That's What I Love About Sundays

There's a great Craig Morgan song called, "That's What I Love About Sundays." In the song, Craig sings about all the wonderful things that happen on Sundays, like singing with the choir, wearing jeans, eating chicken and beans, playing football in the backyard, cutting out coupons, cat napping on the porch swing, taking a walk, etc...For me a great Sunday is NOT singing with the choir, but sleeping in, watching Meet the Press and drinking a whole pot of coffee. It was so nice to do that this Sunday! And I managed to squeeze a Target trip in too! I slept so much I woke up with a headache. That has not happened in a long time. I'm so looking forward to these next five weeks off. I'm looking forward to a few more sleep induced headaches. I'm disappointed there won't be intersession, but I'm glad that I have the time decompress. The first trimester has been very stressful. Very stressful. I have five weeks to try and figure out what to do to make sure the second and third trimesters aren't so stressful. Not sure if I'll be able to do that. I have so much school related work to do during this break. I'm definitely going to try to squeeze some fun in too...like seeing Kathy Griffin at the Kodak theater!!! I can't wait for that! And reading Twilight. Some of the fifth grade girls are starting a Twilight book club, so I want to read the book to see what the big deal is. I hope your Sunday is turning out to be something to sing about!

The Gift of Books

What better gift to give than a book? NPR has listed its book recommendations for holiday giving. Check it out.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cafeteria Cuteness

Huge shout out to our fantastic cafeteria crew...Cyd, Sandra, Francisca, and Madonna. These ladies are the BEST. They care about kids. Enough said. I can't tell you how much I enjoy my time guarding the milk in the cafeteria. Not only do I get to chat with our super cafeteria crew but I also get to hear concerns, complaints, and sometimes kudos from my constituents...the kids. I could write an entire book about all the stuff the kids tell me as they reach for their lowfat chocolate milk. I hear about who's on red, a cousin's birthday, who got yelled at, who said a bad word, who hit someone, who cut in line, who's going to Mexico, who just got back from Mexico, who passed a benchmark, who passed their math facts, who didn't do anything in class, and the list goes on and on. Lately the kids have been asking me how my day is going. I just love that. They also compliment me on my shirts...even though they're the same shirts I've worn once a week for the last four years. Too cute. Today Cyd fried up some chicken. She really didn't fry it up, the chicken came in a box from some far away land. I have to say it was pretty good. I tried to resist eating the chicken, but I just couldn't help myself. I've been eating like a real pig lately...oh well. The kids were so excited to have fried chicken for lunch. I'm talking jumping up and down excited. It was so cute to see their excitement. Don't you miss the days when a piece of fried chicken was enough to make you jump for joy? Me too.

SuperObama

Two Weeks Later...Again!

Wow, so much has happened over the last two weeks! Too bad I've forgotten about almost all of it. I should start writing stuff down...say on a blog or something...

Barack Obama is president-elect. I've been waiting for this for almost 21 months. I can't wait until January 20! I can't even describe how happy I was on election night. Pure euphoria. Hope has arrived!

I snuck in to school today to get a few things done that I wasn't able to finish yesterday. I noticed piles of black ash everywhere. If the ash wasn't black, I would have sworn it had just snowed. Surreal.

Eight days to go before break. I cannot wait. Discipline has been out of control. We've been suspending three/four kids a week...not good. Fighting, defiance, sexual harassment, bullying, assault...it's just plain scary. A lot of what's happening can be totally prevented. It's just a matter of supervision...keeping an eye out and being proactive. I'm just hoping we can get through the next 8 days in one piece. Keep all fingers crossed!

Two Weeks Later...

It's been so long since I've posted, I almost forgot my login password. So sad. Lots has happened over the last week. Most of it I've forgotten. So sad. I've been just too tired to post...and remember. I'm half asleep right now. So sad. I did have a productive day today. I managed to get everything ready for release day deux. I had a great collaborative session with the specialist team yesterday. What a talented group of people they are. We're so lucky to have their talents. I'm so excited about reading workshop and so hopeful that the 64% number will be reduced. We have no choice about it really. We have to restructure the way reading is being taught. Business as usual is not going to create more proficient readers...it's just not. I can't believe how hard it rained today.
As I was driving in the downpour, I actually saw people standing outside of buildings watching it rain. It has been a long time since we've had a good storm. You would have thought UFOs were overhead. It was kind of amusing. I'm easily amused. We're down to our last 17 days before the break. So glad. I'm ready for a break. I'm sad there will be no intersession for the kids who need it. So very sad and so very wrong. This budget nonsense is making me angry. The "governor" is talking about making mid-year cuts. What's left to cut? I guess we could replace our roll toilet paper with the square kind. **Taking a deep breath and focusing on other topics** Too bad the Dodgers lost. They also choke. It's been down hill since Bill Russell was fired. On the positive side, the Angels lost too. So not all is bad. I actually saw a movie last week. "W" Hated it! It was a rehash of stuff I already knew about him. I'm thinking about seeing "Beverly Hills Chihuahua"...NOT!!!! Only three more days until Skittles fall from the sky, rashes clear, hair grows back on bald heads, and the world comes together and starts singing like in that 70s Coke commercial. I can't wait. I've already voted. I'm a permanent absentee voter. There's no way I'm voting in someone's garage or living room...please.