Spring Break

It's about darn time. Today is a workday until about noon, then we teachers get to officially start our spring break. I love my students, but I need these ten days away from them. We even had an episode of angry spitting on Wednesday. No, I don't work with llamas. I've been spending the morning getting things cleaned up in my classroom so that I'm ready for school to start fresh in a week.

I have a good bit of stuff to do over spring break, so don't worry about me getting bored. I just can't believe I'll be completely finished with school and grad school in less than two months. I've also been adding to my summer schedule by offering to work with more kids over the summer. I'm up to four definitely, one tentatively. Five kids should keep me busy.

Wednesday I learned that I can have my students mop the floor if they spit on it.

Better Day

We got so much done today! I'm very proud of my students. Behavior was much better after talking to another teacher and coming up with a plan. The kids, thank goodness, will buy into just about anything.

Tonight should be busy. I'm meeting a professor, baking cookies for a "spring table" at school tomorrow, and grocery shopping to bake aforementioned cookies. I guess busy is good. No chance to get bored. People keep thinking I'll be bored this summer. First of all, I don't think I will get bored. Second, is there anything wrong with being bored?!? I happen to think it might be welcomed to wake up with an empty day ahead. I know Henry would like that very much!

Today I learned that I'm going to have to raise a stink if I don't want to play golf this weekend.

Forever

I'm feeling the need to vent, so I figured this would be the place to do it.

I'm FED UP with my job right now. I'm desperately hoping that spring break (next week) does something to alleviate my suffering. The kids are nuts. The teachers are nuts. The administrators are nuts. I'm (you guessed it) nuts.

The weather is beautiful. Henry is great. Troy is wonderful.

Today I learned that measuring with beans is easier than using water.

My Special Valentine

One of my students gave me a valentine story.

"Once apon a time there was a girl and boy named Olivia and Darius Smith. They was going to the beach and they kept staring at each other while they were hanging with there friends. They were about to get a divorce but they madly couldn't resist each other and happily married each other and she became a smith."

You should see the drawing of Olivia and Darius that came with the story.

One Month...

...Left until comps. Fourteen weeks left in school. Only a small ounce of sanity left in my body.

School and school are going well. I'm busy with studying and paperwork and educational testing. The kids are ready for some snow days, but I don't know if we'll actually get any. This weekend I intend on studying and sewing. That always makes for a funfilled, exciting break from the daily grind.

Nothing new... Henry's fine, Troy's fine. I'm fine. Today I learned that kids can be hateful and then best friends and cruel and sweet- all in thirty seconds.

Long Time

I know, its been simply FOREVER since I posted. Right now I'm avoiding work, so I figured I'd do this. I fell down the stops last night due to ice, so my back is hurting. We got about six inches of snow on Saturday, which was beautiful. It was unfortunate that it happened on a Saturday. We had a one hour delay this morning, but I want some full days off. We still have six.

I've been dieting well, and I'm down to 180, ten pounds lost since returning from the cruise. I'm four pounds shy of where I was when I fell off the WW wagon. I'm proud that I'm doing it my way, and my way is pretty easy to stick to. Mom- have you found what your goal is yet?

Henry still has runny poo. He's also being a booger by wanting to sit on my lap in my orange chair. Its hard to do a crossword puzzle with him on top of me. We're waiting for the results of his latest fecal film.

Not much else is going on. Four months of grad school left. It seems like that's forever away, but I know its a blink of an eye. I just want to finish up so that my time is my own again.

Today I learned that every couple of months, you simply have to throw stuff away. Otherwise, your classroom becomes a junk pit.

Work Day

Today there were no students at school. I don't think I accomplished as much as I'd've liked, but I'm ready to teach again tomorrow. Its pretty boring at school with no students. I'm not really looking forward to going to class tonight, but that's one class closer to graduation, so I'm up for it.

Menu for January 22:
Frosted Cheerios 1.5 1 serving 165
Milk, nonfat, fluid, with added vitamin A (fat free or skim) 0.75 1 cup 64.2
Chicken Club Panini 1 1 serving 320
Luna Lemonzest Bar 1 1 serving 180
Margherita Pizza 1 1 serving 320
Sandies Snack Bag 2 1 serving 200
Milk, nonfat, fluid, with added vitamin A (fat free or skim) 1 1 cup 85.5

Today I learned that sometimes, there's no good way to arrange furniture in a room. Sometimes the room is just bad.

Food

I've lost eight pounds since Christmas. I'm doing it by keeping my claories at 1450 per day, give or take. I have 1 1/2 cups of frosted cheerios with 3/4 cups skim will for breakfast. (About 225 calories) I have a Luna bar for a midmorning snack- 180 calories. I have a Lean Cuisine meal for lunch- 240-280 calories. I have a Pria shake for a midafternoon snack- 170 calories. I have another Lean Cuisine meal for dinner- 240-380 calories. Then, I have skim milk and cookies (90 calories and 100 calories- I use the prepackaged cookies) for an evening snack. I haven't had much trouble with the hypoglycemia.
My favorite Lean Cuisine meals: any of the new paninis, the margherita pizza, four cheese canniloni, beef portabello, basil chicken, chicken with peanut sauce, thai style chicken... I really do like them. I've gotten used to eating the smaller portions. I used to be okay with them for lunch but not dinner. It seemed so small!
Tomorrow we're going to a Chinese restaurant for a coworker's birthday. I'll be having egg drop soup, thank you. The least unhealthy things there have cooked veggies in them, and I can't handle veggies. So the soup is pretty low calorie.
This weekend has been pretty slow. I've gotten lots of work done for teaching and grad school, which is nice. I'm working on doing lesson plans far in advance so I'm sure to get the VGLA done. However, tomorrow I'll be getting a new student on my caseload- woo hoo! Another eligibility meeting!
Today I learned that Henry thinks I'm a jungle gym when I'm lying on the sofa. He has no inhibitions about climbing all over me.

Marlarkey

The week is... sigh... over. I'm pooped! Things are really starting to get crunched here with classes and assessments and behavior and IEPs. However, I'll get plenty of rest and do lots of work this weekend. That will help a lot, I think.
Henry is feeling better. He's pretty well back to normal, so he's just obnoxious, instead of stinky and obnoxious. Boy do we love our dog! He'll have a good weekend- he likes it when we're both around to keep him occupied.
I think that's about it. I can't think of anything interesting.
Today I learned that you should never teach children the word "malarkey." They will use it to describe EVERYTHING.

Cold Day

Today I've been so cold!  When we arrived at school, we discovered that the power had gone out Saturday, causing our heating to stop working.  The school was freezing!  They had to get a part and fix it this morning.  It came on around 10:30.  At 11:00, our power went out for about 45 minutes.  The heat worked after that, but my fingers still haven't thawed yet.

 

I got a letter from the school administration building today informing me that I'm highly qualified in all areas of elementary education.  I knew I was, my coworkers knew I was, my principal knew I was.  Now I have the official paperwork that secures my title as "highly qualified," one of the biggest loads of bull#%$& to ever hit public education.

 

Now Troy and I are just spending a quiet evening hanging out with Henry.  I'm still cold.

 

Today I learned that its nearly impossible to schedule meetings with some parents.  Especially divorced, antagonistic parents that travel all the time and leave raising their emotionally scarred children with other people.

All is Right

In my little world.  Troy is home, Henry is being treated for worms (thank goodness for our new vet- we're switching permanently), and classes are starting.  I'm on the road to graduation!  I'm not too nervous about this semester.  It'll be a lot of work, but I'm prepared.  I've been scared of Dr. Polloway, but now I know how he is.  No surprises.  Work will be hard with IEPs and assessments coming up, but I'm in good shape, I think, to handle it.

I've lost 7 pounds since returning from the cruise.

This weekend was pretty uneventful.  I went to Walmart and Target just to get out of the house, watched 8 hours of Jane Austen movies in two days, and crocheted up a storm.  The one thing I didn't do as much of as I'd like was sleep.  Henry got me up between 5:30 and 6:30 every day.  (I do love him.  I'd love him more if he wasn't sick all the time.)

Today I learned that someone is passing a petition to reinstate the pledge in public schools.  I was very surprised- we say it every morning at my school.

Long Week

This week felt like it lasted a year. Nothing too bad, just so much work and stress already. I'm nervous about grad school starting because I don't know that I can handle something else. However, I've done it three semesters before and I'll do it again. This weekend is devoted to comps and crochet. I want to finish this afghan I'm working on. Hopefully Henry's tummy will be settled and he'll sleep through the night. I swear, I love that dog, but he's always got an upset stomach. If its not coming out one end, its coming out the other.
On a more pleasant note, I feel like I got a lot accomplished at work this week. The kids are starting to get worn down from the work of the year, even though we just came back from winter break. I'm motivating them with marshmallows. We're also reading about marshmallows, writing about marshmallows, and throwing them around a lot.
Today I learned that Friday afternoons are not a good time to do educational assessments.

Ahh... Vacation

We are all finally home again and enjoying vacation time. Poor Troy had to go to work yesterday and today. Henry and I are just hanging out around the house. I did seven loads of laundry yesterday. Henry has been very cute about wanting to be right by us since we brought him home from the kennel. He'd been very healthy, but this morning he puked up his whole breakfast. I don't know what the deal is with that.

We enoyed the cruise very much. Too much good food. I've been working on my eating since we got back. Between going to the dietician awhile back and finding foods that really work for me, I think I'm making my own diet plan that'll work well.

Today I learned that Henry may just always be a very pukey dog.

I have to go to work?!?

Although my coming week consists of two days of work, it is going to be hard. First, we've been out for four days (two for snow, two for the weekend). Second, the kids aren't going to want to do anything. Third, I'm excited about the break!

We had a good visit to Raleigh. We always eat too much, but we had some fun shopping. Becky and I have been watching too much Oprah. We went today to get bra fittings- both of us were wearing the wrong size.

We also saw King Kong today. It was okay, but very very intense.

Today I learned that the life of a bra is about 100 wearings. I guess my bras from high school are a bit old, then.

Cute, Bizarre Story by My Student

My nutcracker's name is Nicole. She is a ballerina nutcracker. She has a mom and a dad, and she lives with her sister and her brother. She has a big sister. Her big sister's name is Janelle. Janelle is nine years old and Nicole is seven years old. They live together and they share a room. They don't always like to share a room because they argue and fuss all the time. Sometimes they get in trouble with their mom because their mom does not like them to fight at all. When they start fighting, their mom makes them hug so they'll never fight again.
When Nicole left the house to walk, she discovered something from the woods and she walked down to the woods and she saw this thing that has magical powers. It will give her any wish that she wants. She wished that her sister was gone. Then, when she went home, she went upstairs to her room and she looked for her sister. Her sister was nowhere to be found. She started to worry that if she didn't get her sister back she would be in big trouble.
She went back to the forest to see if the tree would give her another wish and the tree began to think. 'Should I give you another wish?'
She told him that he should because she would get in big trouble if she didn't get her sister back. The tree told her that first she had to do something, and then she could have her sister back.
The tree said, 'You must go to the prince's house and meet him and dance with him at the ball tonight.' She said, 'How am I going to get to dance with the prince? I don't even know him.'
The tree said, 'That's why you have to go and meet him. If you don't dance with him, I won't give you another wish.'
She asked the tree where the prince lived. He said, 'Go two blocks from your house and you will see the big castle. That is where the prince lives. Meet him and ask him to dance.'
She met the prince, and the prince said she was very beautiful. Then the prince said, 'Sure, I would love to dance with you.' They danced and then she went back to the tree.
The tree said, 'Since you have danced with the prince, you can have one more wish.'
She said, 'I wish to have my sister back.' She went home, went up to her room, and saw that her sister was there. She was so happy that she hugged her sister for a long time. The End.

** Makes you want to give your sister a hug, doesn't it?!?**

We Love Katamari!

Hi, My name is Marie, and I am a Katamari addict.  So Troy bought this video game where the character runs around rolling stuff up into a big ball.  I am obsessed.

 

I spent most of today doing laundry and studying for my final tomorrow.  I also ran for an hour this morning- 4 miles.  I'm going to back off next week.  I just wanted to see if I could do an hour.

 

Henry appears to be feeling better.  No accidents in the house and no puking.  We like that.

 

Today I learned that Andy Kaufman was on the first episode of SNL.

If only every week was a three-day week.

Yes, the ice did come through and school was cancelled today. I shouldn't be so pleased about it, I guess. I'm as bad as my students, if not worse. I don't think I'll pray for snow days so feverishly once grad school is over with.

I used the extra time to run for 47 minutes, watch a Tivo-ed movie, and meet with my study group for Monday's final. I sure home I get some studying done this weekend. I don't feel very prepared right now. And I don't have much motivation to get prepared.

Henry seems to be feeling better after three meals with his pancreatic enzymes. I'm hoping that takes care of the problem. He eats the pills with his food and doesn't seem to notice that I've snuck medicine in. No peanut butter or other hiding substances. He's been sleeping well and no recent accidents. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Today I learned that Henry growls at little girls who want to take his chews. Henry learned that when he growls at little girls, he immediately goes to his crate.

More Snow!

I'm sure keeping my fingers crossed that we get some nasty ice and snow tonight. That would really rock. Henry got sick again last night, so I took in a "sample" to the vet and brought him to school with me to keep an eye on him. I didn't realize it, but he's lots four or five pounds in the last month or so. I hope the vet can find something out. I'm a little worried.

Today I learned that a Leatherman constitutes a weapon at my school. Good thing it wasn't mine and I wasn't the one found with it. Just one of my students- five day suspension.

Snow Day

Today was just a one hour delay, but yesterday was a whole snow day! It was beautiful, especially since Lynchburg College was closed and I didn't have to go to class. (Boy do I need to start studying for my final on Monday...) I did get some work done with my friend Meghan from school. I also watched a pretty bad movie, but it was so bad I couldn't stop (Chasing Liberty with Mandy Moore).

Our weekend was good- very relaxing with no big expectations or activities besides the tennis match. I did get schoolwork done for grad school over the weekend. That and laundry.

Not much else going on. I'm tremendously busy, but the semester is almost over and Christmas break is nearly here.

Today I learned that the kindergarten teachers at my school can be really selfish and not nice. I also learned that the fourth grade teachers are swell! (The kindergarten teachers had fits that I needed an aide for an hour and that the principal assigned me theirs... The fourth grade teachers gave me their aide instead. How sweet!)

Aaaahhhhh........

The weekend has actually arrived. I wish I didn't have so much work to do. We are on our way back from the Genworth charity tennis match. I didn't really care so much for the tennis. I thought it was boring. On our way back to the car I heard someone say my Oak Ridge name. It was one of Teresa's friends from high school. I'm amazed she remembered me. So that was pretty cool. So tomorrow is back to studying for me. Hopefully I can get a lot accomplished. Today I learned that Andre Agassi is pretty funny.