wow. december 16th, you have arrived and for that, i thank you.

it always seems like this day will never arrive! and when it does, it seems like it will never draw to an end-busy, busy, busy. as i was having the students do some letter-writing, i was checking last-minute books (i shouldn't have accepted them because they were due tuesday, but i really wanted as many to finish as possible...81 out of 87-not bad!) some of those students were finished, but forgot their packets at home. i also had to find time to whip up 3 'cards' for our principal, vice principal and office manager...in the midst of getting several people to write up some sweet notes and bind them together for gigi.

yes, it was a bitter-sweet day. gigi's last day at cabell. boo. she is moving west! while we're excited for her, we're bummed for us. yes, there is a great gal replacing her (don't know her very well yet, but she is on the ball), but still it's not the same.plus, she was my taste-tester whenever i had something new or was drying something fun...

gigi, we will certainly miss your sassy self!

gigi, did you know that you are part of the reason i decided to go ahead and try this blogging thing? i remember mentioning that i was thinking about it and you said, "i'd read it!" so i wrote. smile.

at the end of the day we had our party and to be perfectly honest, parties with students are not a lot of fun. it takes everything in me to not watch them eat (chewing and talking with their mouths full, etc)...ew. 

this is only a small portion of what was offered to me, i didn't eat any of it, i just made it look like i was happy to get it and saving it for later-teachers get good at that sort of thing..shoot, if i'd have eaten all i was offered, i would have gone into a diabetic coma.

i got this great little pine tree from ms. johnson today. and i thought, this is the perfect size for my apt.

then i saw that it grows from 40 to 80 feet!

i wonder if i could keep it growing for a bit and then secretly sneak it somewhere where it will grow big and tall?! it's in the apt. now, and chaco and bruno were so excited about it. "mama! now we're going to breathe better! more oxygen!!" 

there were lots of fun little gifts from the students...please let me share one tonight (as if you have a choice in what i do or don't do). one of the gals got me some bling....only i'm not a 'large jewelry' kind of a gal.

you must have just the right outfit for these accessories...

chaco tried it on, but people already just assume he's a girl because he's so little, so i made him take them off.

the students have such great hearts.

before i actually came home, i had a lot of loose ends to tie up before i could leave..like 'securing my computer'(sheet over the top), getting the book kits together to send off and a little cleaning up. when i was on my way out the door, one of the other teachers invited me to join a few others for happy hour, but me...i came home and had my own little shot.

cough syrup

two nights ago i was coughing so badly i couldn't sleep-it hit me at 1 in the morning and lasted about 30 minutes before i was finally able to start dreaming again. bruno was muttering something unintelligible. so i've been drinking cough syrup shots and chasing them with york peppermint patties. (? i don't know, i heard it was a new thing)

and they're off!
julie

can't always trust your gps..can't trust the policeman...trust your instinct!

where to go with the post today...hmm. well, yesterday i had training at the nolan estes bldg. i was pretty sure i remembered how to get there, so i took off, and trusted my little navigation ap. well, i missed the first exit bc it told me to go to the next one, then it took me to a bldg where there were lots of kids, so i asked an officer who was standing there and he said, "yeah, i think they have trainings in there if you park over there." so i went that way, and it didn't look familiar and i accidentally turned in there and got in the wrong line and had to wait for the car pool line to drop off...i think he knew he was sending me the wrong way and probably got a good laugh out of it. when i pulled up i just tried not to make eye contact with the woman who was opening car doors for students and kept right on moving. then i turned the wrong way to avoid traffic.i was fuming as i left and i'm glad my thoughts were in my head and not out in the open... i finally figured out where i was and found my bldg and the parking lot was full, so i squeezed my little car into a tight spot and hunted for my class. i strolled in right on time. (i hate being right on time. i like to be early-best seats, besides as the saying goes, to be early is to be on time, to be on time is to be late and to be late is completely unacceptable).

the training was decent--then when i got back to my car, i had to make like a 16 point turn to get out of the parking lot. boo.

when i got home i took chaco to the vet for a re-check and he is all clear. and strangely i went to bed early again. i never go to bed that early, but i actually was so tired i counted out the hours i would get if i went to bed at 830-it was so refreshing! just to get up early so i could get to walmart and purchase the necessities for our birthday celebration today! if you need a great fruit dip, the tried and true dip is marshmallow fluff mixed with flavored cream cheese (today i used the honey nut, but in the passed, i've loved the strawberry and the pineapple..yea!)

there always has to be a token poster...so today it was done in chalk

 we also had a little farewell ceremony for dr.jones, our interim principal. she has been very gracious with us and a wonderful advocate.

when i went to walmart today, i found a freshener spray that made me happy-it's like evergreen pine tree! nothing says welcome to the holidays like pine trees!! i remember when we were young and we used to buy real Christmas trees in wisconsin, and my mom had some type of holly and evergreen spray in a can that was wonderful and i now look for candles that mimic that smell.

well, this is close enough for school because we cannot burn candles.

i'm so excited for jr. achievement tomorrow! it's at the perfect time-last day of our 6 weeks!!  woo hoo! and blue jeans day!! double woo hoo! i have some binders and agendas to check for avid, then several projects to look at...oh it's going to be a productive day!! those ja in a day-ers better be good at classroom management and keep the kids engaged!!

why do they call it engagement when a man asks a woman to marry him? is it that he must keep her engaged until the wedding day? or is it like two armies going into battle..engaging in war?

well, i hope this has been an engaging post, but don't expect a proposal!
julie