100LoveNotes, lunch-fun and social emotional learning

tuesday night. deep breath as i prepare to simply enjoy the thanksgiving break!

so many things. today was the fourth day of getting up early to go walking with an accountability partner-and i don't hate it! early on the weekends, but even earlier on weekdays (meaning i am up by 4:40-reminiscent of working for the comair and having to get up in the wee hours to prep the planes!) so yes, good start-i need to force myself to get up for the remainder of the break (hard to create a habit if it gets interrupted mid-stream).

i inadvertently became a part of a lunch-share...only because i kept nicolette from getting veggie burgers one evening, so i offered to take sauteed veggies because i had an abundance. what beats food and fellowship-although truthfully it's mostly just food because we all have lunch at different times. it makes my heart long for the times we had meals together in 4th grade with gigi...and going to her house to cook fun meals. miss my friend!! i truly do enjoy cooking and sharing-as well as not cooking, and just enjoying! (and i think the world of these two, they have become the friends i've been missing over the past couple of years).

i'm very excited about a new resource that we will be using on our campus. i am helping roll it out with our 4th grade reading classes first, and once we figure it out and get going with it, we can share it with 3rd and 5th grades. (i really think olivia and susan will benefit from them, but there is so much going on right now, that i think we will have to push it for january, regardless of how good it is).  i love it because it lends itself to close reading and text sets/units. i really am beside myself, and i am thrilled that nafia is equally excited about the possibilities that it presents! to see a teacher excited about a resource that i believe in is reassuring, because the truth is that if a teacher doesn't see the value in something, it is very unlikely that they will appreciate or use it. i think i built up the case! i am looking forward to see what all can be done with it!

i am super excited about the beanbag that i have acquired, as well-thanks to olivia and solange for picking them up (i didn't leave school until very late); note to self-bring cash monday!! they are oversized and very comfy! apart from the never-ending group text that went from beanbags to starbucks to jeans back to beanbags and smiley emoticons...i am a terrible group-texter and i wish that i had the app to make me appear to be involved in the text, but actually be in stealth mode.

so, yesterday i spoke of letters and such, and today i was basically ushered out of the classroom when i went in to offer assistance in preparation for the computer diagnostic assessment...they were in the midst of something super secret! so it really tugged at the heartstrings when i was presented with a sweet note from a student and a super sweet note from the teacher, one of my friends. it meant a lot. the idea was spawned from the reading of an article about 100 love notes-(this isn't the exact one that i read, but it is the same story) how cool is that?! i love that she got the students involved, because at that age, it often takes some prompting to think beyond oneself...this was a great practice for them-social emotional competency. #100LoveNotes

i felt pretty special-as an instructional coach, we don't get many of these.

 and it just got better to hear about one of the morning meetings that blossomed from an authentic moment of gratitude..the students were saying what they were grateful for, but then they went a step further at the request of a companion, to say why they were grateful for the person next to them-difficult to receive if you aren't prepared! we love hearing these things, but could it be because of doubt and lack of exposure to hearing such things that it is difficult to accept? we should do these things more often. we certainly should express ourselves more freely, without fear of how it will be received...because who really cares?! and like one of the girls said (and i paraphrase from a paraphrase....) : we should say things like this more often because you never know when someone isn't going to be there, and you won't have another chance...wise words! i find myself living vicariously through my teachers, and i love it!

that's how i will be spending part of my day tomorrow-letter-writing because i have time and nothing to make me feel guilty! no distractions-i need to get back on track with the letter-writing! i would've started tonight, but i had to get my hair did...by myself- i didn't want to pay alejandro huge money if it was something i could do on my own...so we will see if the quality is close. i was happy with how long his brazilian blowout lasted, so we shall make a comparison...it was half his cost..now i can tip myself and spend that $ on something more fun! and i do have several things in mind.

thanksgiving is just around the day-corner, and i am excited because one of my friends will be in town, so i will get to hang out with her and another dear friend, who lives in the metroplex, but as far away as possible. and this weekend the lighting at vitruvian begins and i think it starts off with some live entertainment-i love what they do down here in the addison area.

alright, it's time to sign off so that i can get up at a decent hour to walk/jog? tomorrow (if i actually jog, i deserve a cookie!!)
night!
julie

love affair...i'm sure i'll get over it...maybe if there weren't thousands of recipes

and yet another week has managed to slip away...already we are entering our 2nd 6 weeks of school. strange, as i have still not been able to settle into any semblance of a routine. that is not good for me. i'm like a kindergartner-routine can be a good thing.

i mentioned in my previous post that my nutribullet RX came last week-and already i have been putting it to use. made the usual shake-enough for two, so i could have some for lunch...and then i made a tomato soup on saturday. that is a minor mystery-miracle. i don't even like tomato soup. in fact, when mom used to make it for us, i'd skip the soup and just eat the grilled cheese sandwich. well...now i'm skipping the grilled cheese sandwich and eating the soup! it was SO good! that i ate a little...then i ate a little more..and then i was craving it for dinner...and i may or may not have had the last of it today for lunch. yikes..i know. and so i decided to try making a hot pumpkin spice latte drink...only i fear i did it wrong, because when i wasn't watching, the liquid started coming out, and when i came around the corner (because something in my gut said jrob, you better just check it out, being the first try and all...)...when i saw pumpkin coffee-stuff oozing out of different parts of the machine, and puddling on the counter, a little on the wall, i quickly unplugged and tried desperately to salvage what i could because i really wanted to taste it! so i had this dilemma of: SAVE THE DRINK vs SAVE THE MACHINE-dry it out! i know it's not supposed to be submerged, so i'm fairly certain it isn't supposed to be self-deluged either...good thing i got the 3 year warranty...

that said, i was able to save about a cup-worth...but it needs some tweaking. i wasn't thoroughly impressed.

this morning i was hopeful that when i plugged her back in, she'd work like a charm...and she didn't disappoint!! (must come up with a name for her). so...today i decided to try a couple of different things. this week i decided to revert back to fish tacos, so i made my avocado/roasted pepper sauce for the coleslaw....yum. and then i decided i should try another drink-this time a cool drink, so i had a caramel cooler-that recipe is a keeper! it fixed the rumbly in my tumbly. and now all i can think about is what to make next...is this what a love-affair feels like? surely this cannot be healthy..even though technically everything i am making is healthy...

it's amazing to me how those little blades can extract all of those goodies and make the smoothest drink ever! even more so than my ninja (which i thought was pretty amazing-looking somewhat like edward scissorhands). if all other weapons are not accessible, turn on the nutribullet and try to get the villain to come closer and stick his hand in...ok, so not that practical as a weapon.

yum! papaya, mango, pineapple, raspberry, greens...i pulled some russian kale and pumpkin leaves to try them...it was a little nutty. (not like nut-house-crazy, more like a nut-flavor); perhaps it's an acquired taste.

the comforting tomato basil...and i added a few of my own ingredients (turmeric and nutritional yeast for a cheesy-flavor)

 a few weeks ago, i decided that i liked an idea on fb, so i thought it would be a good exercise to start collecting some of the things that make me happy and filling up a jar. after i got a couple in a jar, i realized that they only put that picture on fb because it looked cute. if you're putting in a 'happy' every day, they would never fit in that little jar (unless you were a fairy and wrote with the tip of a baby safety pin on a 16th of a square of toilet paper and wadded it up and then put it in the jar). so i found this old cereal container-and since i don't do cereal, it is working out perfectly. i just have to remind myself, and sometimes i forget, so i do double duty-triple duty ok, sometimes i just don't even limit myself, and i write several.. #doesntplaybytherules so yes, i may have more than 365 by the end of the year-and i've only been doing it for a few weeks-WHATEVER!! don't judge! there are just so many things that make me happy! deal wit it!

 one thing that made me sad was when i got into my car the other day and my trusty escort did not turn on. i've had my little radar buddy for a good 6 years now. it was a sad day. so i brought it inside, and i haven't had time to look at it. i don't know if it might just be the cord, or if it is the radar itself. either way, it is a necessity, so i will have to go into the shop (hopefully it's still there!).

i don't think even mcgeyver can help with this one. sad day. 

i love it that we are working with social/emotional learning at school this year! our second graders are learning about their brains, and this week, i believe this class is going to be looking at some tools to help students, like breathing and the glitter ball to calm their little brains.

i am thoroughly excited to be going up to branson to visit and play for my long weekend-bmayes will be joining me after work! woo hoo!! i'll get to see mom and dad in their new place (maybe help with a little unpacking?) and then head down to b-town. yay! one of our friends is getting married-but it's not until 4:00 pm on sunday-i have to work monday, so i don't know that i will get to attend the wedding as originally planned (i didn't realize the wedding was so late in the weekend). and i have a feeling that after playing all weekend, i won't do well driving late into the night. but at least i will get out of dallas for a bit, see the autumn leaves-good times! the boys will be staying with joanne, and they seem excited about it! bruno was happy about not riding in his car seat for so long, especially as we will probably be making the trip for Christmas.

today, we actually got to share our walk with joanne and fudge, they all walked really well! it was nice to actually have a chance to talk to joanne, because we've seen each other at a couple of PL things in the haskell building, but each time, there has been something going on, making it impossible to actually catch up! boo. so it was good to catch up today-we have certainly missed having her at cabell, but i am excited that she is enjoying what she does in her new position!

i've spent most of my weekend working on curriculum maps, because although we worked on them last week, the materials that the district has made available to us are better than the curriculum we have at hand. especially after going to the training and asking our teachers to go to the training...i felt like this should be something they have at hand. i still have one more grade level to work on, but hopefully it will be helpful-

and with that, i think i will call it an evening! (and yes, breakfast shake with the RX!)
julie