Obamacare versus the Faculty

I don't know how widespread this phenomenon is, but I thought I would share an email I received this morning:

I have been teaching multiple sections of economics for four years now at several Colleges and Universities in the State of Indiana. I have also been a frequent user of your texts in the classes that I teach.

With the implementation of the ACA (Affordable Care Act) these institutions are giving notification to their part-time faulty that their individual teaching schedules will now be limited to three sections. At the college this will likely result in the cancellation of 20-25% of the class sections in economics, and I would assume other areas will have a similar result. The students are not fully aware of the situation and many will be surprised that their desire to get a college education is now being impacted by the need to avoid the full implementation of the ACA.

Regardless if you are a Republican or a Democrat I would hope full-time faculty would voice their concern regarding the impact the implementation of the ACA could have on the attainment of higher education for the current student population and upon the lives of the dedicated part-time faculty that have been devoted to serving this student population.

My hope is that if faculty across the nation brought this to the public attention that we as a nation could have a more open and complete dialogue regarding the course we wish to set as a nation.

Giveaway Winner!

I'm very excited to announce the winner of last week's back-to-school giveaway: "Centers, Stations, Tubs, and More!"

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in the giveaway. Have a wonderful weekend! :)

Ec 10 Bleg

As part of our "marketing" effort to get freshmen into ec 10, Harvard's introductory economics course, the ec 10 staff and I are trying to construct a list of famous alums of the course. Here is the list we have put together so far:

Steve Ballmer
Ben Bernanke
Lloyd Blankfein
Ryan Fitzpatrick
Jeremy Lin
Sheryl Sandberg
Eduardo Saverin
Chuck Schumer
Cameron Winklevoss
Tyler Winklevoss
Mark Zuckerberg

If you attended Harvard and have a famous classmate who you are sure took ec 10 (or its predecessor ec 1), please email me the information.

July in review and no-spend August

Hello everybody, happy Friday to you! I hope you’ve had a great week – I’m still at the Haven Conference and having a blast! Well…I hope I am anyway. I wrote this before I left. ;)

I’ll be back next week with some more DIY, but for now I’m reviewing the big posts from July and I have a fun little announcement at the end that I’m getting excited about. :)

First up last month I shared how I tackled my first true floating shelves:

These are great storage for some of the Bub’s Lego sets – I love having them on display but these also get them out of the way.

Next I shared the details on the powder room redo:

I covered the sources and details for everything in the room, so if you had questions on anything it should be answered there!

I did a little organizing (and prettifying) in the dining room – those skinny little cabinets hold a TON of stuff:

I’m so glad I decided to incorporate that closed storage in the built ins!

I shared more about our latest RV trip and the little cabin in the woods that we stayed in:

Many of you asked the name of the cabins/RV park and it’s called Neshonoc Lakeside in LaCrosse Wisconsin. :)

Next up I showed you a FUN new DIY product – painters tape that comes in shapes!:

This is the first chevron in our house and it may be the last. We’ll see – I’m still not hooked. I do like this little touch of it though. It’s staying for awhile at least!

Next up I hope to use the wave version of the shape tape. ;)

I shared my plan for our mud room redo in this post, including some lovely inspiration pics:

Drool.

I was busy working on our master bedroom in July and I shared more about our new bed here and the how-to on the tufted headboard here:

I’ve made a few more changes in there since and I’m SO pleased with how the room is coming together! Our bed is still my favorite part. ;)

Last week I shared the ways I deal when cash is low. I’ve learned over the years it’s a horrible feeling and I’ve always had a few tried and true methods to keep my spirits up:

I loved your thoughts too – there were some great ideas in the comments!

This week I shared how I’m not killing my hydrangeas anymore:

I’ve made a concentrated effort to learn more about them and it’s paid off!

So I’m excited about August! This month I’ve decided to do another “no spend” month. I first did this a couple summers ago and actually quite enjoyed it! I have so many projects that need to be finished up, so many spots that need decluttering, and I just enjoy trying to work with what we already have.

So this month I won’t spend any cash on DIY or decorating projects. I have one that we’ve scheduled that will probably happen, more on that later. But otherwise I hope to stick to only what we’ve got! I hope you’ll be inspired!

Take care all and have a great weekend! :)

*P.S. As soon as I get back from Haven we head out for the NKOTB concert.

AWW. yeah.

Can’t wait!!

Preserving Memories: Better Late than Never!

This was one of those little things I meant to do at the beginning of the summer, when the school year was fresh on my mind. It's ironic to me that I waited until the end of the summer (the last day, in fact) to actually put this sweet little photo book together. Better late than never, though, right?!? I thought I would share my little photo book with you here. 

Click below to browse through a few snapshots of our school year last year. I sure am going to miss these sweet faces this year! Looking back, this went by so quickly... time flies.

I can't wait to receive this photo book in the mail, and I am so grateful to have a creative way to save all of these sweet moments. How do you preserve your school year memories? 

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly allows you to customize your photo book just the way you want.

Vote!

If you are a member of the American Economic Association, you probably received an email this morning about the election of AEA officers. Please vote. It is your patriotic duty, or something like that.

Information about the candidates is available here.

Spelling Fun Freebie!

Okay, let's admit it; writing words over and over and over and over and over and... (you get the point) just isn't the most exciting way to practice spelling. We want our kiddos to have fun as they learn new words and improve their spelling skills. In an attempt to help my students enjoy spelling and word practice at home, I created a "Spelling Activity List" for students to keep in their folders and use at home each night. The students get to choose which activity they complete, and most of the activities move beyond paper-and-pencil practice.

Check out a preview:

If you are interested in using this spelling list with your students, you can grab it for free at The Tally Tales TPT store as the Spelling Activity List *Freebie* product.

For a great list of creative, fun, ways to encourage children to practice their spelling words, visit the Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas blog. This link includes an awesome list of 75 fun ways to practice and learn spelling words. I included a couple of these great ideas on my own spelling activity list, but there are many more described in detail at this blog.