bmayes is not an imaginary friend-we just don't have recent pics, and p.s. my chiropractor thinks i'm funny, so there.

alright...let's see. you are lucky, i flipped a coin and it was between writing letters and writing a post. writing a post won-granted, it was a mental coin and i'm pretty close to up-to-date in the letter-category.

training ended on a good note, and i am certain that everyone was ready for summer! ahem...i'm still working summer school. a resounding sigh echoes through the empty school building...it just sounded good-i'm not at school... next week will be the last of it, then i will stick around for a couple of days so that i can get to the chiropractor again before i'm gone for several weeks.

did i mention that i have an awesome chiropractor? well, it's true. first impressions aren't everything (if you didn't read about the first visit, you can find out more about "bradley" here). seriously, if you are in the dallas area, and thinking about visiting a chiropractor, bri is great! what makes her great, you ask...well, in all honesty, it's mostly that she thinks i'm funny and laughs when i say something humorous-which, let's face it, it happens quite often.

today i wore my vibrams in, and she was like, "cool shoes! you always have cool things!" she was referring to my umbra credit card holder from the last visit...great. now i've upped the expectations.

this past weekend, one of my favorite friends (if i used the word besties, she would fit in that category, but that is not really a word in my vocab-except when i'm being stupid)...so yeah, back to the story, bmayes made an appearance! it was short, but well-timed and much enjoyed! from gloria's, hurt's donuts-hand-delivered, hawaiian ice...ah, good times, good conversation-always! but once again, we failed to get any pics-people are going to begin thinking brittany is an imaginary friend! which would make me feel like anne of green gables...but i digress....TOTALLY real! i found the dreamcatcher that i meant to send as a gag-gift several months ago and i put it up over futon- because everyone should sleep well!

front

back

it HURTS! it's hurts. we actually looked them up and they began in springfield-the original, and that is the facebook page i follow (and have had the opportunity to visit), then friends wanted the owner to start one up in norman (which is the first place i was introduced!) and i believe they have opened a third in wichita! i must make the pilgrimage! #hurtsdonutgroupie

SERIOUSLY! if she weren't real, how did i get to savor THESE GEMS!?!  not sure what the green monster is called, but it had andes mints on it, then moving up to Jesus donut (english J, not the spanish j), german chocolate, and my all time fave-twixted sister!! i'm purring just thinking about them, because if i were a cat, that's how happy they make me!

 not gonna' lie, when i realized that bmayes had left, and left her portion of the donuts behind (as she'd met with a friend for breakfast), i was doing a happy dance.

before she left, we went for hawaiian ice-i originally wanted to go to my favorite little shack, but when we got there, it was closed! with no forwarding address!! which led to some googling to see if we could figure out where they moved...but to no avail, so i decided to swing by a little joint down on beltline that i'd driven by several times to see how they were. guess what-they were great! so from now on, that will be the frequented hot-weather shaved ice haunt.

plus, they have prime seating!

 i had to stop to get an envelope to send bruno's records in to the insurance peeps...i got a call from the vet, and they tried to fax them, but the file was too big, their computer too old...so i said i'd pick them up and send them. i did stop by fed-ex to see how much it would cost to fax-um.. $1.25/page! (70 pages); pretty sure my face said it all as i immediately turned around laughing and went to purchase an envelope!

while i was purchasing said envelope, one of the employees-a gentleman walked up to the cashiers on a cordless phone and asked if either of them (late teens) could give directions to the lady on the phone. the girls laughed, and one of them actually said, "i don't give directions. that's what smart phones are for! everyone has them now!" WOW. so i asked where the lady was coming from and i gave her directions (i even pulled out the actual words, EAST, under the bridge, about 1.5 miles) and she was grateful, but for real...our youth is DOOMED!! the day sci-fy movies come true, they're screwed! how in the world are they going to get out of the zombie-ridden town if all they have is the sky and an old-school compass...and if they're lucky, a printed atlas...oooooohhhhh.

i am so glad that i learned how to use a compass, read maps, know what nnw means, and how to get there! thanks dad and geography classes!!

that time i gave directions because the people who actually worked there couldn't articulate where they were employed. the struggle is real.

 and we met our new principal last night-you never know what someone is like or how they are going to be in a leadership position with your staff until they are actually in place working. that's the make or break moment. it was great to have such a good turn out of teachers to meet him and ask questions. but let's be honest...curiosity mostly! so we did go out to snuffers afterward. i haven't been out with friends from school in way too long. i met up with olivia more than anyone else last year, and she wasn't even on staff! welcome back!!

great ladies-fun, authentic, thoughtful! part of the bilingual crew! we are fortunate.

 and last, but not least, please look at the concrete stairs at my apartment. for how long do you think this will be structurally safe?

alrighty then, did i mention that my chiropractor thinks i'm funny? just making sure you caught that.

'night!
julie

day one-have some fun, day two-learn something new, day three-gallery....walk

one-day weekend doesn't cut it. we had the amazing opportunity to do some team-building at group dynamix with our school staff. the soaring green eagles rocked it! we had a great time getting to know all of our new staff, and old staff better! of course, the moment i was waiting for-the ropes course!! and when shaner (kimberly) came up and asked if i had a partner, the first words out of my mouth were: are you adventurous? when she said yes, i said we could be partners. this was an indoor course, and it was pretty cool. not nearly as high as the outdoor one at k2, but then...we aren't at k2-alas.

the crew

random die-cut i found on the floor... because it's like the lucky penny saying...

find a die-cut, pick it up, all day long you'll have ..a piece of paper in the shape of a bear in your pocket, and every time you reach into your pocket, think you have a dollar bill and realize it's just a paper bear. what a disappointment.

after that i headed toward levee street for a celebration of pl. it was a good evening, and it was so great to see such a good representation of Cabell and former Cabell staff (who will be working for the new IDEA high school). 

and this is our calling card!

olivia!! so glad you're back! 

today we continued the fun with a little project-based learning (PBL), and it was pretty fantastic! brandon is a great presenter. one of my biggest pet-peeves is lack of punctuality-i've said it before, so it's no surprise. it drives me crazy when people aren't punctual- i learned the importance of timeliness from my dad, when i was in middle school. it's also something that i was VERY aware of whenever i had Bible studies-the idea behind it is: i respect you enough to know that your time is valuable, therefore i will be on time and i would appreciate it if you are as well. the flip side is: i don't respect you or your time as much as my own agenda. regardless of whether a person actually thinks this way or not, this can be the perception. my motto is straight up: professionalism. are there exceptions? sure. but when it's mostly the new people and a handful of others who are there when the presenter begins...it's just not a good message to send. again, it's a pet peeve- it has been for a long time. that aside, it was a really good day! (that, and the ones who were there on time got to watch some great pbl videos)

for lunch, i took my salad with me, knowing that i would add tomatoes when i got to school. and it was amazing. i shouldn't have grabbed the greek peppers and bitten into one of them...strangely most of the information i have found about them say that these peppers are mild...my question is...mild to whom? satan?

ssssssspicy!

the other night i sauteed veggies and apparently i did it wrong. i did not realize that there was a wrong way... for me the wrong way is to do all of the onions first, then the bell peppers. why? well...i may or may not have eaten all of the caramelized onions before the peppers were even done (2 of them)...oops. 

thems a lot of vegetables for one person...only not really-they go quickly!

so tonight, when i went to have leftover veggies, i breathed a sigh of relief when i found a 1/4 of an onion. so i sauteed that up, and then some mushrooms... lovely! 

a couple of other notes:

-my chiropractor, dr. bri, said the work on my neck has been holding, and she didn't have to do anything with that today...that's good news!

-bruno is using all four legs and not hopping on his hind leg as much-as long as we walk really slowly on our walks.

-i'm getting the opportunity to work with the daughter of a dear kamp friend of mine on her princess banners! (full circle)

-i've gotten letters from one of my dear cousins in iowa, an old friend in nicaragua, a college friend in co who is going on a missions trip, and one of my awesome kampers who has become a friend (as tends to happen)!

-i get to see the one and only b.mayes this weekend, and we are going to a favorite restaurant- glorias, and catching up on life! (can't wait to hear about her trip to belize!)

-i need to make more dog treats, but it's going to stink, so i'll wait until after this weekend!

-today a lady who was on her porch smoking, stopped me while i was walking the boys, to tell how cute she thought they were. #proudmama

i suppose that's it for now-

julie

p.s. quick update, today was day three (second day of PBL). there was a lot of work time and planning time. we had a gallery walk that was really good and required very specific feedback--very effective way to get feedback and help refine the way we create our projects. it was a good day-can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

last day, garden and the brachiosaurus

it's a new day! ok, actually it's the end of a new day, hence really it's an old day...although if we're getting technical about it, it is a new day somewhere and it will be coming to your area soon enough! (whew! that was a lot of thinking to justify the original premise~ something I was really good at in highscool, which annoyed my teachers)

we came in today for final touches as teachers and staff tidied up, packed up, and eventually went to eat-up!

i was able to accomplish some important tasks, but i still have a list of things to complete over the next two and 1/2 weeks!

i forgot to get pictures, but i was able to create a diy olla water drip- fingers crossed that it will work. we currently have a soaker hose type irrigation system, set up on a timer. this is really nice, because no one has to go out and water. most of the new garden installations are going in with these pot-systems, as they are supposed to conserve water, and end up being more cost-effective. the down-side is that it becomes a responsibility...which is actually an up-side in disguise! teaching the classes that plants need water, and i'm going to measure each of the containers and how much they hold, using a stick gauge to indicate metric volume. this will be a good learning tool for our students as well...actually, i think this might be a great project for our students! ALSO, we can use the water from our rain-tank to fill the ollas! good times! (i'll take pics of the pots on monday and post them-by then, the silicon will have dried completely, and we can plant the pots!)

i went back to campus after lunch to work just a little more in the garden, because i had asked the district yard-maintenance crew to not cut the randomly growing vine and tomato plant out by the compost bin.  i also asked them to weed-eat the grass on the mound of dirt that had been delivered to us, which has slowly become a temporary hill- and if we don't get it moved next week, it might become permanent! so...i had to weed the bed that needs the additional dirt, so that we could fill 'er up!

this was a task! even with the correct tool-brutal monster weeds...texas-sized weeds

 so i went over to check, and they did a great job of leaving my mystery vine!

i am not certain if it's actually melon or if it's spaghetti squash...either way, it's a treat!!

and the tomatoes! this one wasn't one that i actually planted this year...it magically appeared-but it's bearing fruit!!

where's waldo tomatoes!!

OH, THERE they are! they look like roma tomatoes, but the crazy thing is-last year there were no roma tomatoes in any of our beds...

so back on up. we worked the first part of the day, and then we had a staff luncheon at saltgrass-they always do us right! we had a great group of staff show up-there were a few who were unable to make it. steak and shrimp all the way! good conversation-in larger groups, i'm a listener, unless i'm spoken to (which works really well for me). 

we received a fun gift of appreciation-candy (we are a school that eats) and a starbucks card (we do drink coffee, as well!) everything about my meal was perfect! (i'm pretty easy to please). i believe that i have mentioned that our principal has been promoted to a position that is most fitting: she is now an executive director, which allows her to do what she does so well-mentor principals! so today was our official goodbye. we worked hard this week to get a memory book together for her, which included a small note of memory or well-wishes as she moves into her new position. people leave, memories remain.

in all of the transition, one thing that i did not do well today was recognize those who are leaving. we have a few who are retiring and a few who are moving to new schools. dee, natalie, sandra, penny, sheila, robin, cecelia, cathern, marilyn, mrs. markham-thank you for your commitment and dedication to kids! for your early morning tutoring, after school tutoring, willingness to try new things, mentoring new teachers and being an integral part of team CABELL! you will be missed and as i said before, people leave, memories remain. thank you!

 we had a great little retirement party for those of our teachers who were retiring; unfortunately i had to leave early for a chiropractor appointment, but it was beautiful, and i'm glad we got the opportunity to honor them. i didn't think it would be that hard to stand up and say my piece, but when i actually made eye-contact with these ladies, i got choked up! penny-my mentor and 2nd grade teammate, sheila-my morning (and all-day) inspiration, and robin-my science-buddy and 4th grade confidant, all dear friends-family. i didn't really expect the thank you cards and i was certainly surprised by the sweet gift from robin-so appropriate-but even more touching were the words in the card-words carry a lot of weight.

love it! it's on my bulletin board!

 and to top it off, not only was there an adorable plaque, but camo gloves, to boot!

how fun is that?!

a couple of weeks ago, i didn't get a chance to share, but i was able to organize our shed in the garden-and it looks amazing! you can actually access things! go me! the whole purpose was to make it easier for teachers who are volunteering this summer to be able to grab what they need easily and put it back in an organized manner! (all of those teachers who have signed up to volunteer in the garden- a little weeding, watering, and lots of produce!! ...all ONE of them). currently wendy is the only one who has signed up, but i have had others say they plan to come...i'll be here all week folks! so yes. hopefully we can prevent the garden from becoming a jungle, and looking like spain after the tomato fights. (i can't handle all that produce dying on the vine!)

threw my shoulder out patting myself on the back for this one.

 and lastly, while driving the other day, i noticed 2 things. first of all, as i was driving north on midway, stopped at the 635 and midway, i noticed that there are 2 brachiosaurus guarding 635! (in case there are those of you wondering, please note the difference between the brachiosarus and the apatosaurus here. ). and in case you were wondering, i just spell-checked brachiosaurus, and it gave me brontosaurus, which is actually NOT a dinosaur- in case you are chasing about dinosaurs at your next get together...fred Flintstone probably slid down the neck of an apatosaurus...just to be clear.

no worries, they are herbivores!

noticing #2: i looked down at my mantlepiece dashboardpiece, and noticed that my pig apparently had a procedure done without my knowing it.

do you see that? on his throat?!

he said it was a voluntary procedure-why, pig? why? WHO voluntarily gets a tracheotomy? silly pig. maybe it'll be in the sequel to IF YOU GIVE A PIG A PARTY. but still. why?

let's call it a night...and a short weekend-
julie