Thunder!

I didn't sit down to write about rain, but just as I started -- THUNDER!!  And rain!!  Every little bit will help our poor dry land.  I've been watering the grass all day (I have about 4 hours to go to finish it all.)  They said on the news last week that we are about 25" short of rain from this time last year.  We'll blow away before long.  I was walking in the back of the playground last week and was shocked!  The ground is deeply cracked, and the concrete that holds up the fence posts are almost completely uncovered where the soil has blown away.  You can see almost a foot of the re-bar that holds the landscape timbers surrounding the playground.  Huge amounds of soil has blown away.  Yikes.

We've had quite a bit of exciting news since school has resumed.  Sarah is expecting our third grandchild in May!  We are so thrilled to have a new grand-baby!  God is so good.

Jacob ordered his class ring last week - TAMUK class of 2012!  He's worked so hard and we're really proud that he's able to graduate in 3 years.  He also has a lead on a job as Assistant Farm Manager after graduation.  It's too early to know yet, but I'm really excited that he has a lead this early in the process.  He's busy thinking about 21st birthday activities.  Time goes by so fast.

As for me, as hard as I've been trying to be fit and healthy, I took my first dose of Lipitor today :(  But Allan says it's the best thing.  I hate having to take medicine though. 

School is going pretty good.  I've been able to maintain my staying aheadness.  lol.  I am almost finished with all my lesson plans for the second grading period, and I'm keeping up with my copying for the week ahead.  So far so good.  Not behind in grading.  This MUST be a record.

Allan and I continue to do fun things together.  We have started going to the TAMUK volleyball games.  We don't really know much about volleyball, but are having a blast learning.  It's really fast paced and fun to watch.  We went to see "The Help" last night, and it was a GREAT movie...friends we went with have read the book and said it wasn't like the book, but either way, it was good!

Monday

What a day!  Could I have used a Monday off from work??  YES!  I awoke with a start with the alarm at 5:30 remembering that it was my turn to read a devotion at our staff meeting.  BLAST!  So...blind without my glasses I stumbled to the computer and searched for a Holy Week devotion.  Found one after a bit that I thought was pretty good - a tad long but not too much so.  Then realized while driving to work that it was the first day of the next grading period - I of course had not prepared new folders - not even printing out the pages that go in the folder - 0 - ZERO prep.  I had not typed up the students "My family is special because..." paragraphs for the newsletter.  I hadn't completed my lesson plans.  No parent letter.  Zero, zip, nada.  Totally unprepared.  But somehow I fit it all in and ended the day with everything pretty much how it should be.

So happy to arrive home, I threw together some cheese enchiladas and Mexican rice for dinner.  On a whim, we went to the movies!  All three of us.  Went to see Arthur.  Jacob and I really liked it, Allan declared it "Fair."  Yes, I know I have report cards to send home Wednesday.  Yes, the grades are not even averaged yet.  But there is always tomorrow.  The sun will come out tomorrow - at least that's what I'm told.

Spring Fever

Ahh Spring...time for sneezing, coughing, hacking and yes fever.  What a week the past week was!  But thanks to an extremely understanding husband, a Z-Pack from Mexico, and many cough and allergy pills, I'm feeling human again.  Actually slept fairly well last night.

We had a great Sunday.  Church was awesome - two wonderful brothers baptized, Holy Communion, an interesting Bible Class -- all good and enriching.

Tacos for lunch followed by our regular afternoon of Office viewing - lots of laughs.  For dinner I attempted the Pork chop and Wild Rice casserole that was a disaster when I fixed it in January.  I've been afraid to try again, but alas, it was back to its original goodness.  Still think it was the Great Value cream of Celery soup that wrecked it before.  Animation Domination followed dinner and then a trip to Wally World to finish out our evening.

This is a big week at school.  CAT test time!  Always makes me a nervous wreck.  I pray the kids will work up to their abilities.  Not putting their full effort into the tests is a problem for some.  They are all such bright kids - I'd like their test results to reflect that.  I've got three grades to test this year so that means our testing day will be longer than in years past.  Stressful for all involved.  Keep Praying!

A Missed Week . . .

OK, I know I've missed a week. No post last weekend. Almost made it a whole month. How about I do two posts today?? Well I'm doing it anyway, lol.

The last two weeks have been extremely stressful. Things at work have been pretty sucky. The first semester, I had a boy who felt like he was being picked on, and frankly, I should have taken it more seriously. His parents felt like it was in his best interest to remove him from our school. I am always thankful for parents who care about their children (trust me, many don't). I respect them a great deal for making a difficult decision to change schools at mid term, and he is doing great at his new school. His mother, however, felt the need to bring her grievances to the school board (which she has every right to do.) I was extremely disappointed in the school board's response to this issue. I feel like I need some real guidance on discipline - some criteria -- on what discipline to give and when to do it, etc. They basically told me they didn't approve of my discipline plan, but had no suggestions on how to change/improve it. Meeting was shelved until later in the week to address this issue. However, instead of addressing the issue I needed help with, they picked over my daily schedule and after 2+ hours decided that I was teaching subjects at the wrong times during the day, that my students had too much recess, and that I should only have 15 minutes each day for both planning and lunch. Which directly contradicts what they said in our meeting (that I should have 30 minutes for lunch AND 30 minutes planning each day). I guess they discovered what we had already told them. Three teachers cannot have this much time off AND have 2 teachers supervising students at recess and lunch. huh. Plus they didn't like that I had the children miss recess as a consequence for unacceptable behavior, yet later took away 30 minutes of recess daily from the entire class. wow. It's been a very frustrating time...rant complete.

One Long Week

This has been one of the longest feeling weeks that I've had in a while. Allan had a conference Monday - Wednesday, and that just started things off on a bad foot. Jacob had been home for the weekend, but left Sunday afternoon. We got flu shots on Saturday, and I had a fever all day Tuesday and most of Wednesday. I was a bit overcome with loneliness on Tuesday. I called and chatted with Sarah at lunchtime, and that really cheered me up.

At work, I feel like I am barely hanging on by a thread. It feels as if I will fall terribly behind if I let up even a little bit. (You should have seen my stack of papers needing to be graded this weekend. - sigh

This weekend was taken up a lots with activities for our neighboring church's pastor's retirement. He had a very nice party on Saturday, and his retirement service on Sunday. Allan put together a beautiful service, and everything was so nice. It will not be the same without Gil around the office at school.

And now it is Sunday night...My lesson plans are printed, my parent letter done, my October newsletter written, class webpage updated...sadly - more papers to grade - or not to grade, that is the question...

Julie and Julia

Went to see "Julie & Julia" yesterday. We've been waiting for weeks, and it was worth the wait. I'd read the book back in 2006 when it was published and loved it. The movie was excellent! Meryl Streep - what can you say. . . she was superb as she is in everything. For those of us who remember Julia Child, she was a carbon copy. Everything was well acted. It was funny, heart-warming, tender...all good. Well worth the price of admission ($3 each for us - thank you budget-friendly Kingsville theater!)



Now for other news. . . our grandson, Josia, is scheduled to make his appearance Monday the 17th! We can hardly wait to meet him:)

I've gone and burned the hummingbird food and now the house is smelling aweful! It's all the computer's fault.

Allan has helped me arrange the furniture in my classroom, so now all that's left is putting up the decorations, making the first lesson plans, and organizing books and stuff. Not a bad start for day one.

Found out today that Jacob got another scholarship for $3,500 - could NOT be more pleased!

Lice

Yes, you read it right -- lice...they can really louse up a week. lol. But really, what a week. My entire class has been infested with the awful critters. I have sent kids home day after day after day. It's really hard to get a lot accomplished with only 2 or 3 kids in attendance. Now I'm praying that after an all clear Friday... on Monday everyone is still OK. Thank goodness my head isn't itching! Cute aren't they??

I Know....I Know.....I Know

I know I missed my weekend post. AND I know it's almost the weekend again already (yipee). But this has been a crazy time. First, my reviews:

"Where Angels Go," by Debbie Macomber. This is a delightful book. It appears that she has written other books, and I'm definitely looking for them at the library. My friend, Susan, had checked this out last week, and gave it to me to read. (She is having a heart attack about now because it's due tomorrow and she knows I rarely return a book on time - but I'll take it by after school tomorrow:) It is a Christmas story about the guardian angels Shirley, Goodness and Mercy and their assignments that Gabriel gives them for the week leading up to Christmas. Apparently they tend to get into a bit of trouble every time they're sent to Earth. It's fairly theologically OK, and just a beautiful story. A++

"Nim's Island" Allan and I went to see this last Friday, and WOW. This is a great adventure movie. It is creative, funny, sensitive, well acted...we just loved this movie. Two weekends -- two great movies. Probably be months before that happens again!

At school, I've been buried in achievement tests and testing. Last week we tested every day. Because we're a small school, the teachers score their own tests, and do all the results themselves. This is a brain numbing/back breaking job. There are chart after chart of tiny numbers and columns and rows that all have to be kept just so. But it's done now and I am currently half way through parent conferences.

Our niece was confirmed in Fort Worth the Sunday after Easter, and I just got her gift in the mail today. I hate not being able to be at such important events. Since we've been here, we've missed one high school graduation, and 3 confirmations. It makes me sad. She is an awesome young lady...terrific student...amazing ballerina...and a very serious and devout Christian. We love her to pieces.

The biggest news of all: My wonderful friend - who lives in New Orleans - her mother has been very ill for the past month with cancer. We have prayed for her since we met ten years ago that she would know the love that Christ has for her. My friend spoke some pointed words to her mother several years ago, which has been in the back of her mind all this time. Her mother called Allan Monday and said told him she wanted to learn about Christ, join the church and be baptised (I'm tearing up yet again just typing this). Tomorrow, she's being baptised at her home with her close friends nearby. She is positively glowing with the love of Christ. Needless to say, my friend is crazy happy and thankful to God for his answering of prayers. Amen.

National Lutheran School Week

We just wrapped up Lutheran School Week. The kids all had a good time. Here are our cuties all decked out in their team shirts on Monday. We just finished running relay races.

We had red day, a Christian art contest, silly hat day, Christian writing contest, pajama day, movie and popcorn day, Bible bowl, crazy dress day, and wheel day. Everyone enjoyed the special activities and treats.

At church, our confirmation students came to the house for our annual pizza/study party on Saturday. It's their last opportunity to review all their questions (200+) before the public examination...which was this morning. The kids did great! Next week we'll have 4 kids confirmed.

I Know, I Know, I Know...

It's been forever since my last post...and this is my 100th post according to my dashboard. I would have liked something profound *sigh* Who knew how busy I would be going back to work...This month is crazy, as December always is. We seem to have work related social engagements most evenings. I haven't graded a paper since Sunday. (Of course, I have the best of intentions, bringing home books and papers every night.) There is no lesson plan what-so-ever this week. We are pulling our hair out rehearsing for the Christmas program which will thankfully be over next Thursday.

Hip hip hurray for us, my beloved and I went to town at 4 am the day after Thanksgiving and did all of our shopping and we were home asleep again by 9:30. We traveled with our list and coupons and did an excellent job budget wise. (Nothing is wrapped yet, of course). I mailed the Christmas cards on Tuesday, as well as the packages that needed shipping. My tree finally has all the ornaments on it, and the boxes of decorations are pretty much empty.

My great son, Jacob, showed once again how like my dad he is. Our Ginny cat LOVES the Christmas tree...always has...she lays under it every minute she's in the house...and plays with the lights. Perhaps I posted about how we had to throw out our Christmas trees in the fall due to possums in the garage...we bought a very nice pre-lit one that was so, SO much quicker to set up. Ginny seemed to have chewed through a light wire - yes - an entire lower section with no lights. Jacob took one look, got his knife, scissors, and electrical tape and proceeded to strip the wires and reconnect them...and VOILA - lights! Daddy would have loved to see it.

Markus had his 17th birthday on Dec. 1. He wanted to go to the beach since in Germany it is always very cold on his birthday. We had a nice day, sunny and around 85. He swam in the ocean and had a very nice day.

My birthday soon followed on the 6th. Yikes, how did I ever get to be 45! I had a terrific day. Allan had a beautiful vase of roses waiting for me, with my birthday day books wrapped so beautifully, a chocolate birthday cake and "Princess" plates, napkins, and cups. We ate at a great local burger place (because I was really wanting the fried pickles) and came home for cake and ice cream and 'bubbly.'

I have been getting very, very, VERY cranky with this stupid hot weather. It should NOT be 85 degrees in the middle of December. God has blessed me today with a 50 degree day. Cloudy, overcast, drizzle (I can pretend it is snow). I wore a sweater today. Always a good thing.

I'm enjoying reading my James Patterson book that I got for my birthday. You can tell how busy we are that I have not already finished it! I have 3 more books to follow after this one!

I sure miss keeping up with all my friends in cyber space. I pop in sometimes so I'm not completely in the dark (deep in the shadows though). Hopefully after the first of the year, I will be back to at least once a week updates, leaving lots of comments on your blogs.

Time Flies...

And here I am at 10:40 on Sunday night still waiting for towels to dry. My work for tomorrow is done, and the weekend has flown by with no blogging on my part. We DID have a productive weekend though. We repaired some boards that had fallen down on our back patio cover. Finally remembered to look for hummingbird nectar, and now our feeder is in business. It is hummingbird season, and they are SO cute. Already buzzing around - and did you know they chirp?? Who knew... My clothes line came on Saturday, and Allan has it all installed. Can't wait to hang out towels - they are going to smell soooooo good. The housekeeper comes tomorrow - I'm almost giddy:) And our cats finally are doing their job. Found mouse remains in Jacob's room after church this afternoon. I suspected we had some rodent friends again, but haven't set the traps yet. I guess tomorrow I'll set some out. Ginny must be the mighty hunter, because Bob certainly isn't. Once, we heard one of the traps in the cabinet snap, we looked inside and put both Bob and the rat terrier in front of the door and opened it. The mouse got out of the trap, ran around, and both cat and dog looked at each other and refused to budge. They are definitely NOT earning their keep!

Tomorrow we have our first PTL meeting/Open House/Meet the Teacher night. I hate this stuff - enough said. Then next week, Parent Teacher Conferences for the first report card *sigh*

Where Does the Time Go?

I am amazed that two weeks have passed since my last post. The days and hours are flying by so quickly. So many things have happened...where oh where to start. I guess in no particular order...just begin.

Last week, I kept hearing noises in the garage in the mornings...but never could see anything, although things were knocked to the ground most mornings. I guessed we had an opossum. Finally, one morning, I spotted it. That afternoon after Jacob got home, he and Allan went on the great opossum hunt. Finally spotted it behind the freezer, after which it ran and hit in the Christmas tree box. Needless to say, our garage has been further cleaned out as the Christmas tree box made its was immediately to the dumpster!

Three weeks of school has flown by...spend the weekend doing progress reports. Wish some of the students had better grades. I have two boys driving me insane. They seem more interested in laughing and walking around than in any punishment I've handed out. Also have a little girl who wore a shirt with a pink skull on it.

Mother: She was really concerned about wearing this shirt to school, but I told her it would be OK.

Me: It's OK for today, but probably better not wear it after today.

Hint: If your kid thinks something isn't allowed, listen to her!

I have lost TEN pounds :) I'm pretty pleased about this. Although last week one day, the school lunch was enchiladas, rice, and beans. They sent an extra...I had lunch duty...needless to say, I ate every morsel (It was SO good!) I'm starting to get used to feeling hungry :) NOT.

My dear husband spent his day off on Friday washing clothes, cleaning house, and basically doing all my weekend chores so I wouldn't have to. Could there be a greater guy anywhere??

Our computer finally ground to an almost halt. After backing everything important I could find up, last night we went out and bought a new one. It has Vista and everything. It's super nice, but will take some time to get used to. I HATE big purchases. But the computer is cool.

That's it for now - I'm running to the store (in the car of course) for snacks for teenagers. It's homework central here right now (nothing like waiting until the last possible moment, right??)

The First Week

As far as first weeks go, I had a great one. My class is terrific: 5 girls, 5 boys: 6 second-graders, 4 third-graders. I've got a third grade boy that totally looses it behavior-wise as soon as we start math (perhaps move math to the end of the day???). I'm still fiddling with my schedule, and haven't yet done everything planned in a day. I think I totally forgot how to teach 2 grades at once. But I felt much more confident by the end of the week.

My most beloved husband welcomed me home Monday with a lovely vase of flowers, the sweetest card you'll ever read, and my favorite cocktail. He is the sweetest man. We sat on the couch (with my feet propped on the table of course) sipping our drinks, discussing the happenings of the day. Surprisingly, he had a very productive day himself (I'm sure due to not having me popping in on him all day:)) All week we enjoyed our cocktail hour, and he spent his day off on Friday getting a start on the weekend chores so I wouldn't have so much to do. We're even trying to find someone to come in and clean so that it makes things easier for us both. What a gem of a husband I've got.

I'm sort of prepared to begin the second week. I've enjoyed our long weekend, and hate to think how long until the next day off (I'm not even going to LOOK at the calendar!)

The Final Product

First let me say that I started off the day today feeling really good. Our house has begun to return to its normal routine. Two nights in a row, we've eaten dinner together all three of us (at the table no less!). Jacob's been in bed before midnight and up before noon (thanks in great part to tennis practice:) But then the day went downhill.
1. I called for results of my bloodwork done Monday morning...normal, normal, normal... Cholesterol 225, Triglicerides 606 *gasp* yep - couldn't even figure my LDL they were so high. I guess it's diet and exercise time for me *moan and groan*
2. Got to school and worked diligently all morning to attach student's names to the desk with contact paper (not the first time I've done this) - only to discover after lunch that they had all come loose.
3. Found out one little boy I'd really looked forward to having in my class wasn't returning:(
4. Went to lunch with the other teachers, had to wait forever, felt like my time was wasted.
5. Came home feeling terribly behind and like I'd never be ready.

Then...My beloved husband suggested we go back after dinner so I could work some more. So now without further ado - my after pictures - I warn you there's a lot of them!

This is from one corner to the opposite corner - AR computers, Math/Science/SS/Art centers.

Main door to the classroom, calendar, desks, books.

Teachers desk (that's mine), filing cabinet, cupboards.
Library center, work table, and most importantly - my devoted helpers!The teacher at her desk - Allan has taken over the camera:)
Worship area: Bible, Catechism, devotion book
Armor of God - found this in a drawer and thought it was too cute not to put up!

Our Art book comes with art prints for each unit. I LOVE these!
My Center Assignment chart. Time will tell if I have any idea what I'm doing!

So now, at bedtime, I'm much more content and less stressed than I was before dinner. A big, big, BIG thank you and hug to my husband for being so understanding and thoughtful - Love you!

Workers Remorse

I have it -- big time -- workers remorse. I've not worked the past two school years, and have loved every minute of being the SAHM. And I'm excited about being back in the classroom, with a whole new group and age of kids. A little nervous, but excited. I've already enjoyed visiting and seeing my old friends from school -- all good. But this week - my last one -- I'm filled with lasts. Our last Monday breakfast out together, our last Tuesday lunch shared...soon, I'll be to our last Friday off. I miss my husband already, and school hasn't even begun. No more popping in at the office (I know he won't miss THAT). No more quick visits during the day. I know I'll be fine come Monday.

Classroom and Life Update

OK, here they are, the before pictures. Piles and piles of things that I don't know what they are, or where they should go. I took Jacob and his friend Zach on Tuesday to move all the heavy things around. (Zach had some good suggestions for where things should go) Zach hooked up the computers, and both boys cleaned the bottoms of the desks with bleach and set them up in groups of 2. I have worked all week (except for Thursday - we had a funeral which took up most of the day). I'm pleased with where I am, but not nearly ready. And of course, I've not even begun to look at the actual books and plan anything yet *yikes*. I have thrown away LOTS of - yes I'll say it - JUNK. It seems that every teacher who has used this room brought every bit of educational things they owned, and then felt the need to leave it for the next people. Do I need a filing cabinet full of memeograph materials?? (I don't even know how to spell that, much less use it!)

I came home yesterday afternoon to a house full of teenagers. Jacob and 5 friends were hanging out around the computer. We grilled some steaks, new potatoes w/rosemary, tomatoes, corn w/lime & cayenne with ice cream for desert. Also watched Disturbia with them. Really good movie...scary and funny and suspenseful, but nothing horribly gross. Jacob said it was too scary for me, but I liked it (It's no Rear Window, but pretty good for a teen version).

Today I've been busy catching up on the weeks chores...between working each day, and the added work of the funeral, all chores since Tuesday have been put on the back burner. Three more loads of laundry, and I'll be totally caught up, hopefully to stay on schedule next week.

I'll post my after pictures when the room is complete!

In Over My Head

I went today to check out my classroom for the upcoming school year. Boy-o-boy am I overwhelmed. I'm teaching 2nd-3rd grade for the first time. New classroom. Big mess! Everything is in a big heap in the center of the room since they move everything out to clean and wax the floors. I have no clue how to arrange all this stuff that I've never used. I really need to calm down. Plus, it's been so wet and humid this summer, that mold has grown on almost everything. So tomorrow, I'm taking my son the reluctant helper, a bucket of rags, pledge, Clorox, the shopvac, and my aching back and returning to the room to clean and put things in their places (if I can figure out where that would be!) I may take some before pictures to match up after all is clean and decorated. I've forgotten how stressful this time of the school year is. *BIG sigh*