Happy Tuesday...

part deux.

Told you I'd be back.

:)

Before I show you pictures I shall give you a brief re-cap of my day.  Because I know you are just dying to hear all about my 8 hours with 9 and 10 year olds.

I am pleased to report that this was yet another good day.

BFF:  Isn't this such a change from last year?  Last year you could count the number of good days on one hand!  This year I don't think I have had a bad day yet.  What a difference a year makes!


Today we learned about the following:

Bible:  The woman at the well.  Lessons learned:  (1) God doesn't look at the outside of us and judge us like people do.  God looks on our hearts.  (2) No matter what others may do we still need to be nice.  Even though the women in the village made her life miserable because of her lifestyle, she still made it a point to race back to the village and drag them back to the well to meet Jesus.  Because of the fact that she didn't hold a grudge her village was able to meet Christ.

Math:  More work with equations!  Gotta love them.  The kiddos feel like little Einsteins because I told them they are doing algebra and are possibly further along than some of the kids in 8th grade pre-algebra.

English:  Gasp!  We skipped English today because we are further along than the other 4th grade.  We spent the extra time working in Math.  I love having a principal who gives us the leeway to manage our schedules like that.

History:  We have started WWI much to my utter and complete happiness.  WWI and II are my hands-down FAVORITE things to teach in history.  I split them into different "countries" and every time I say the name of their country they have to respond with their "catch phrase":
                      Germany--nein!
                      Russia--nyet!
                      Italy--that's a spicy meat(a)ball!
                      France--ooh-la-la!
                      England--cheerio!
                      United States--U.S.A., huh!
OMG!  They LOVED it and when it was time to end history they were SO upset!  "Please can we do more!"  "Don't stop noooowwww!!!"  Love, love, LOVE it!

Science:  Hands down the best class of the day for them.  I have been saving all manner of cardboard boxes and tubes since about September knowing that this day would come.  We just started our unit on Astronomy and are spending this first week outside of the book doing various space related activities.  Yesterday they wrote reports on the planets.  Today they used the cardboard to make space ships.  Each team of six got a trash bag full of various cardboard boxes and tubes along with some super-sticky tape.  They had to create a "mother" ship for their team and then individual spaceships for themselves.  Hold moley!  It was the funniest thing to watch them!  They had a great time and I got some very, um, creative looking spaceships!  We are going to use them next week to play a game where they have to answer questions by flying their spaceships to the correct planet.  We'll see how that goes.

The best thing was hearing about how much fun they were having and how much they were learning.  That makes all the mess and the "chaos" worthwhile.

Tomorrow we will be continuing the same thing in history, which they will love, AND they will be painting solar systems.  I think I might need a drink tomorrow night.  Something stronger than just coffee.

Dunkin Donuts Blueberry Iced coffee?

I think so.

And now on to the promised crochet project pictures:

A friend of mine is having a baby girl in early May.  I am doing my normal dress, hat, booties, and blanket ensemble.  I have finished the dress (except for the ribbon through the yolk) and half of the blanket.  My goal is to get the blanket (and hopefully the hat and booties) before Spring Break so that I can start Babette during the break.  We shall see.

Finally...

A big, huge, awesome SHOUT-OUT to my friend, Freddie!  She went back to school to get a degree in dental hygiene and to become an x-ray tech.  She just finished up a series of finals with all "A's"!!!!!!  Way to go, my best MD friend!!! :)

Good night from her:

and me!

Happy Tuesday...

note:  There was not post yesterday as a protest.  A protest that it was Monday.  If you aren't aware, I loathe Monday.


This will be short and sweet.

It is 6:43 and I should be getting ready for work.

I am, however, blogging because I have had two people ask me questions in my comments and I would like to answer them before they leave thinking that I forgot about them.

Question 1, from LoriAnn, was about my latest crochet project.  I am currently working on a baby set for a friend that is, well, having a baby.  Should the weather agree with me this afternoon I will take some pictures and post them.  My goal is to finish everything before spring break thus allowing me to begin Babette!!!  :)

Question 2, from Jamie, was about considering an electric lawnmower.  I actually did consider that before buying my gasoline powered lawnmower two years ago.  I came up with two reasons that I couldn't (didn't) get the electric one:  (a) my power outlet outside doesn't work.  In order to make it work I would have to call an electrician.  Electricians have this funny habit of wanting to be paid for their work.  I have limited funds that do not include an electrician at this time.  This is also the reason that my bathroom outlet and back porch light don't work (they are all on the same breaker.)  (b)  My yard is a little too large for an electric lawnmower.  Seriously, I'm not even kidding.  I would need a large extension cord to get the whole yard mowed.  I do have an electric (cordless) weed-whacker.  I generally (barely) get around the whole yard before needing a re-charge. I have to wait another hour or so before I can do the front.

I hope I answered your questions sufficiently.  Please feel free to ask more.  It keeps me from having to come up with topics for the blog.  :op

Now, I MUST go get ready for school.  Have a happy Tuesday and look for another post this afternoon complete with pictures!

Why, yes...

It was a good day today.

I pretty much have the same recurring thought every Thursday morning.

"Oh, dear Lord.  I can't do this for two more days."

Then I go to work and one of the cherubs says something to make me laugh and I remember how much I love them and how much I love my job.

Recently I have added something else to what I remember...I remember how swiftly this year is going by.  Don't get me wrong.  I am totally looking forward to this summer.  This summer of freedom.  I am not, however, looking forward to losing these children.  Especially when I see what I am getting next year.

Sigh.

My backyard is starting to look somewhat like a jungle.  I need to mow it but apparently you have to put oil AND gas in the lawnmower in order for it to work.  Who knew?  Due to my lack of knowledge on this subject (and pretty much all things that contain a motor) I must take said lawnmower to get a tune-up.  Sooner rather than later.

I had to stop at the grocery store today.  I was pretty low on lunch stuff and yogurt and carrots weren't cutting it.  As luck would have it, I had a coupon for a $.99 Dunkin Donuts iced coffee.

:)

When I came home I stopped to get the mail.  Guess what was there, waiting for me?  A coupon for a FREE Dunkin Donuts iced coffee.

Score!

Remember her:

Yeah.  She's my baby.  :)

Night!

O & E

Just a bit of odds and ends so my BFF won't complain that I am not blogging...

--Monday and Tuesday I came home from work, did a wee bit of school work, and then listened to a book on CD that I got from the library on Saturday while working on a baby blanket.  It was refreshingly nice to not have the TV or the computer on but to just listen to a book and work on a project.

--I finished the book last night...so here I am.

--I will probably end up at the library tomorrow.

--miss raven and I are loving this weather.  It has been so nice outside lately and I wish this kind of weather could last FOREVER.

--On Sunday there was a coupon in the paper from Dunkin Donuts.  Said coupon entitles the bearer to a FREE medium iced coffee EVERY Monday until April 23.  Cha-ching!  Three guesses as to where you can find me every Monday until April 23.

--Bravo, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.  Your decision took guts and was the absolute right thing to do.  Kudos to you.  Maybe now more teams will think twice before playing dirty football.

--Um.  Denver Broncos.  DUH AND WHAT THEY HECK ARE YOU THINKING?!?!  Why on God's lovely green Earth would you get rid of Tim Tebow?  Sweet Mother, I hope this comes back to bite you in the butt...HARD.

--Attention Jerry Jones--GO AFTER TIM TEBOW.  WE NEED A BACK-UP QB!

--I am currently mildly amused at all of the Saints fans on FB that are so outraged with the punishment handed down to their team.  Um.  Hello.  Here is a brief summary of what your team did:

• placed "bounties" on the heads of opposing players and then paid out for excessive hits and knock-outs.
• continued to practice the bounties/pay-outs after being told by the League to stop, effectively thumbing their noses at the League.
• LIED to investigating officials about what you did/did not do.

Yes.  I can see why you would be so upset that your team was punished.  NOT.

--My foot is hurting again.  In a bad way.  Like, by the time I get home my leg hurts all the way up to my hip. I have been researching PT for plantar fasciitis and think that I can do some of these things at home.  What is going to be so sad for me is that I am not going to be able to wear my flip-flops this summer.  Shall we have a moment of silence?

--Thank you.

--The seniors are all whining because I am not their principal and they HATE the new guy.  Wanna know what I think?  I think that if they all hate him, he is doing a FREAKING FANTASTIC JOB!  One of the kids said to me the other day how much they all missed me and how much they wished they hadn't complained about me when they had me.  Another one told me today that they were all sitting around in class talking about how wonderful I was and how much they wished I had held out another year for them.  Wanna know what I think about that?  BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I sleep at night, I have zero to no stress anymore, and I sleep at night.  I LOVE MY JOB AGAIN!!!!!

And now I am off to drink coffee and crochet (and to hopefully not eat anything else tonight because I went a little overboard today.  :o/  )

p.s.  BFF--I MISS YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today...

I received a wonderful, albeit expected, package in the mail:

My yarn for Babette has arrived!

Remember Babette?

I want to start on her in the worst way but she will have to wait a bit longer.  I am currently in the middle of a project for a baby gift and need to finish that (dress, hat, booties, blanket) before I can start on Babette.

Wanna see the yarnny yumminess again?

OK!!!

This isn't all of the yarn but I didn't take a picture of the Berroco yarn.  This is the Tahki Cotton Classic that I am using and I am SO excited to finally have some to work with!

Now I have an incentive to get through what I am working on because I DESPERATELY want to start on Babette!!

Today I also snapped these pictures:

My Lemon Balm coming back!

miss raven and her new man.

Outdoor frolicking in the beautiful weather.

He is kind of cute and he adores my girlie.  Alas, the feeling is not mutual.

"Anything in here for me, mommy?"

My sweet girl and her current favorite toy.

I must have lost a few pounds because I discovered this morning that I could get into (although with some difficulty) my favorite linen pants!  This is good for a few reasons:  (a) I'm tired of being fat and (b) I pretty much live in my linen pants when the weather is this wonderfully warm (EIGHTY PLUS DEGREES TODAY!).

Finally--Once again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST BFF IN THE WHOLE WORLD!  I LOVE YOU! :)

Happy Birthday!!!!!

(Not to me.  I am still pretending that I didn't have one.)

It was in the 80's here today.


Let us pause whilst I perform the annual ritual of welcoming the summer......


OH THANK GOD YOU ARE FINALLY HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!  HOW I HAVE MISSED YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I WELCOME YOU BACK WITH OPEN ARMS AND OPEN-TOED SHOES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Thank you.

Tomorrow is my BFF's birthday.  She will also be forty.  Because she is a mature, grown-up, big girl she is dealing with it much better than I.  I am still kicking and screaming about it.  You know...generally throwing a temper-tantrum.

Yes.  I am STILL not over it.

Anywho.

It is rather surreal for me to think that my BFF and I have been BFFs for almost 20 years.  That is like, half my life.  I've said it before and I will say it again.  I have no idea why on earth she ever picked me to be her BFF.  I was (am) the quintessential geeky nerd.  I was (am) never popular and not at all out-going.  I mean, I will act like a goof in front of my students if it will cause them to learn but in front of grown-up people?!?  Well, let's just say that if you look up "life of the party" in the dictionary, you will NOT find a picture of me.

And I'm ok with that.

She, however, is like the coolest person ever.  Not only is she gorgeous but she is the most generous person that I know which makes her both gorgeous on the outside as well as on the inside.  She will do just about anything for the people she loves even if it means she goes without.  She is kind, caring, and pretty much the most wonderful person I know.

And, wouldn't you know it...she picked ME to be her BFF!  Go figure!

It is awful for me that I haven't seen her in almost two years.  We used to see each other all the time.  And by all the time I mean any long weekend I had from school where I could drive the six hours (five if there were not troopers) to her house.  Thanksgiving is now a sad and lonely holiday as I am not with her family and have no pumpkin cheesecake to eat.  I had no birthday apple pie this year and totally missed her daughter's amazing birthday cake last year.

Pay no attention to the fact that food seems to be the major source of entertainment when we are together and pretend you know nothing of the pints of Ben and Jerrys and Godiva chocolate ice cream we consume whenever we are in the same house.  No need to guess why I can't fit into my linen summer pants.  :o/

Happy Birthday, BFF!  I miss you so, so much and I can't wait to see you again!!!!!

It came and it kicked my tookis...

Well.

The sky didn't fall.

The planets didn't stop rotating.

The sun shone.

And I turned forty.

I'm not happy and, truth be told, this will go down as the worst birthday I have ever had.  It came and it kicked my tookis.

Don't get me wrong.  I received many birthday wishes, very nice presents, had a wonderful day off of work, and talked to everyone who is important to me.

But, at the end of the day, I was alone.

I spent a large portion of the day crying like a big baby, not only wishing that this day had never come, but also wishing that I had my mom to comfort me.  Crying all day is not a good thing and I had the headache all day today to prove it.

Please resist the urge to speak words of wisdom to me because, frankly, I am quite content to wallow in my self-pity and self-loathing for one more day.

Tomorrow I will endeavor to put on a happy face and lie through my teeth to everyone at work by telling them that I had a wonderful day.

I did do a little retail therapy yesterday, stopping at Old Navy to purchase a few things, as well as FYE to pick up a couple of new CDs.  Today I decided, "What the heck!" and put in a order at WEBS (online yarn) so that I could get busy on Babette.  Once that order arrives I will be sure to snap a few pictures to show you.

I felt that I did rather well on the eating front.  I did eat an entire pint of Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia Frozen yogurt and a small package of peanut m&ms.  All in all, not too bad considering that, in the mood I was in, I could have eaten the house.

:o/

Tomorrow is another day, right?

Confirmation...

If I didn't know it before, I know it now.

Let me set the scene for you:

The last several weeks (yea, even months) I have been dreading this coming Saturday.  You see, I am about to turn forty.  I will admit I am not handling it well.

I thought I was handling it well at school and just breaking down (completely) at home but apparently not.

A few minutes ago I received a call from my principal's assistant.  She called to tell me that he contacted her to have her get in touch with  me so that I could contact him.  (Awkward sentence, anyone?)  I asked her if she knew what he wanted and she said he just told her that he wanted me to call him.

So.....my stomach was a little nervous but I called.  Turns out, he just wanted to make sure that I was ok because he thought I looked a little off this week.  He asked if it was because of my birthday (he knows it is my birthday because his birthday is the same day.  Birthday twins!).  I told him that was pretty much it and we talked for about ten minutes.

I thought it was really nice for him to call to check on me and I told him so.

So that confirms it.

I have the best principal in the world.

Annnnnddddd......I am again ETERNALLY glad that I am no longer in that job!

:)

Because I do...

Oh dear.

I was all set to blog.  Really, I was.  And now.

Nothing.

Nothing is coming to me.

I  mean, I could tell you, again, how much I love my shoes, because I do.

I could tell you how much I love miss raven, because I do.

I could tell you how terribly much I miss my BFF, because I do.

I could tell you how much, how TERRIBLY much I would love to say "I do", because I do.

I could tell you how much I am enjoying those new Peanut Butter Cheerios, because I do.

I could tell you how much I enjoyed every single calorie in the Chocolate Peanut Butter cupcake I got from one of my students, because I do did.

I could tell you how much I miss my niece and nephew because, I do.

I could tell you how much I love summer, because I do.

I could tell you how much I hate winter, because I do.

But I won't go in to any of those tonight.  I'll just say...

adieu.

:)  clever, aren't I?