bad day? buy cards! need a break? go talk about godzilla!

wow. this afternoon kinda' sucked.

then i had to do CAR pd...which went fine-we were able to get some questions answered that teachers had, which was good. then on the way home, i decided to make a stop at kroger for some cider. well...i stopped by the card and halloween section. you already know i am a sucker for cards, and spent way more than i'd planned on stuff for CAR teachers and cards (they had some AWESOME cards!). that was my therapy-i felt better because i knew that in my bag i had the underpinnings that would eventually create bright spots in other peoples' days. all good-i felt much better!

these cards are not just 'any' cards...i'm usually very particular about the cards i purchase, because as i read them, i usually analyze them and make sure they just right for the certain people i plan to send them to. so yeah...i got cute cards! and fortunately when i got home, there was a check in the mail from the healthy wage challenge for meeting my goal!! woohoo!!! totally worth it! and if you are a disd employee and considering the benefits of doing the cafe wellness program, i highly recommend it-the check in july is TOTALLY worth it!!

happiness=the perfect card that specific person!

the moment you get your entry fee back! snaps for perseverance and commitment! #teameffort

there were good things that happened today:

• CAR PD went well, and my group was able to get things done
• we got through most of our planning sessions, and they went well
• i got to take the dogs for a walk
• i got to wear my new pair of halloween socks that jeri got me 'just because'...she is so thoughtful!
• i am making meatloaf
• and my check from healthy wage came in the mail today!! 

candy corn socks from jeri-they match my earrings!

***tuesday turned into wednesday...they week rolled on and before i knew it, i'd not finished my original post, so now i will bring it to completion****
thursday i was out for a morning for training, and it was okay, but i didn't leave with an overwhelming feeling of "i'm so happy i came." i don't mind going to training, but i have high expectations of trainings. the bright moment was deciding to take the stairs down rather than wait for everyone in the building who was leaving for lunch. so there's that.

when i got back, i had to get the copies ready for our common assessments for next week-our copier is on the fritz...it's one of those maintenance job-security machines. our maintenance guy will always have a job... but it really makes life difficult for the TAs.

we had our school quality review for personalized learning-which is basically just an all-day walk-through in which our central-staff pl folk were out scripting, observing and noticing what was going on, and then matching that up to the objectives and goals that we had set as a school. they were a wealth of information, and it's so necessary to have these types of visits-not so much to show off what we're doing, but to get an accurate portrayal and feedback of what is going well, and what are the opportunities for next steps moving forward.

what i really walked away with, is that we really have a lot to celebrate. with all of the perceived 'problematic-issues,' there are MANY great things happening at cabell! much of it is residual from last year, as we were able to get some things started to move staff (as a whole) in the right direction! thank you, joanne and sean! and of course much of it is due to the resilience and perseverance of the teachers who are carrying on the vision of what they want to see happen in their classrooms...and i would be remiss to not include our new teachers-we have some rock stars, and we're so fortunate that they chose to join our team at cabell, as they are certainly a valuable asset, and bring a wealth of knowledge to the table. do we have room for improvement? ABSOLUTELY!! but that's the most exciting part! i never want to reach the point where we have nothing more to work on, because that would breed stagnancy. and that would suck.

alrighty then, school stuff aside, oh...wait, not yet. last weekend-killed me! i was working on curriculum map-stuff all day saturday (until i realized it was 12:55 am, and i was getting tired)...so i finished on sunday around 8 pm. i did not sign up for this. but it's done, nonetheless.

so for real now, no more shop! (although that's really all i know these days)...yesterday i got home a little late because i went out after school with some friends and it was so refreshing to just talk about silly things with friends-to laugh about godzilla, the black stallion, aliens and trolls...and the cabbage patch hospital...i mean...those are the conversations that make life a little more interesting! i love finding commonalities and celebrating differences. there is nothing more rewarding than building relationships-i believe that is what God created us for.

i arrived home to jumping puppies. bruno was like, "where have you been?!? it's dark out again! i'm hungry, and i just want you to pet me twice and then feed me. that's all."  and of course chaco, "not me!! i just want to bark at you a couple times..wait, where's my toy? here it is! throw it until your arm falls off, please...or i'll keep barking! that'll teach you to not come back right after school, yeah." so, yeah, i felt guilty for about a minute, then once they were fed, they just found their respective places to lay down and sleep, and we were back to normal. my boys!

i should've gone to bed, but for whatever reason, i was thinking about an event from a few years back, and so i began looking through pictures. whenever i do that, my heart just seems to grow and i get that nostalgic feeling because memories of good times are so strong, and it just strengthens the bonds that i have with my friends...i'll be writing more letters this weekend-that's what it does to me. it makes me want to not lose that connection. i feel very fortunate to have so many amazing memories with such a variety of amazing people!

also in the not-extremely exciting category, i renewed my apt. contract-you'd think they'd want to start paying me for being the least annoying client...but no.

 at least rent didn't go up this time. 

and then there's this: i don't get my own stationery back very often, but i got a letter from one of my former kamper/ princess/ ropes course friends! it's always a day-brightener to hear from friends! and a treat to see stationery make it's way back around!! thank you erin!!! -your fairy god-mother

and i think today i'm going to watch gotham (since hocus pocus seems to be unavailable on netflix..), and perhaps late, i will watch fellowship of the ring. these came up in conversation, and i've not watched fellowship in awhile, so it's about time to experience that eucatastrophe once again- gotta keep fantasy alive! i really need to go back and read some of the tolkien letters, and g.k. chesterton books that are sitting on my shelf!

it's almost time to go to orlando for inacol, so i am prepping the boys-hopefully they will be complete gentlemen with joanne...maybe bruno will warm up a little more this time (not holding my breath, because he's usually a one-pat dog, then he likes to find his own little piece of the floor to rest). i am looking forward to the conference-so many great sessions! i wish they were recorded! whenever you travel with people, you learn so much about them. i've found that being with colleagues away from the workplace is certainly healthy and quite enjoyable.

i love that it's halloween and it's still a bit drizzly out! time to make another coffee, sit back, relax and write some letters!
 Chaco: Why don’t ghosts like rain on Halloween?
 Bruno: It dampens their spirits!
Have a great weekend!!
julie

procrastination just took up so much of my time today!

today i have been procrastinating. but i had a good reason. (no i didn't) (YES I DID!) (no, i guess i really didn't)....i cannot...CANNOT be trusted to go into barnes and noble to get just one item. it's true, i am the one-item-failure.

so i decided to try it at petco and once again, BIG FAT FAIL. although i did find some really cool toys and chaco hasn't ruined his yet! it's been all of an hour since i brought it home. give it time. as i was at the checkout, petco has their little snack bar for dogs, but it smelled good enough for humans...look at these! i was tempted until i saw the fly.

i mean...chocolate chip cookies? i'm IN!!!

upon checking out, the cashier girl was a chatty, and she asked what kind of dogs i have.
me: yorkies
chatty: oh, i want to get a schnauzer or schnauzer mix, they do adoptions through a rescue here. i think they're the coolest! especially the mixes because they have the coolest names, like schnitzu, schnorkie,  i could even name it whatever the mix name is if it's cool, like schnack russell...i would be like, this is schnack. and people would say, "snack?" and i'd say no! SCHNACK! 

yes, that conversation really happened. i'm sure she practiced it in the mirror at home and uses it as her go-to conversation line. thank goodness there was someone behind me and i was able to leave without incident.

before i hit up either of these stores, i had to stop at radio shack to see if they could help me with my phone. for some reason my 4g was not working (remember when i had a pager...and no clue what 4g was because it wasn't in existence...wow, i'm older than i would like to admit!) so when i walked in, i wanted to take it over to the young black guy who was stocking things, because i figured he'd be able to help me better than the elderly white gentleman at the counter, but i went up to the counter because i wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt since he does work at a technology store...the A/C was perhaps too cold because his nose was at the dripping point, and i kept worrying that it was going to fall onto my phone, but just in the nick of time, he raised his hand to wipe it off and continued to swipe across my screen. in my head i was racking my brain trying to think if there was anywhere that i had sanitizer. unfortunately i switched bags, and left the bigger little one in the other bag. and i had used the last of the vial-sized two days ago, when i was down for jury duty.

he ended up having to take it back to someone in the back and they were able to get it re-installed-apparently it was a really easy fix- i just had to pay my bill. i didn't realize that i had it connected to the card that i had to cancel, so i immediately got that taken care of-no worries, i will not have to pull the pager back out.

part of the procrastination period included some letter-writing, which is nothing out of the ordinary, i tried to make it a marathon; pulled out a bunch of addresses and got started, but i have SO many more to go! i have so many little things to do, and 3 weeks within which to do it, so i really probably ought to pull out a whiteboard and start making a list and crossing these items off! (i learned that one from Dr. Hughes; and it works!) 

tomorrow after our first day of summer school, we have our kick-off for personalized learning, so i am guessing we will have a little better idea of what we will be looking at over the next few months of exploration. feeling a little like jean luc picard going boldly where no man has gone before-star date 2020...i know, i could've use cptn kirk, but his uniform was ugly.

alrighty then, time to get back to planning..tomorrow comes too early.
jules

field day-the race that turned into the eternal relay, new chacos and 2X proud alumna!

You know that it's the end of the year when field day comes around! and you know you've been a part of field day when your eyelids and every other part of your body feel sticky-dirty. so yesterday was field day and it was perfect weather! not too hot, no rain and a slight breeze-couldn't have prayed for better weather! my first group was third grade-they went fairly smoothly and without incident. we found that 10 minutes was way too long for spoon races...and so we had to manipulate the event and turn it into the never-ending relay: keep going! the winner is the student who is the most tired when time is up!

then came kindergarten. i kinda' gave up with them...no matter how many times i said, "no holding the tennis ball!" it faded in the breeze. kindergarteners aren't into rules. little cheaters.

then came prek and second grade and we were so ready to be done! i think they had fun, although they weren't out for very long (per grade-level). one of the teachers said it wasn't long enough, so i responded that if we'd had actual volunteers to help run the events, we might have been able to have more events, but when no one is willing to step up, whatcha get is whatcha get...sorry. maybe talk to your parents about volunteering next year instead of just standing around watching. just sayin....

i had so much stuff, and i didn't want to take it all inside..but i forgot my car keys. so i left my chair and cooler by the car, hoping that no one would walk off with it. when i got back out after school, i'd almost forgotten that i'd left these out there! most of the other cars were gone, but there were my belongings intact!

who knew?!

 we found out that our school was one of the 8 chosen for the exploratory phase of the Personalized Learning program! WOOHOO!! this basically means that we will have this next year to work with a team from the district to plan, visit and glean as much knowledge and vision as possible to prepare for next year, when the PL teams will be implementing personalized learning on their campuses. it is an exciting time, and i cannot wait to learn more and for our teachers to learn more!

it is especially exciting because the middle school that our students will feed into was accepted into this 'incubation period' as well! this means that we will be working closely with them, which will be really good for our students!!

so today i went to rei because of the memorial day sales...and i got 20% off! i needed to get a new pair of chacos. i have a pair that i need to send in to get re-soled, but i don't know if i will get them back before my trip. so these were exactly what i needed.

as you can see, the tread has been worn down on my first pair. they even have a long crack across the bottom. i'm excited to get them back, because they are my simple black.

today i was excited to watch a video of my high school (this one is partially in spanish), as it is their 60th anniversary. there is not enough i could say about EIS to do it justice..i learned so much there, and not a day goes by that i don't think about this beautiful campus nestled at the foot of the mountain, and friendships that continue to this day.  i also just saw a blog post by The Heritage Foundation about my college; although it is a small college, it is huge with heart! it is one of those campuses that is so beautiful and unforgettable! the first moment i stepped onto the campus, i was in love. and truthfully, i was blessed beyond measure with the friendships that i made there! humble, genuine and simply put: just what i needed! -SO PROUD TO HAVE BEEN A PART OF BOTH OF THEM!!!!!

it's a great night to be content!
julie

postcards, warnings and dinner puzzles!

 so, you saw the garlic in the prior post, and when i cut them down to size, and wow..they were PO-tent! someone may have described the smell with these words: it smells like raw fajitas in here!
perhaps i shouldn't have prepped them at school-i understand they could be smelled all the way down the hall.

 oh! and yesterday morning i was stopped by a cop in a school zone. i was not too excited about that. i wasn't speeding, and i knew he didn't have his radar on (thank you, radar detector), so when he walked up, i pulled out my chl license and drivers license and handed them to him. he said that my inspection was out of date (which it was)...i very much dislike inspections-we didn't have them in ks and ia, only 26 states do, and i now live in one of them...curses. so i looked at him and pulled out parts of 3 different stories (all true)...it was a lease, i refinanced to purchase, they sent tags that say truck, it's not a truck, so i don't know if they're the right tags-so i didn't put them on...he stopped me and said he was just going to give me a warning-get it inspected. so...i don't know the science behind it, but one of my friends once said that cops dig chicks with their chl... ¿sera? could it be??

today we had an INTERVIEW for personalized learning. if you aren't sure what that is, you can find some information here and here. i really hope we make it to the next round of this process, because i can't think of a better way to teach kids!! i really don't know how it went, but we will find out sometime next week! and because i had this meeting, my friend and coworker, olivia went to another meeting that i was supposed to attend. i owe her big...i hear there was traffic...and i know she had to leave a little early because she had something later this evening-what a team player!!! THANKS OLIVIA!!

 so i probably didn't mention that i purchased some special bowls for the boys. they've been really weird about eating their food lately, which is why i bought these puzzler bowls. i was smiling in the other room tonight while they were eating,  because they were so engaged with their meals! it slowed them down, so bruno couldn't scarf his, and chaco wanted to eat every morsel because it became a game! problem solved!

when i got home today, i found my postcard in the mailbox! woohoo!!  my friend juan pablo sent it from his visit in el salvador- i love mail, and i especially enjoy the stuff that comes from afar! how fun that it came on juan pablo's birthday! so,thanks for thinking of me jp! i salute you!

HAPPY BDAY JPH!!

and speaking of mail. when i lived in HONDURAS, i loved getting mail (this was before much emailing was happening..in fact i think in our computer class, we were learning how to make an character move down and across the screen with DOS....). well, back in the day mail took forever! guess what...i got a msg on facebook like two days ago from a dear friend who said she just received a letter postmarked march 24-hmm..obviously some things just never change! so we had a little conversation because i just sent another letter with information in it that is kinda time sensitive since it mentions that i will be coming to visit; basically i needed her to get it before i get down there! 

and that kinda wraps it up i think. for now.
nite-julie