of the pictures of my room…

I still want to do stuff like put some sort of cloth over the file cabinets that are under the window, purchase “in/out” boxes for my desk, and get another other dry erase board hung.

But, I finally feel like the room is mine.

I think I am now ready to go in on Monday and start making hard-core lesson plans that I will present in my student-friendly room.

Filed under: Teaching | Tagged: decorating, teaching |