Midweek Confessions

Hey everyone! Just a quick check-in with the one thing I seem to be good at: Midweek Confessions!

1. I left home today without my cell phone. I noticed when I was about 7 minutes down the road & wanted to call my mom like I do every day. After a quick mental calculation, I realized that turning back to retrieve my phone would equate to me being late, so a day without my phone was ahead of me. I can't tell you how many times I either looked for it or wanted to add something to my grocery list & couldn't! I did manage to get a message to my mom by emailing her cell, and I asked her to text the hubs. Which brings me to confession 2

2.  I don't know my husband's phone number. Recently, the bank gave me a "new access code" for my financial downloads. I used it 4 times before I realized it was his number. Probably something I need to commit to memory!

3. I've been working really hard on my New Year's ReVolution to not stop at Starbucks more than once per week. (I modified that to mean I also can't stop and get a frappe from McDonalds either.) I've been saving up a free drink star for a day I really thought I would need it (and if you are a Starbucks frequenter & don't know what this means, message me. It's life changing!) Tuesday morning I was dragging around, while also knowing it was my morning for duty (read: my morning to be at work 10 min early & spend the 30 min before the kids arrive monitoring the hall) and also recognizing that I had a set of copies to make for 1st block because the packets I sent off a week earlier hadn't arrived. So Tuesday was an excellent candidate. I ordered a very specific Iced Venti Nonfat No Whip Caramel Flan Latte, got it for free, and reveled in a few small sips on the road. As I walked through my classroom, I set my coffee down, turned to set my back down, and knocked my coffee on the floor. I stood in shock as my entire gorgeous free caffeine spilled out, and then spent the next 10 minutes cleaning it up. Thankfully, my secret pal had given me some glass bottle frappachinos earlier, which I had been using as emergency drinks. I had ONE left. It's now gone. 

3. Today, day 6 with my new students, was the first day I have been able to look at each of my students and know their names. Very sad. To my defense, the first "week" went as follows: 2 hr delay, closed for polar vortex, closed for polar vortex, regular day, 2 hr delay. It was rough. In those 3 school days, we had 3 different bell schedules. 

4. On the first day of the semester, I miscounted the bells and only sent my kids to lunch when my classroom mate came to get hers out of her desk. On the third day, I thought I had been counting correctly, but a hallmate accidentally let hers out a bell early, so I did too. This split class for lunch thing is going to take some getting used to. I've never had that as a teacher!

5. On Monday, I left a new recipe in the crock pot. After arriving home, we went to Mcdonalds because I misread the instructions and cooked it til the cheese burned. On Tuesday, after the sadness of my coffee incident, I ordered curbside takeaway at Outback. Today, I grabbed one of those rotisserie chickens, and fixed Spanish rice & Carrots to go with it. Only problems: I didn't actually turn the burner on for the carrots & the leg/thigh area of one side of the chicken looked like this 

Gross. 

6. E said, "hey do 10 quick things" and I have, now 6, long ones. Why? Idk. Maybe I'm an oversharer with a poor memory. 

Taking a cue from E: on a positive note: I've been to the gym 6 times in 2014 already, including 2 consecutive days this week! I'm also noticing that I am getting more full than I used to despite smaller portions! Also, I feel better physically. I'm still clutzy & forgetful, but hey, I can only hope for so much right?

Also, and this is more to spread a laugh than anything else: I have this desk chair that was D's that he took to college. It has a design flaw that means that if you lean back to rest, you'll find yourself on the floor. To my knowledge, 4 students and myself have all done so this year. I even sent 2 kids to get me a newer, free, and still design flawed desk chair so it wouldn't happen to me, but have kept the other one for, well, I'm not sure why. But the kids sit in it, and some make a game of seeing how far they can lean back without tipping. I should probably get rid of it before someone cracks their head. 

Don't forget to head over to emyselfandi.com to check in on other midweek confessions!

New Year's ReVolutions

So, you know those commercials with the man who sits and talks to the little kids? I think it's a series for a cellular company? Anyways, I love them. A recent one has a little boy who says you need to keep your New Year's revolutions (instead of resolutions). While the man makes fun of him for misspeaking, I think the boy has a point. 

The decisions we make for the new year should be lifestyle changes. Turning some aspect of our lives around. Isn't that exactly what a revolution is? A change? 

So here's my list Revolutions. I'm not usually the resolution kind of girl, particularly since I don't follow through well, but I'm going to try. And I'm recording it here to hopefully hold myself more accountable. I've also added the "biggest hurtle" I see that I need to overcome. 

1. Stay on top of the household chores. I've mentally made a schedule that includes Mop Monday, Tubs & Toilets Tuesday, and Wipe down Wednesday. Stay tuned for a more detailed list. Biggest hurtle: I'm the laziest housekeeper, and I hate it. 

2. Lose weight. Or more specifically, drop 15 pounds before the end of the semester (5/31). I've added 20 pounds since I graduated college in 2007. I would say I've gained 15 of those since January 2012. It's terrible. To combat this:

2a.  Drink more water. Not the ridiculously high recommended 64 oz a day, but at least half of that. (And as of 8:30 tonight, I'm at all of 16. Great start, huh?) Biggest hurtles: I hate water; I have a profession which does not allow me to pee when I want; I live 45 minutes from work. 

2b. Make the gym a priority. Prior to today, I hadn't run since the first week of August. Shameful, and I was feeling pretty crummy. Today I restarted my 5K running plan, and added in some weight work. I'm not saying I'll go to the gym every day, I'm setting an early goal of 2 days a week, and hoping to find time for a third day. Hurtle: I've had the same gym membership all fall, and I drove right by the gym every single day without stopping in the fall. 

2c. Take a multivitamin. If you are asking why, then you should probably be taking one also. We eat terribly (example: tonight's stuffed green peppers via Pinterest were delicious, but we both, separately, at Mexican out for lunch. I got a cheese quesadilla and a cheese Enchilada. And cheese dip). My mom & every doctor I've ever had tells me I should supplement my terrible diet with a multivitamin. And probably make changes to my terrible diet. One year at a time folks. Biggest hurtles: I am the world's worst at remembering to take medicine if I feel fine (like, I never finish a bottle of antibiotics on time). Also, most people take vitamins in the morning. When I take medicine in the morning, vitamins included, I vomit. Every time. I will have to try and remember to take them with supper. Today, day one of vitamin taking, I remembered as I typed this. 

3. Spend less. We just bought a truck, and we've got to be better at budgeting now. Item #1 to go: my Starbucks visits, which were getting all too frequent. I'm officially limiting myself to 1 visit per week, even on weeks like next week when I'll have a free drink! Hopefully, this will serve 2 purposes: limit our spending, and limit my caloric intake thus applying to revolution 2. Biggest hurtles:  spending less means cooking more, which is not my forte. Also, I convieniently pass 2 Starbucks' on my drive into work, and can make a 3rd "on the way" in a pinch. 

4. Read the Bible. Which is probably shocking to many who know me well. I'm not an atheist or anything, but I'm not exactly spiritual. I can't tell you the last time I went to church, but I feel like I haven't been since I have known D, and I met him in 2008. Reading the Bible is something I've always had interest in. I have a Bible App, which has a plethora of daily reading plans. I was fairly diligent in reading an advent devotional throughout December, so yesterday, I started one that tackles the Entire Bible in one year, with a chronological viewpoint. (Honestly, I kinda thought that the Bible was chronological for the most part, so I don't really know how that will work out.) Biggest hurtle: making this a habit. 

So that's it. Just 4. Well, 4+.  And that's 3 more than I've ever had before. 

What have you decided to do for 2014?

DIY Christmas Decorations

I'm not particularly creative, but when I saw this idea on Pinterest, I thought, heck, I can do that! I love it so much, that I figured I'd blog it in case anyone else wants to do it. Also, and more likely, so that I can remind myself how easy it was for Christmases in the future!

First, you need to gather your supplies: 

Literally, just ribbon (mine is from Sam's club, and is wired and covered in Glitter), scissors, and tape.  Here's an interesting note here: if you don't mind glitter all over your kitchen, glitter ribbon is great. If you're a clean freak: steer clear of the glitter. My counters, stovetop, and floor are covered in glitter!

Next, use the ribbon to determine how long you need it. I just had enough to wrap maybe 2 inches along the back of the cabinet at the top and bottom. 

Cut to size, then tape, yes, tape, the ribbon to the cabinet. That's it. Another note here: I'm one of the least OCD people you'll meet, and I also have a terrible time deciding if things are straight or centered. If you are a little more OCD, the project may take a longer time, or you may want to just not do it. 

Another note, please be more intelligent than I am. In the process of cutting my first ribbon, I also cut the skin between my thumb and first finger (you know, that really skinny part?). I had to rush to the bathroom to stop the bleeding and grab a band-aid. I'm a klutz, so I'm sure that won't happen to you. 

Next step: gather your cards and something to attach them. Right now, I have all of 3 Christmas cards. So I picked them up and used paper clips. The pin I found had super cute clothespins, which is great also, but I had paperclips, so that's what I used. 

Attach the cards and you're done!! Here's my final project;

I love it! The husband: "mmmhmmm. Lovely." Drenched in sarcasm of course, as he is a grinch in regards to decorations. He's also a bit on the OCD side, so we'll see how many times I am asked to adjust the ribbon!

Happy decorating! 

Overheard at Christmas

My neice O had written a letter to Santa. It was short, in that she is not yet 3 and can't actually write. All it said was love and her name:

Me: "what does your letter say?"

O: "it says (and points to her name) I A"

Me: "No, that says O L"

O: "No, it says I"

Me: "No, that's an O"

O: "nuh uh. That's an I"

Me: "which one of us can read?"

O: "What?"

Me: "which one of us can read? Can you read or can I read?"

O: "You can. You can read"

Me: "Okay, so I'm telling you, because I can read, that says O."

When we were putting the presents from D & I under the tree, my nephew B saw one labeled to Daddy. He got very excited about his Daddy's present. 

Me: "no, that's not Daddy's. Who is my daddy?"

B: "ummm. D?"

Me: "No, who is my daddy?"

B: "D!"

Me: "My Daddy?"

B: "I haven't met your daddy yet."

Insert hysterical laughter. 

Me: "Papo. B, Papo is my daddy."

B: "Oh yeah! I forgot!"

Then, as we were unwrapping gifts, I glanced over at my brother in time to see him opening the book I bought my dad. The very present that led to the above conversation.  

Me: "Oh, um, that's not yours"

T: "What?"

Me: "I must have put...oh...I put To Daddy on it. You should have gotten a card"

T: "seriously? Oh man. Well...thanks for the card."

Random Ramblings

Hey everyone! I'm going to apologize in advance for the complete lack of a general theme for this post. I basically have a handful of random thoughts, and about 30 min to kill, so here goes.

- I feel like my life has taken a weird circle backwards. Currently, I'm sitting at a hotel about 30 min from my parents' house waiting for a conference to begin. Sometime in the early 2000s, I attended a different conference (or the appropriate word is probably convention) in this. Exact. Hotel. The difference: that one was for Beta, this one is for my state education association. Also, I'm choosing to stay at home tonight rather than at the hotel, and in high school I certainly chose to stay at the hotel. (My friend S & I may or may not have attempted to make coffee, then ice it down, then add the hard peppermint candies to make it taste better. It was disgusting.)

- I've hit an invisible wall of sorts where my students are driving me insane at no fault of their own. They're done with this semester; I am done with this semester; we have 12 more class periods before our state SOL and another 5 more before Christmas Break. 

- You know what I'm hoping cures that? The fact that I left work today after 2nd block. I took a gorgeous backroads drive to my parents house on a 70+ degree day. I then got to swing and ride bikes and play with a plastic toolbox and a matchbox car for a few hours. I also got to be greeted by 3 running children, grinning & shouting my name. That's true therapy. 

- I hate that my baby boy is growing up. My oldest nephew is in 1st grade. He has adult conversations. He has lost teeth. And today, I had to actually pedal quickly to keep up with him. What happened to my little mini me? The one that exhausted me by chasing me with the plastic popper all through the house? I definitely want to freeze time. Today though, as we put the bicycles up, he pulled on my hand, and when I looked down his little lips were puckered up for a kiss. Heart melting. 

- I have been riveted by the JFK coverage recently. I find it so fascinating and so saddening at the same time. Thankfully, I teach high schoolers, so I can do things like show actual assassination footage and discuss the implications on current security. And they ate it up. Standardized testing can be on hold. My freshman learned today; it didn't have anything to do with Renaissance Europe. It did, however, have 20 14 year olds riveted. Some went googling more information on their phones. Some of my sophomores have on their own watched Kennedy footage that I suggested in class. That changes lives. That infuses a lifetime love of learning. Not a forced discussion of economic interdependence, regardless of it's relevance. 

- I am a born and bred don't decorate until after Thanksgiving girl. It angers me to see commercials and decorations, and especially hear Christmas music before Thanksgiving. I will fully embrace Christmas the minute I wake up on Black Friday (though, I will not attend shopping events. I have a horrible crushing panic in that environment). I just want people to appreciate Thanksgiving. You know that picture of the Turkey yelling at Santa to back off? I am on Team Turkey. 

- I have a piercing and crippling fear of stingrays. It's bizarre. It came up in class this week as we were discussing global food supply and a student said he wanted to move to Australia so he could eat kangaroo and those horrible sea creatures. I cringed involuntarily. I was then called out on it as a 15 year old asked if I was aware that the fear was irrational. I'm now that teacher who is afraid of something my students thing is stupid. Yep. Yay me. 

That's all for now, my conference will start in a few minutes. If you are still reading this, thanks for sticking around so long!

School Shootings

Today, I got a text message from my mom. "Scary time to be a teacher. Love you"

Being the way uninformed history teacher I currently am, I had to ask her what was going on.

She directed me to the news, where my CNN app alerted me to not one but 2 teacher deaths at the hands of students. In two different states. In two days. 

While you, by all means, can and should go read about the incidents, I want to reflect on my own personal feelings. This post is really an emotional outlet for me right now, so feel free to just stop reading if you're hoping for anything lighthearted or well constructed. I promise to not be offended. 

When I read both articles, I first thought about how horrible it is for the family of the teachers who lost their life. Never did I ever think that I was entering a profession where my life was in jeapordy. Despite Columbine and Virginia Tech, school is a safe place to me. The family members of slain teachers probably felt the same way. Until this week. 

My next thought, was how do you expect a math class to move on when their teacher was murdered? In the land of high stakes testing, those kids are being dealt a tragic hand. I only hope they are able to heal their hearts, because only then will the begin to grasp the concepts the state says they have to have. It also occurred to me that we must live in a bizarre world when my thought was not, "how do these kids ever feel safe?" 

I then reflected on my own day. Today, in 1st block, I fussed at my freshmen for not listening. I fussed again at them for talking to much. In 2nd block, I marked 4 tardy for standing in the doorway. I gave them a harshly phrased talking to about how I'm tired of warning them about being in their seats when the bell rings. In 4th block, I fussed at a student for looking at his phone, and then for lying about it. All in front of his peers. After school, a student came to me in tears, upset about what a classmate had said about her. That one I hope I handled well, and then sent it down to guidance also. I will not have a child be called stupid and not have guidance aware that she's being bullied. 

Suffice it to say, today has not been my finest teaching day. Any one of my students could have left today feeling angry and upset. Do I think that they're angry enough to bring a gun to school? No. Do I think for a second anyone thought these young men would? No. 

So you know what my last thought was? I want to hug each and every single one of my kids tomorrow. Even if they are high schoolers. Even if they are big, burly, teenage boys. I want all of them to know that I value them. I fight for them. I want them to succeed. 

I want them to know that I love them. And I will tell them tomorrow. 

If you're still reading, thank you. I love you for that, even if you're a stranger. Change a life tomorrow, even if it's just by smiling. 

Midweek Confessions

These are going to be short, so be sure to go check out E's page for extra entertainment!



 - My uncle is coming to visit on Friday, stay the night, and participate in this cool competitive pistol shooting thing (very technical name, I know).  Great right?  Except that there are 2 cycles worth of laundry on the guest bed, and my hamper has overflowed to the ground.  And there are dishes in the sink from 2 days ago.  And I didn't vacuum at all this weekend.  And some people think that I should have my students actually learning in my classroom.

- Speaking of learning, I had my first informal evaluation of the year.  In my previous teaching roles I either (a) never turned in lesson plans because they weren't required, or (b) was always late or forgot to turn them in, facing reprimand from administration.  Here, I only need them completed when I get observed.  Today, we started a new unit in WHI and I hadn't planned out the unit yet (on paper).  Fabulous.  Granted, I did give over all my lessons, including WHII, which were done, so maybe she'll be sort of okay with it.  Yeah...probably not...

- I am not happy about this cold weather.  At all.  Except one thing, my usually sweltering classroom was finally comfortable.  Well, it was comfortable, and then in 2nd block the students opened the windows, so by the end of the block I was freezing.  I'm usually cold though, so I can deal with that.

How's your week going?