things that make me happy: diy hair, stamps, flowers, green screen, and istation cake

home. once we got home, i had to quickly get a picture, lest i forget. angelica and i were talking about her grandson and she said she flat-irons his hair because it is super curly. so i suggested getting a brazilian blowout...and the obvious,"they're just so expensive!" so i explained how i've been doing mine for the past year (once every 3-4 months), and it really isn't that difficult, just a little time-consuming. so i promised i'd let her know what product i used.

i was really excited when i went to the post office, and i'd received letters from two of my aunts-kim and mindy! it's always just so good to hear from them, and to know what is going on with the family up in iowa. it especially felt like Christmas in July, because mindy had seen one of my facebook posts back on april 29...i was down to 1 stamp...well, she must've known...i must have been emitting my anxious "i'm-almost-out-of-stamps" vibe...strong enough to be felt from iowa! you do the math #imawriternotafighter (line from michael jackson the girl is mine, had he been thinking shakespeare)

i dropped one of my friends off at the airport with her mom, and got to meet with another friend later at kona grill, because we hadn't gotten together since summer school. it was really great to snack on sushi, and catch up! then of course we went into the mall and made our way strategically to 3 stores to find the products that she was in need of and i escaped unscathed! we did get a great historical lesson regarding how the perfumes were made and how they layer, and how many actual molecules went into the making of each fragrance...and yes i actually found one that i really liked...just sayin..this man loves his job! #pasionateaboutscents

i also put it on my shopping list to grab some flowers from the store. the boys love flowers...

this work week started out (as usual on monday-yesterday [two days ago now..this is what happens when i procrastinate]), and when lori walked in, she came bearing someone new! she introduced us to her friend lori (not a typo), who will be joining us at istation! so here's what i'm thinking. from now on, we should start hiring people who share names of current trainers and then pair us all up whenever possible so that it makes it really easy on the participants! it also makes for a great cover-up....oh, that was the other julie, not me...

 i spent part of the day with toni, visiting some of her TACKLE SUMMER SLIDE campuses. it was great to get out and see the kids working with tutors and enjoying their time on istation. we made our way back to the istation tower just before lunchtime, and i joined suzanne and deane, who has finally been freed from the chains that bound her...and was doing the on-boarding process, so i got to sit in and when lunch rolled around we had a casual lunch in the war room (where all of the important battles are waged...). it's always a good idea to take every opportunity to get to know people as well as possible!

besides, hard to beat turkey-wrap pinwheel sandwich bites, pita chips with hummus, and the cinnamon-crumble bites. and i kinda' screwed up and took too many pita chips-they just came out of the bag too fast, to my horror, and i don't know these people well enough to be manhandling pita chips and putting them back in the bag, having them wonder if i washed my hands or not! so...i zoned out of the conversation for a minute, thinking through my dilemma. i was going to have to be creative about rationing this little scoop of hummus. so i mixed it up and used the veggie dip (meant for the carrots), intermittently and it paired well with the pita chips. i was very proud of myself when i was able to finish that last chip... those cinnamon bites, though...addictive! yikes!

when toni returned, we finished our rounds, but i forgot to go up to get my new id badge pic...but that morning, i did get the exciting news that i will be training in florida (one day...but at least i get to see the palm trees, right?) so an overnighter- i'm going to try something new with the automatic feeders-separate the boys so that bruno doesn't eat chaco's food and give chaco a reason to write mommy dearest memoirs.

then tuesday we had an office field trip, so i got there a little early. when i pulled into the underground garage, it seemed so dark. when i turned the car off, it was too dark to see what i was doing. that was strange-i don't remember having this sensation previously. when i got up to the lobby area, i looked around and there were a bunch of people sitting around. "hmm," i thought, "all of these people here for an interview?" then i saw some familiar faces--and realized that the lights were out. i made my way toward the first floor restroom, because the elevator was out. then i realized that the bathroom was pitch black. just as i was preparing to use my phone flashlight, with visions of cave-spelunking, the lights came back on. when i got back to the elevators, people were still waiting around for the elevators to begin running. they were fine on the other side (floors 1-12), but the express to the upper floors were a little sketchier...and we may or may not have heard someone in one of the elevators who'd gotten stuck when the electricity went out-20 minutes...

once the first run up was ready to go, i was intent on going up-not a worry, lisandra was not as sure, but bless her willingness to take a walk on the wild side! she was thinking claustrophobia, and what if... i had been on a netflix adventure binge for a minute, and so my mind went to the panic-room mode, and if i were stuck in an elevator, what would jason bourne do?  but there were no hiccups, which is good, because we were about to have kiddos coming for a field trip! the cool thing is that i got to go through the tour-which i hadn't done yet, so it was fun to go through and see what happens with the students! the group i was with-silly and antsy, but no more so than any other group of 2nd graders! at one point, the kids were told about tiger, the office dog, and they were asking about him from that moment on, wanting to get a glimpse of our mascot..i don't think we saw him once, but would not stop asking where the dog was (one track minds!) my favorite part of the entire tour was definitely the green-screen room! the kids loved it, and the walls were padded (not for crazies), which gave the kids a chance to scream at the top of their lungs once. it was still a little loud in the room, but no one really heard them from the outside.  the bottom line-they had a blast!

if i were a super-hero in space...this might happen. 

if i were just a normal semi-normal person stretching out in front of a regular green screen, though...this might happen.

masks of the characters-students got to choose their faves

it really is a fun field trip-highly recommended! very fun, because they have been interacting with these characters and now they got to see how everything comes together!

afterward, toni and i went out to another site- i've loved tagging along with her, because we've been able to have some great conversation time.

so today, we got to go out to one of the sites toni has been working with, and i got to meet ms. nutall, one of the dallas isd board members. she is a treasure, and she has been working with students during the summers, to help curb summer slide. they have an impressive support system. we also went to the boys and girls club and today was their celebration! i love that we were able to be there-these kids were so great!

over the top cute!

so that kinda' sums up the past couple of days, and it's going to start getting a little crazy up in her.

blessings-
julie

postal workers, new stamps and letter-eating-dogs (fortunately this time it wasn't mine!)

it never fails. yesterday afternoon, when i got out of our meeting, i remembered that i had to turn in that debit card! i left school, thinking the bank closed at 5 pm. i raced out of there and realized at the major intersection that i didn't remember where the nearest wells fargo was...so i turned south on marsh, remembering that there were 2 banks up on forest and marsh. when i got to the corner, i saw a chase sign, so i thought, 'well, perhaps it's the one right around the corner..' when i turned the corner, it was another chase. weird. i guess they just wanted to make it easier for people to access from either side of marsh. time was winding down...it was 4:52...8 minutes; so rushed up forest and turned on midway thinking there was one by the interstate-i was right! did i mention i was in a hurry and because of this, i was a mean driver? well, it's true. it's a little shameful-i was so glad i had no passengers #nowitnesses so i parked and seeing the hours were open until 8 (strange), i burst through the door and i'm fairly certain i had a rather confused look on my face as i stopped mid-step, because the guy looked at me and said, "the bank? it's around back." i'd walked into the phone store without even looking at the sign and realizing it wasn't wells fargo! apparently it happens often. so off around the corner to the bank-duty done!

 i hope the lady didn't close out the card and have to get a new one! but even if so, hopefully she'll be relieved that she won't have to go through all of the paperwork of someone stealing it and running it up!

i have four letters in my bag to send off...but i've been out of stamps for about 5 days-it's been rough! i hate sitting on letters and having to wait to send them, so today i made the dreaded stop at the post office. as i pulled in, i was very thankful to see that the parking lot wasn't full! short line! the lady next to me asked if the nearest clerk was wearing rubber bands around her head. i felt like turning to look at her to say, "WOMAN! what is WRONG with you?!? postal workers, hello? edmond, ok...'86???" instead, i just informed her that it looked to be gold chains fashioned into a headband. and of course, that had to be the next available clerk, and i was up. i asked for a roll of stamps and she informed me that they were out, so i overly dramatically sighed and did the whole body sag, as she asked if i'd like 5 sheets...um. no. it's really difficult to roll sheets up in a small space, sorry. i may have made kind of a big deal about it as i explained to her the huge inconvenience of not having a roll-but i did it nicely...if not humorously. i've had this clerk before, and i think she appreciated a little personality, because when i finally said, "(sigh) fine. i'll take one sheet of the batman and one of the regulars. and this card," (which i'd seen on the card rack), she used a discount coupon, so i got the card for half price, and she put another coupon in the bag for next time. it won't take long to go through two sheets. in fact, once i put the stamps on the letters in my bag, i was already feeling the OH-NO-I'M-LOW-ON-STAMPS feeling. does anyone else go through that anxiety, or do most people just run out of stamps and think. oh well, i'm out of stamps...maybe i can peel one off an old letter and get away with it...

holy toledo, batman!!

i've already got my eyes set on a card i saw today! 

and now i have another one to rewrite. i sent a letter to one of my cousins up in iowa, and i just got a message from her this after noon on facebook. i'll let you read it for yourselves:

it made me smile

i was not shocked, as this sounds like something that bruno and chaco would do! how many times have i caught bruno trying to explain why it was so important for him to shred my documents! so teachers, take note, sometimes the dog does eat the homework-don't penalize the student for the dog's behavior!

the rest of the week is pretty crazy at school. i have some things i really would like to get done tomorrow, as i will be off campus part of the day thursday for PL and all day friday for a mandatory teacher excellence initiative training.

i am excited to report that i finally filled out a report on the online apt site. it has been really exciting that they finally got it set up to pay online! so while i paid my last bill, i made a request for them to change out the lightbulbs in the breezeway, as 2 of the three have been out since before summer...i cannot believe that none of my neighbors reported it! boo. it was so dark out there, it was a little creepy-if only i could've held out until halloween! i was surprised when i arrived today and saw the maintenance man at the golf cart with a bunch of bulbs. he asked me if i knew which lights were out, so i informed him, and he turned the lights on (they are normally on a timer), and he began getting to work. apparently the third floor was not the only floor in need of bulbs. well, i just opened the door to look, and i see that the lights are all in working order-no more shady business around here!

oh, and here is the teacher poster that each staff member made to put in front of their door. it took awhile for them to put mine up- i made sure to add a little flair-i should've put something kanakuk on the poster, because it has been such a huge part of my life, but i wasn't sure what all they were wanting on the poster. sad face. hindsight.

so..i wasn't sure if they would appreciate the humor with the baby pic...

and yesterday, i was told that i had a package in the office that said: julie macgeyver robinson. i laughed, because i immediately knew who it was from. HA! so, i did not self-nickname, that was done when wendy miller was our prized fellow! and it stuck.

coke points. (coca cola, thank you very much)

and today on the way home i decided it would be wise to go ahead and get those stamps. so i stopped by the post office

so, i'm just sitting here staring at my new enlarged beach picture on the wall, and imagining the coconut bread...it's like a window to the beach! it was so worth it! peaceful and relaxing.

julie

what do crema, stamps, pigs and rainbows have in common? nothing really.

it's been a minute or two since my last post...i apologize- i've been exhausted! the beginning of this year has been nothing less than expected. EVERYONE's been busy! i've been busy, teachers have been busy, admin has been busy...i don't know how busy some people have been downtown, because when i emailed specialists to see about a district rubric for one of my grade levels, the response i got was a web address to a highlighted google search, which took me to some lady's pinterest account, which took me to Kim's blog, which i had to scour to find the rubric they suggested, which wasn't really what i needed. really? don't waste my time...i KNOW how to do a google search, and i am completely aware of the infinite world of pinterest, i even have several blogs favorited on my tool bar... all i wanted was for my district to provide me a rubric that was perhaps standard for our district (one of the largest districts in the state...just sayin').

something that has been of great soothing to the weary soul is this! i found it at the fiesta grocery store! and of course, when you purchase crema, you must continue to make beans until you run out!

crema catracha!

i fell out of the habit of writing letters awhile back-a hobby i had become quite an expert at back in the day of keeping up with former campers...then, for whatever reason, God laid it on my heart to get back in touch with friends through letter-writing. i know i've mentioned that before, and i have completely enjoyed getting back into the habit! i have to keep track of who i write to and when so that i can think back to what i may or may not have mentioned-i try not to repeat too much of what has been going on around here! anyhoo, this started back around november of last year, and it's been like having an extended conversation.

since then, i have gone through about 1 1/2 stamp rolls (rolls sell by the hundred). i have about 62 people on my list of recipients-and i still have others whom i would really like to be in touch with, but i just don't have their addresses yet. this is nothing compared to when i used to write to the campers in my units over the summer! THAT was ridiculous! but i LOVE having the opportunity to send something in the mail, always that thought of, "i hope it's just what you needed!" knowing at that point that it's out of my hands!

happiness= a new roll of stamps and fun cards! (easily satisfied)

the brighter the colors the better-i'm just hoping it motivates the mail carrier to get the letters where they need to get and maybe make him/her smile!

i don't mind not receiving a ton of correspondence in return-in fact, for the most part, i expect not to, so when i do get mail it's very exciting! unless i get something like this:

i wanted to punch this person in the face.

because THIS was in the envelope.

ok, so for starters, at seeing my name in letters that almost looked handwritten (curses to that font-maker), my heart skipped a beat, thinking i was receiving REAL mail!! but the worst part is what was inside- a "turning 65? medicare" letter...wwwhhhhaaaaaaattt??? way to make a gal feel older than she is! not ready to think about the future yet-still living in today!! leave me alone, jim!

so when i got these little ditties in the mail over the past few weeks, it made me smile! JACKPOT! hit the lottery!! (granted two were from family...) i've gotten a few others over the past 9 months-thanks to brandy, jp, lori and carrie! the most recent ones are actually from 3 iowa gals! (with the caveat that mom isn't currently IN iowa, just from there!)

THANKS!!! i LOVE letters!

and i found these little cutie air fresheners with a sweet note in my box the other day as well! LOVE IT! bruno and chaco approved and they agreed-in a perfect world, every home would have a dog!

and as i was putting one up on the mirrror in the car, i dropped one, and when i bent over to find it, i also found my lucky pig!!! he had fallen out of the alligator's mouth when i turned a corner a bit too quickly a couple of weeks ago.

lucky pig! this pig has been with me for a few years now. we're tight...and the alligator well, he's the pig's guardian! makes my car look tough.

and while lucky pig was a great part of my day, the BEST part of my day was the rainbow this morning! unfortunately i allowed circumstances to get in the way of thinking about the beauty of it and i got frustrated with circumstances instead. must work on this. i'm glad that i grabbed a pic of it this morning so that i did not completely forget about it. annoyed with myself for being so easily distracted from all that is good.

may our rainbows linger in spite of the hectic craziness of our days!
julie

strategically moving through addison and the acting portion of the gre

today-the first day of Christmas break! woo hoo! we wanted to wake up late, but had to settle for 8:30..try again tomorrow! i was very happy to be able to finish my Christmas shopping...all i need now is to pick up some manila envelopes and wait for something in the mail. oh, and i have one more picture to develop. remember when i painted the pallet? well, i took the pallet when our interim principal was at our school, and she had asked what i was planning to do with it, so i am sending her a pic of the inspiration and the actual pallet.

these are the canvases i did awhile back on the opposite wall.

i was going to get the pics developed while i was at cvs, but i forgot to bring the usb cord to pull the pics off the phone. boo.

so after i swung by cvs, i planned my moves strategically. first i would stop at the post office, then lakeshore, after that i'd cross the street and hit bed bath and beyond and last stop-over to barnes and noble!

so when i stopped at the post office, there was a line ( even at the machine! imagine that). but surprisingly everyone was acting strange-the holiday spirit had apparently descended upon everyone. isn't it strange how at Christmas time, people are more chatty and willing to talk to randoms in line?

a sweet elderly lady (who knows if she really was sweet, i just like to imagine that most elderly people are) didn't want to wait in the main lobby line, so she asked if the machine dispensed Christmas stamps, and someone in front said they were getting some and would let her know. (i had bought some the other day, but i didn't speak up...because what if the machine was out or they changed them up).

love the stamps!

 so indeed it did still have them and the lady looked at me and asked if the machine took debit cards and when i told her yes, she went on to explain how when debit cards first came out, she thought they were the devil, but now she can't live without it! then she conversed with the lady at the end of the line offering to hold her baby son...heavy baby son, judah...

at lakeshore, i realized how ridiculously over-priced educational resources are. boo. i got a couple of books to assist my students in their grammar and spelling- i wanted to get one that was white board compatible, but it was pricier than i really wanted to go at this time.

thought these might give me the most bang for my buck...(fireworks for my money...not bangs on a male deer-that would just be wrong)

when i got home, the boys asked me to please please please take a nap with them, so i did...reluctantly (right).

when we woke up refreshed, i pulled out the 'where is santa' book. i bought about 4 of them real cheap after Christmas at the family general store a couple of years ago meaning to give them to students as gifts. well, this year, i brought one home so that i could search-i love searches!

find the patriotic yorkie...

and now we are preparing to get our studying going! bruno said he's going to try to help me with the math rules and chaco said he was going to help me work on the acting portion. i explained that the test i was taking had no acting portion and he let me know that i was no fun. so i sent him off to practice the shepherd scene from the Christmas story and he could perform for us later.

hope your Christmas spirit gives you the opportunity to talk to people in long lines,
julie