labor day, fish tacos and trail tots (nothing like tater tots)

first countdown: labor day-check! now, only 80 days to the next big one-thanksgiving! (that's 11 weekends!) and only 104 days until Christmas (15 weekends! not that i'm counting...) we've made it to labor day with no major glitches. although, i did receive a message that i need to do my tei calibration test again-in basics, it's just a test to ensure that we (coaches and administrators) are on the same page and really using the rubric to evaluate during distinguished teacher reviews. which means another half day off campus. boo.

on thursday i almost forgot to go to the chiropractor-mostly because i simply forgot it was thursday, and i was super excited because we were able to get a larger pool than i anticipated to participate in CATCH UP & READ (CAR),which is the program we began working with last year. in fact, i'd only had one person answer the call and step up to the plate, so i was afraid we'd not be able to have the program. so i sent out one last ditch effort email and gave a brief 5 minute spiel at our pd session, and after some begging and cajoling, we were able to get enough teachers to match it up in such a way that some will work the program every other week, and some will work it one day every week instead of two, to cut down on the over-commitment. hopefully it will go well, and be beneficial to everyone involved! i am going to do everything possible to make it fun and really show appreciation to the teachers, TAs and students involved!

as i began to say, i was so excited about the turn-out, that i almost forgot about my chiropractor appointment! i'm so glad that i didn't because had i missed it, i would've missed this gem! i was driving, minding my own business, when out of the peripheral, i noticed an suv to my left passing by. only without actually looking at it, it seemed oddly shaped. then i noticed that was because it wasn't an suv! it was a ridiculously tall car. dear sir, over-sized wheels do not make you a monster truck. sorry. i'll bet it makes it easier to tip the car over.

he has no idea how ridiculous he looks.

 and i also found out that the chiropractor is closed on monday for labor day! so i would've missed a whole week of adjustment and probably wasted a trip on monday, not knowing it was closed. 

i made no big plans for labor day, which is allowing me to save money-which is part of the plan! as part of the 'no plans weekend,' this morning the dogs were ecstatic about going out for a walk that was longer than just going around the pond! we did the back trail, and as we were walking, i had to keep them away from the 'nature-y' part of the trail, because there is still a bunch of poison ivy over yonder. then i saw some fruit on the ground, some of which had been bitten into and pulled apart. so i picked one up, as they looked to be some sort of nut, and i wanted to take it home to identify it.

i googled the images of the fruit, and found it to be exactly what i had suspected-PECAN! that was exciting! i decided to peel it and see the nut inside. and just like the walnuts used to do, it stained my fingers-darn it! why is it that the good things in life can be so messy?!? anyhoo, i will be watching that tree closely as we move to late september and into october! i hate paying so much for pecans at the store-robbery!

it looks like i was fingerprinted with pecan fruit

and last night as i was contemplating cleaning out my closet, i got sidetracked when i found my trail tot book...AND the vest! yes. i was in trail tots when we lived in raytown, mo back in the day! that was in the kinder year. 6 yrs old. and i rocked trail tots at our church! the lady in charge was mrs. aubry, the mother of curtis, one of my brother's friends. (may have had a crush on him). and the aubreys were good friends with my parents. as for trail tots itself, we did crafts, learned verses, played games...one of the things i remember doing while we were at the church was finding an animal print out in the yard and making a plaster cast of it (not sure what that has to do with Jesus, but it was pretty darn cool)...and finding a crab apple tree- i don't think our leader encouraged or even knew that we had picked apples from the tree, but i learned very quickly that they were not delicious.

this piece of vintage pleather still fits. yes, i did try it on, and i almost threw my shoulder sockets out trying to get it off! 

using the write from the beginning rubric, i believe the picture should receive a rather high score.

perhaps this was part of the development of my love for letter-writing!

DRAW SOMETHING THAT GOD MADE: please note snow-capped mountains, the tree with leaves, and the dead tree with no leaves and a hollow...the birds at different distances...AND the helicopter! God didn't make that, but what a lovely addition!

as i think about the things we did, look at the question at the bottom of the page, what we were doing at church was in essence engaging us in our interests and preparing us for school- verbal interaction, memorization skills, community and civics...i really wish more of our students were involved in something like this outside of school or before they came to our campus, because it really is beneficial!

i am doing my best to stay away from brats (the hot dog-kind) this weekend, even though it is truly the food for labor day, because i cannot buy just one, i have to purchase an entire package, and then i have to eat them within a certain time-frame before they go bad, and it really isn't on my list of good meats. so instead, i purchased fresh fish at the store yesterday and today i ventured to make blackened fish tacos at home. they were actually quite good! and i still have 1 1/2 fillets left, so i'll be eating fish tacos this weekend-and i'm not even a tiny bit sad about that!

alright, for all of you that work (for those of you that do not work-and are capable, i don't think you should take part in this holiday, as you are riding on the backs of those who do), remember that this day: honors the American labor movement and the contributions that workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of their country. God Bless America!

alrighty then, have a fabulous long weekend!!
julie